Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has activated wartime succession planning, empowering a hardline loyalist to oversee national security operations and ordering layered contingency measures to safeguard the regime amid fears of U.S. military strikes and assassination attempts.
A Sunday report in the New York Times citing senior Iranian officials and members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, detailed that Ali Larijani — a former Guards commander and current head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council — has effectively taken control of national security operations as tensions with Washington intensify.
Khamenei has reportedly directed aides to create multiple layers of succession for key military and government posts and to prepare for scenarios in which senior leaders, including the supreme leader himself, are killed.
The planning includes delegating emergency powers and establishing backup chains of command to ensure the Islamic Republic’s survival during war.
The report states that Iran is operating under the assumption that U.S. strikes are both unavoidable and “imminent,” even as nuclear negotiations continue. Tehran has positioned ballistic missile launchers near Iraq and along the Persian Gulf, conducted missile tests, and staged naval drills affecting the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the Times, the regime is also preparing to deploy internal security forces and militias to major cities to prevent unrest in the event of conflict — underscoring that Iran’s leadership is bracing not only for confrontation abroad but instability at home.
The matter comes as U.S. military plans for potential strikes on Iran have entered what officials describe as an “advanced” phase, with options reportedly expanding beyond nuclear and missile infrastructure to include targeted decapitation strikes against senior regime figures — and with President Donald Trump said to be able to make a strike decision “at any moment.”
While diplomatic efforts appear to be faltering, U.S. military planning appears to be accelerating.
Last week, Reuters reported that strike discussions have grown increasingly detailed, including scalable options and potential leadership targets. Axios added that the Pentagon has presented President Trump with multiple scenarios — including options targeting Khamenei and his son, Mojtaba — while the Wall Street Journal reported the administration has examined a limited opening strike designed to pressure Tehran while preserving rapid escalation pathways.
President Trump also warned on Friday that Iran must negotiate a “fair deal” within “10, 15 days,” or face “really bad things,” underscoring the narrowing diplomatic window.
At the same time, the United States has assembled the largest concentration of airpower in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq invasion — deploying two carrier strike groups, advanced stealth fighters, refueling tankers, and layered missile defenses into theater — while Israel has moved to heightened readiness and Gulf states reportedly view the diplomatic gaps as unbridgeable.
Iran responded with joint naval drills alongside Russia, hardened key nuclear sites, and has warned the United Nations that any U.S. strike would trigger a “decisive and proportionate” response.
With military assets in place and leadership-targeted options reportedly on the table, officials across the region are preparing for the possibility that talks give way to open conflict.
Last week, Khamenei taunted President Trump and warned that American warships could be sent “to the bottom of the sea,” as he denounced the United States as a “corrupt, oppressive empire” in decline.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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