To paraphrase an old American political slogan: In your hearts, you know he’s dead.
From the moment the bombs first fell on his father’s palace in Tehran, Mojtaba Khamenei has remained incognito to the point of utter disappearance. The regime named him as the next Supreme Leader, turning the mullahcracy into a hereditary monarchy, and yet Nepo Babytollah never made a public appearance. The IRGC issues edicts in his name, but his voice remains silent. The hardliners held an “allegiance ceremony” after Mojtaba’s ascension and used a cardboard cutout in his place that looked like a South Park reject. As late as this week, media outlets reported that Mojtaba himself had ordered the regime to accept the terms of the cease-fire.
That certainly looks like a neat trick. According to the Times of London, Nepo Babytollah has been Beef Supreme in Qom since the opening minutes of the war:
Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is incapacitated and receiving medical treatment in the holy city of Qom, according to an intelligence assessment which suggests he is not capable of running the country.
A diplomatic memo understood to be based on American and Israeli intelligence and shared with Gulf allies suggests that Khamenei, the son of the killed long-time leader Ali Khamenei, is unconscious and being treated for a “severe” medical condition. …
“Mojtaba Khamenei is being treated in Qom in a severe condition, unable to be involved in any decision making by the regime,” it reads.
For those not in the know, Qom is the theocratic power center for the apocalyptic version of Shi’a Islam that drives the mullahs. It is not the power center of the regime itself, which is centered in Tehran, as is the civilian government. Ali Khamenei ruled as Supreme Leader from his Tehran palace, not from Qom.
Even in the best of times, a Supreme Leader stuck in Qom would mean isolation and disconnection from the levers of power. In wartime, with all of the destruction of command and control functions suffered in the war, a Supreme Leader still in power would never attempt to work remotely. If Mojtaba’s in Qom, he’s not in charge, at the very least.
By this point, it’s very obvious that the Nepo Babytollah has been incapacitated. If Mojtaba were functional, the regime would have made him a public symbol of the regime’s resistance and continuity. That’s practically Tyranny 101. The remnants need to prevent the people from assuming weakness in the regime to prevent them from rising up and seizing power, especially in Tehran. His absence from such demonstrations – and even from contact with foreign diplomats – makes his disability obvious, at the very least.
So why pretend? Why not just choose another Supreme Leader? The IRGC wants to seize and keep power. They had groomed Mojtaba for years to take over for his father as an age-old strategy of throne control. His disability gives the IRGC the best of all worlds in terms of throne control; Mojtaba’s ascension keeps the other mullahs at bay while they use him as a sock puppet/rubber stamp to bless every impulse the IRGC has. This strategy has been obvious since the first week of the war, and Mojtaba’s continuing absence makes it all the more clear.
This is not a Supreme Leader. He’s more like Beef Supreme at this point. Beautiful plumage, though!
We used to know how to report on leaders like Nepo Babytollah. Ah, the good old days …
Editor’s Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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