US and Israeli Strikes Kill Supreme Leader Khamenei, Trigger Leadership Uncertainty and Economic Crisis in Iran

US and Israeli strikes battered and scarred parts of Iran earlier this year. Flanked by glistening snow-capped peaks, the long road to Tehran winds through picturesque valleys of Tabrizi poplar trees and fields with green shoots of wheat. The narrow Qotur river, brown and swollen from the spring thaw, surges past shepherds grazing their shaggy flocks on the slopes.

In the distance an impressive railway bridge, its steel girders painted bright white, stretches across the shimmering landscape apparently untouched by the strikes. On the roadside between kiosks selling pistachio nuts and tea, black billboards mourn the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Iranian supreme leader was killed in a February airstrike on the first day of the war.

Another poster declares Mojtaba Khamenei, his son and successor, is now the “standard bearer” of the nation. Mojtaba Khamenei was reportedly injured in the same February airstrike that killed his father. He has not been seen or heard in public since assuming power.

The absence adds to the sense of uncertainty in Iran even as black billboards line the roads of northwestern Iran. Amid stalled peace negotiations and growing tensions over the continued closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, fears that the war could flare again are evident.

CNN reported that as US President Donald Trump embarks on a state visit to China both the United States and Iran appear to be looking to Beijing for a possible way out of their deadlock.

Trump is expected to call on China to pressure Iran toward compromise while Iran’s ambassador to China has suggested the country could play a powerful mediator role. The US and China share an interest in unblocking the flow of oil and gas through the Persian Gulf. It may also allow Beijing to contrast its behavior with Washington’s disruption of the global economy in recent months.

One Iranian man told CNN that “Trump could decide to start the bombing again today. Maybe not when he is in China, but who knows. ” Crowds of day-trippers, young and old, hauled gallon-drums of cooking oil by hand across the border from Turkey.

One breathless Iranian pensioner explained how the essential product is now six times more expensive in Iran than in Turkey amid a spiraling cost-of-living crisis. The crisis, likely exacerbated by the recent US naval blockade of Iran, underpinned nationwide anti-government protests that began late last year.

Thousands were killed in the state’s response to the anti-government demonstrations according to Iranian authorities.

At a restaurant en route to Tehran in an ancient caravanserai, or traditional travelers’ rest house, most of the Iranian women observed were not wearing the hijab. The easing of strict hijab enforcement is a legacy of the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests that forced authorities to relax dress codes.

An Iranian father named Maddy said: “I don’t think protest, despite the hardships, is even on the agenda for most Iranians right now.

Trump’s war has silenced people, and made the Iranian government stronger. ” Maddy made the comment as he helped his toddler daughter wash her hands at the restaurant. The US war with Iran, which Trump in the early days called his “little excursion,” is clearly taking a toll as Iranians struggle day to day and brace for possible strikes to begin again.

She explained that she had family there and was taking the risk, asking not to be identified. Ordinary Iranians, whom Trump once exhorted to “take back your country,” described life under bombardment and blockade during CNN’s trip across the country.