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It also helps explain why U.S. officials would treat such material as politically relevant even if Trump himself appeared dismissive about its practical importance. CBS reported that in private the president had suggested he was unsure the information mattered, and was more focused on the broader view that Iran may now be effectively leaderless, with the Revolutionary Guards and the supreme leader’s office exercising the real power. Reuters has reported a similar picture, with senior Iranian sources saying the Guards have become even more dominant since the war began and may now be dictating the strategic line.
Mojtaba Khamenei’s rise has long been contentious inside and outside Iran even without the latest claims. Reuters described him as a backroom operator who spent years running his father’s office, known as the beyt, while rarely speaking in public and remaining obscure to many ordinary Iranians. He has been seen as closely aligned with the Revolutionary Guards, an institution that already held major economic, military and political power before the current war and has now emerged as the clear centre of authority in the Islamic Republic.
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