Iran’s system was designed not for efficiency but for survival. Power is deliberately fragmented: the president governs under the shadow of the supreme leader; the parliament legislates under the veto of the Guardian Council; the military defers to the Revolutionary Guard, which answers to Khamenei alone.

After Saturday's major attack on Iran by the U.S. and Israel, U.S. President Donald Trump has called on the Iranian public to “seize control of your destiny” and rise up against the Islamic leadership that has ruled the nation since 1979.

New report reveals Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei operates a "state within a state" through a hidden 4,000-person apparatus controlling the military and the economy.

Until Khamenei’s successor is picked, three-member leadership council, including Ayatollah Arafi, will lead Iran.

Experts say that Iran’s clerical rulers may be too deeply entrenched for Iranians to topple them, and that the U.S. and Israeli strikes risk setting off deeper radicalization or violence.

As U.S. and Israeli strikes target Iran's top leaders, the question of succession looms large with no clear heir apparent to lead the Islamic Republic.

Trump told The New York Times that he had “three very good choices” in mind, regarding who could lead Iran. “I won’t be revealing them now. Let’s get the job done first,” he said. Trump also told The Atlantic,

"The conditions in Iran today are not comparable to those that precipitated the downfall of the Shah and the triumph of the revolution of 1979," writes Narges Bajoghli

Questions remain about how much effort the Trump administration will put into changing the Iranian government.