Chaos Behind the Scenes in Iran: A Simple Explaination

What Happened at the Funeral

Imagine a big sad parade for a passed-away leader. Last week in Tehran (Iran’s capital), Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, walked next to the coffin of the supreme leader Ali Jamenei.

• Some people dressed in black were not cheering for the dead leader.
• They shouted at the president himself: “death to the peacemaker.”

Not far away:

• Abbas Araghchi (Iran’s top diplomat who made a ceasefire deal with Trump’s team and got some punishments lifted) had to run away from the funeral.
• A crowd threw rocks at him and yelled that he was a “sellout traitor.”

A Hidden Power Struggle

The anger at the funeral shows a big worry inside Iran’s angriest groups:

• They think the leaders who made a deal with the U.S. during war are doing a “soft coup” (a quiet takeover without guns).
• They believe these leaders are betraying the revolution’s ideas.
• The new supreme leader, Mojtaba Jamenei (son of the dead leader), is hardly seen. Some think he hides for fear of being killed, or because he is too sick to appear.

Important: A “soft coup” means taking control slowly and quietly, not with a violent battle.

Why the Hardliners Are Angry

The ultra-strict fans at the funeral think:

• leaders should have attacked back for Jamenei’s death
• instead, they signed a deal that goes against the new leader’s orders
• Mojtaba stays hidden and never speaks to the public

The hardliners also say the visible leaders are:

• pausing the Parliament (like a rule-making group)
• ignoring orders in talks
• trying to stop night street gatherings that give hardliners power

A loud lawmaker named Mahmoud Nabavian posted on X:

• “Warning to the Iranian people: Is a coup coming?”
• Later: “We raise the flag of revenge and stand against the coup.”

Who Is in Charge Now?

Since Mojtaba is missing from view, these people are the “faces” running postwar Iran:

1. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf – chief negotiator
2. Pezeshkian – president
3. Araghchi – foreign minister

An expert (Arash Azizi) told CNN:

• Hardliners can’t reach Mojtaba
• So Ghalibaf and friends are basically running the country
• Hardliners accuse them of planning a coup against Mojtaba

The Funeral Became a Protest

Jamenei died in February from Israeli airstrikes with U.S. help. His one-week funeral was a stage for strict supporters to:

• demand revenge by fighting the U.S. again
• reject any deal with Trump

Their wish partly came true:

• A shaky ceasefire almost broke when Iran’s Revolutionary Guard attacked ships in the Strait of Hormuz (a narrow, important water path)
• The U.S. hit back
• Hardliners then said: cancel the truce!

Threats and Power Moves

Before fighting restarted, hardliners yelled at peace-signing leaders.

• A regime singer (maddah) told President Pezeshkian: “If you ignore the leader’s rules, we are the sword at your throat… we’ll bring hell on you.”
• He faced no known punishment.

Other targeted officials:

• Ghalibaf, once a Guard commander, stepped up during war and became the main operator.

A hardline MP (Kamran Ghazanfari) said in July:

• They are boosting a Security Council while shrinking the leader’s and Parliament’s role
• “This is the political coup they are doing step by step.”

On Tuesday:

• Nabavian and another critic were kicked off the Parliament’s Security Committee.

Nabavian once helped negotiate, then leaked the deal text to media and turned against it. He claims the team crossed the supreme leader’s red lines.

The “Super-Revolutionaries”

Nabavian and friends are part of “Jebhe-ye Paydari” (Resistance Front):

• Called “Superrevolutionaries”
• See themselves as guardians of the 1979 revolution that removed a Western-friendly king and made an Islamic government

Experts say the visible leaders want to sideline them.

• Hamidreza Azizi (researcher) said Ghalibaf is pushing these hardliners out because they are “too costly” and expose fights while Iran is unstable.

They are few but placed in key spots:

• Parliament
• National TV (IRIB), which ran campaigns against the president

One big figure, Saeed Jalili, got 13M+ votes in 2024 (Iran has ~93M people).

Is the Regime Falling Apart?

Trump calls Iran “seriously fractured.” But observers say:

• Despite the visible split, the regime agrees on one main goal:
  • end the war with relief from sanctions (punishing limits)
  • keep control of the Strait of Hormuz

Still, the hidden Mojtaba, his half-support of the truce, the Guard’s growing power, and the huge funeral crowd emboldened hardliners to push their own aggressive plan: keep fighting the U.S. and Israel.

Example: former minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on TV:

• “Let’s go to a U.S. base, grab 100 soldiers, bring them to Iran.”

Summary

• At Jamenei’s funeral, crowds shouted against peacemaking leaders.
• Hardliners believe hidden figures are doing a soft coup against the absent supreme leader.
• Visible leaders (Ghalibaf, Pezeshkian, Araghchi) run the country but are accused of betrayal.
• The funeral became a hardliner rally for continued war.
• Hardliners are being sidelined but still hold key posts and push for conflict.
• The regime remains united on ending war with sanctions relief and keeping the strait.

FAQ

1. What is a “soft coup”?
A quiet takeover of power without a violent fight—like changing rules and sidelining rivals slowly.

2. Who is Mojtaba Jamenei?
Son of the dead supreme leader Ali Jamenei and the new supreme leader, but he stays out of public view.

3. What is the Strait of Hormuz?
A narrow, vital waterway for ships; Iran wants to keep control of it.

4. Why are hardliners called “Superrevolutionaries”?
They believe they protect the strict 1979 Islamic revolution values more than anyone else.

5. Did the ceasefire hold?
It was fragile; it nearly collapsed after Iran’s Guard attacked shipping and the U.S. retaliated.