Iran’s Impending Leadership Change: Possible Developments After Khamenei’s Death

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has served as Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran since 1989, remains unchallenged as the most powerful figure within the country’s theocratic dictatorship. Now 85 years old, renewed attention is being drawn to persistent speculation about his declining health. As Iran prepares for an era without its leading figure, the opaque process of succession once again takes center stage. What happens after Khamenei’s death could shape the future course of the Islamic Republic for decades to come.