Who Actually Governs Iran? The IRGC's Wartime Takeover and the Invisible Supreme Leader

What makes his tenure unprecedented is his total absence from public view. Multiple authoritative news sources confirm:

• He has not appeared in public at all since being named Supreme Leader. CNN noted as early as mid-March that he "continues to remain largely out of sight" , and by late April reported that "more than six weeks have passed… yet he remains unseen and unheard by the public" .
• His health condition is a mystery, and it is "unclear how much power he wields" .
• The only communication attributed to him has been a single lengthy statement read on state television in mid-March, his first and only public message . By late April, Reuters reported his role was "now one of…" endorsement rather than command, the sentence fragment suggesting his authority has been hollowed out .
• Unlike his father, who was the singular, unquestioned final authority on war, peace, and strategic matters, Mojtaba "does not possess the automatic authority his father held" . The New York Times described him as "an enigmatic presence" whose title does not translate into actual control .

The IRGC War Council: Actual Governing Authority

Real power has shifted decisively to a military junta centered on the IRGC. The key actors, as reported by Reuters, the New York Times, and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, include :

A Shift from Singular Clerical Rule to Collective Military Command

Under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the system was structured around a figure who stood above all institutions and retained the final say on almost all strategic matters . That system has fractured. As Time magazine put it, "Iran's Supreme Leader No Longer Reigns Supreme" . The Reuters headline is blunter: "Iran's Guards seize wartime power, blunting Supreme Leader's role" . The New York Times reported that instead of the Supreme Leader, "a seasoned group of commanders from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, along with their allies, have emerged as the principal decision-makers on issues related to security, warfare, and diplomacy" .

Analyses from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and Wikipedia's consolidated report on Iranian de facto leadership also converge on the same conclusion: the IRGC runs Iran, and the Supreme Leader serves as a formal figurehead who is neither seen nor heard .

Key Takeaways

• Mojtaba Khamenei is the titular Supreme Leader but is functionally isolated and politically marginalized. He holds the title under Iran's constitution but does not exercise the command authority his father held.
• The IRGC War Council and General Ahmad Vahidi are now the effective government. The military junta issues commands on war and strategy, manages the Strait of Hormuz, and controls the nuclear agenda .
• Civilian institutions are weakened or decapitated. With President Raisi, Speaker Larijani, and other top clerics dead, the traditional guardians of the Islamic Republic's civilian power structure have been hollowed out .