Khomeini's doctrine demanded the most learned jurist. His successors gave Iran a man with no published jurisprudence, no emulants, and an army behind him. This is not Wilayat al-Faqih. This is Wilayat al-Haras al-Thawri.
As Tehran strikes U.S. and Israeli strategic sites, the regime faces deepening regional isolation and a critical dependence on China and Russia to survive its most profound internal and external challenge