A fierce power struggle is gripping the top of Iran’s regime, with hardline security figures pushing to escalate the conflict with the United States as questions mount over who is actually wielding authority in the absence of the country’s unseen Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
\n\nA sweeping New York Times report published Sunday details how those divisions erupted into open conflict after a hardline faction allegedly launched attacks on three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz in July without the knowledge of President Masoud Pezeshkian, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, or Iran’s Supreme National Security Council — helping derail a U.S.-Iran agreement reached just weeks earlier.
\n\nThe episode reportedly set off shouting matches, threats of resignation, and accusations of betrayal and treason within Tehran’s leadership, while exposing a more fundamental problem: Pezeshkian has questioned whether communications attributed to Khamenei — who has not appeared publicly since being badly wounded in the opening U.S.-Israeli strikes in February — are even authentic.
\n\nThe turmoil began after Iranian forces attacked three commercial vessels in the Strait overnight July 6-7, including a Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker, while Pezeshkian was in neighboring Iraq attending mourning ceremonies for Khamenei’s father and…
Original source: https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/
