Funeral becomes a flashpoint

The funeral of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran last week was meant to be a display of unity. Instead, it exposed a deep fracture within the Islamic Republic. As President Masoud Pezeshkian walked beside the coffin, black-clad mourners turned on him, shouting 'Death to the compromiser.' Moments later, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who negotiated the ceasefire with the Trump administration, was pelted with stones and forced to flee the ceremony. The crowd called him a 'traitor who sold out the country.' These scenes, reported by CNN and carried across Greek media, were not spontaneous outbursts but the visible edge of a months-long campaign by hardliners who believe the war-time leadership is executing a 'soft coup' against the revolution.

The 'soft coup' narrative

In the most radical circles of the regime, a theory has taken hold: the officials who signed the deal with Washington are deliberately steering Iran away from its revolutionary principles. They are accused of ignoring the orders of the new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, and instead consolidating power for themselves. Hardliners argue that rather than avenging Ali Khamenei's death, the government surrendered. MP Mahmoud Nabavian, a leading voice of the radical wing, posted on X days before the funeral: 'Warning to the people of Iran: Is a coup coming?' He followed up after the burial: 'As we bid farewell to the martyr Imam (Khamenei), we raise the flag of revenge for his blood and stand against the coup.'

“Warning to the people of Iran: Is a coup coming?”

The invisible supreme leader

Central to the crisis is the absence of Mojtaba Khamenei. Since succeeding his father, he has not addressed the nation, appeared in public, or visibly exercised authority. Officials govern and negotiate in his name, but his silence has spawned competing explanations: some say he fears for his life, others that he is incapacitated, possibly from injuries sustained in a US strike in February. Whatever the reason, the vacuum has emboldened hardliners to attack the visible leadership. Iran expert Arash Azizi noted that without direct access to the new leader, radicals are turning against those who are publicly running the country.

“Without direct access to the new leader, the hardliners are turning against those who are in the front line.”

Accusations and threats

The hardline camp accuses Pezeshkian, Araghchi, and lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf of suspending parliament, ignoring the supreme leader's directives, and dismantling nightly gatherings of fundamentalist supporters that had become a pressure tool. Before the funeral, religious singer Mohammad Ali Bakhshi, linked to the regime, directly threatened Pezeshkian, warning him to abide by the leader's terms or face consequences. The rhetoric marks an unprecedented public challenge to the government from within the regime's own base.

Ceasefire under strain

The internal strife unfolds as the fragile ceasefire with the United States hangs by a thread. US forces have been bombing for a seventh consecutive day, and the deal that lifted some sanctions is increasingly seen by hardliners as a capitulation. The power struggle in Tehran now threatens not only the political order but the survival of the truce itself.