Chaos signals Iran struggling to function as war turns into fight for survival

Iran came under unprecedented military and diplomatic pressure on Tuesday, as US airstrikes pushed the country’s death toll to more than 800 and the offices of the Assembly of Experts, which will succeed assassinated religious leader Ali Khamenei, were bombed.

It would be an extraordinary security breach if it turned out that most of the 88 elderly clergy in the assembly were voting in the building in Qom at that time. “Another blow to the new leadership today, and it looks pretty significant,” Trump said at a White House event, though it was unclear what he was specifically talking about.

An attack was also carried out on the building in Tehran that houses a body that mediates between the Iranian parliament and the Guardian Council, which consists of clerics and lawyers.

In order to provide some stability, it became imperative for Iranian authorities to quickly seek to appoint a new cleric to replace the 86-year-old Khamenei. He was assassinated along with his wife and grandson on Sunday.

Reports of the murder of the defense minister, who was installed just two days ago, have not been confirmed. The offices of the Supreme National Security Council were bombed. It is not known whether the secretary general of the council, Ali Larijani, was present at the meeting. The chaos shows that the Iranian government is struggling to function in the midst of a war that has become an existential struggle for survival.

Behind the scenes, a power struggle is going on among officials over whether to adopt a more flexible approach towards the West; A debate surrounding the selection of the new religious leader underscores the need for political elites to make a decision.

Israel’s warplanes appear to have almost complete control of Tehran’s skies and can overwhelm Iran’s leaders and security officials at will. Wide bands of black smoke and fire were seen across Tehran’s skyline as more residents tried to flee to the countryside.

Donald Trump admitted that airstrikes against Iranian leaders were so effective that at least two members of the government he appointed to govern Iran were killed in the airstrikes. With Trump’s goals in the war changing almost daily, it’s unclear whether he wants Iran to jettison the concept of religious rule and believes a secular politician would be more docile. The religious leader in Iran has authority that no politician can match and can effectively override any democratic institution in the country.

Trump showed no interest in Türkiye’s diplomatic efforts to restart negotiations, sending the following message to Truth Social: “Their air defense, their air force, their navy and their leadership are gone. They want to negotiate, so I said it’s too late!”

Iranian officials have denied trying to restart talks, which ended on Thursday and saw the first airstrikes on Tehran 24 hours later. Iran thought that the talks would continue at a technical level this week.

Relating to: Minab school bombing: How the worst mass casualty incident of the Iran war unfolded – a visual guide

In a sign of the tragedy unfolding across Iran, thousands of people attended his funeral in Minab in southern Iran. More than 170 female students died in a bomb attack on Sunday. The United States has not accepted responsibility, but the U.N. human rights commission asked Washington to launch an urgent investigation into its role, including whether the United States confused the school with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps building.

Pointing out that civilian properties, including schools and hospitals, were destroyed, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei held his weekly press conference in a damaged school in Tehran.

Baghaei insisted Iran was not interested in restarting talks that collapsed last week, saying: “Now is the time for war and defending the homeland. Anything that tries to distract us must be avoided and rejected. Deception is part of the US model of behavior.”

He called US special envoy Steve Witkoff’s statement about the negotiations a lie. Baghaei explained that Witkoff claimed in the US TV interview that the US had four demands: “An end to the nuclear and missile programs, all support to friends in the region, and an end to the Iranian navy. Of course, none of these were mentioned in the negotiations. These are lies they made up to justify their actions.”

Taking into account the claims of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the US acted largely because it knew that Israel was about to attack and that this would make the US a target for Iran. Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said this appeared to be Israel’s issue, not America’s.

He added: “Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave Trump false information about Iran’s military defense and deterrence capabilities. The question is whether Israel, through deliberate miscalculations, has made the United States a victim of its own interests.”

He warned European powers not to help the US launch airstrikes on Iran, saying: “This would be an act of war. Any action against Iran would be considered complicity of the aggressors.”

Britain has said it is willing to allow the United States to use air bases in Britain and the base in Diego Garcia to attack Iran as long as attacks on Iran’s missile sites are part of a defensive operation to protect the economies of Gulf countries.

Tensions with its Gulf allies continued as Tehran pursued its long-signaled plan to create chaos in global markets by attacking US assets in the region. This move leads to the collapse of relations with Gulf countries and pushes the oil price towards $85 per barrel.

The foreign ministry called on angry Gulf countries to act thoughtfully and patiently. Ministry sources said they believed that Israeli Mossad agents were working in Saudi Arabia and Qatar to carry out operations that could turn the states against Iran.

In a rare admission about the diplomatic damage the strategy could cause, Youssef, the son of Iranian president Massoud Pezeshkian, said: “I know how hard my father worked to improve relations with neighbors in the region and with Muslim countries, and how important this was and still is to him.

“How painful it is to have to hit American bases in our friendly countries to defend ourselves. I don’t know if they understand. I wish none of our neighbors’ territory was under the control of the US military.”