Interim Council Masks Iran’s Security Oligarchy

After Khamenei’s assassination Iran invoked Article 111 and a three‑member interim council (President Masoud Pezeshkian, Judiciary chief Gholam‑Hossein Mohseni Ejei, Ayatollah Alireza Arafi). But real authority is likely held by a security‑elite nexus—Ejei, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Ali Larijani—who control coercion, intelligence, and elite coordination beyond constitutional formality. — If power consolidates around security brokers rather than formal institutions, international responses, domestic repression, and succession outcomes will be driven by opaque coercive networks rather than constitutional legitimacy.