A Country at War With a Leader No One Can See: Iran's Proof-of-Life Moment
Iran just finished burying one Supreme Leader — and nobody can confirm the new one is alive. Mojtaba Khamenei, who took power in March, hasn't been seen since a March 30 airstrike, and a condolence ceremony for his slain father may be the moment that fog finally lifts. This matters because the US-Iran ceasefire has already collapsed, and you cannot negotiate an end to a war with a government whose ultimate decision-maker may not exist.
Bottom Line
THE BOTTOM LINE: The funeral is over; the succession crisis may not be. Whether Mojtaba Khamenei walks into that condolence ceremony will answer the single most important open question in the US-Iran war — not who's winning, but who's actually in charge of one side. A visible, functioning Supreme Leader makes diplomacy possible again. A continued absence means the war is being run by a government with no confirmed head, which is historically when miscalculation risk peaks.