'This isn't a leader. This is a man in hiding': the myth of Khamenei is over

In Tehran, even under a rain of missiles, people find each other. That's the image emerging on Iran’s fractured, unstable internet. Among those is Bahman, a bookseller in central Tehran. Each evening, he posts late-night updates from his shop — cafe lights still flickering, cigarettes passed under taped windows, strangers exchanging meaningful nods. Another social media user wrote: “The city is wounded, but still breathing - together.”

- Rana Rahimpour

These snapshots capture more than defiance. They speak of a fragile intimacy, a country turning inward to hold itself up.

And yet, while the people huddle in the dark, the man who rules them does so alone - and in hiding.

Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has never seemed so exposed. For decades, he built a regime sustained by ideology, fear and the myth of invincibility. That myth now lies in ruins. His most trusted commanders are dead. His enemies grow bolder. And even fear-wrought loyalty is eroding. He no longer governs a country. He commands a bunker.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, US Air Force B-2 stealth bombers were tracked heading west across the Pacific. Officials told Reuters the US was moving the bombers to the island of Guam as President Trump weighs whether to take part in Israel’s war against Iran.

Israeli airstrikes have already eliminated more than 20 senior figures from Iran’s military and intelligence elite - among them Mohammed Said Izadi, who was responsible for Iran’s ties to groups including Hamas.

They weren't just top brass - they were Khamenei’s confidants. The men who built his security state and enforced its will. Their sudden absence has exposed the fragility of the system he once claimed would endure beyond him.

“This isn’t just attrition. It’s amputation,” one Persian-language analyst wrote. “He’s lost the people who protected both his body and his narrative.”