Post-war turmoil, economic collapse, and internal fear drive rival factions toward an unprecedented confrontation over the future of the Supreme Leadership
Is the escalating confrontation between Iran regime’s ruling factions moving toward a direct challenge to the authority—and even the political future—of the Supreme Leader? What has pushed these internal conflicts to a point where threats, accusations, and elimination rhetoric have become central features of the struggle?
Analysts point to two major forces driving this unprecedented escalation:
- The regime’s post-war and post–UN snapback sanction crisis on the international stage, which has left it more isolated and vulnerable than ever.
- An internal landscape dominated by economic collapse, social hardship, and environmental catastrophe.
These dual pressures act like the two blades of a scissor closing in on the regime, constantly injecting instability into the ruling structure. As political, economic, and social dysfunction reaches a breaking point, fear has overtaken all factions within the system.
Explosion of Social Anger Spills Into the Regime Itself
The situation inside the country has deteriorated to the point where even insiders feel the tremors of nationwide frustration. As popular anger intensifies, regime factions—unable to manage or deflect responsibility—have turned on one another in an effort to shift blame and eliminate rivals.
This internal conflict, far from accidental, is the direct product of a centralized, unaccountable power structure dominated by the Supreme Leader, who stands above all laws and institutions. The deepening crisis has reached a new stage: the factions are now openly pulling the Supreme Leader into the arena.
Newspaper Attacks Reveal a Shift Toward Direct Confrontation
Iranian media aligned with competing factions offer a clear window into this evolving struggle.
Sazandegi newspaper (November 8, 2025), in an article by Hossein Marashi, presented one of the most explicit criticisms yet, effectively naming the Supreme Leader as the central cause of the nation’s paralysis:
“In successful political systems, whoever holds real power is also responsible… But in Iran, true power is granted to the Supreme Leader. In domestic policy, foreign policy, the economy, culture, and social matters, authority lies with the Leader, while responsibility lies with a government that does not have full power.”
Meanwhile, Arman-e Melli newspaper (November 9, 2025) criticized the Supreme Leader–controlled parliament:
“Today’s parliament is not the representative of the people but of specific factions seeking their own interests. It has shown that it is not the parliament the public wants.”
And in response, the Supreme Leader’s strongest media arm, Kayhan, escalated the confrontation to a threatening level. In its November 9 editorial, Hossein Shariatmadari hinted at the possibility of executions:
“Regarding the disgraceful comments of the secretary-general of the Kargozaran Party about the Leader’s authority, it suffices to note that it was the Leader’s powers that prevented some of the seditionists and collaborators of the U.S. and Israel from being hanged with legal rulings accepted worldwide.”
Kayhan’s message was unmistakable: challenging the Supreme Leader could carry the price of physical elimination.
Toward a Decisive Moment in the Regime’s Internal Battle
These articles represent only a fraction of what is now a broad and escalating campaign. The defining feature of this new stage is the direct inclusion of the Supreme Leader himself as the focal point of factional blame.
In effect, both camps—regime “moderates” and hardliners—are being pushed toward a moment of defining the Supreme Leader’s future within the system.
The trajectory suggests that the factional split will deepen further. And as the confrontation sharpens, it is likely to release significant social energy—especially among Iran’s youth—who are watching for the moment when the regime’s internal collapse creates a historic opening to determine the fate of the entire clerical system.
