{"id":347326,"date":"2026-08-15T12:26:52","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T11:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=347326"},"modified":"2026-08-15T12:27:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T11:27:35","slug":"obedience-not-consensus-irans-factional-war-exposes-a-vacuum-at-the-centre-of-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/obedience-not-consensus-irans-factional-war-exposes-a-vacuum-at-the-centre-of-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Obedience, Not Consensus: Iran\u2019s Factional War Exposes a Vacuum at the Centre of Power\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_319993\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-319993\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-319993\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/iran-parliament-majlis-fighting-29052024.jpg\" alt=\"FILE PHOTO: Lawmakers engage in a physical altercation in Iran\u2019s parliament amid rising factional tensions.\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/iran-parliament-majlis-fighting-29052024.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/iran-parliament-majlis-fighting-29052024-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/iran-parliament-majlis-fighting-29052024-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/iran-parliament-majlis-fighting-29052024-746x420.jpg 746w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/iran-parliament-majlis-fighting-29052024-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/iran-parliament-majlis-fighting-29052024-696x392.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-319993\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">FILE PHOTO: Lawmakers engage in a physical altercation in Iran\u2019s parliament amid rising factional tensions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Three-minute read<\/span><\/i><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;335559738&quot;:400,&quot;335559739&quot;:200}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The clerical dictatorship\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/iranian-regime-infighting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">internal crisis<\/a> is no longer confined to competing opinions over policy. It is a struggle over who can speak, decide and command while the regime confronts economic pressure, regional confrontation and a profound crisis of public legitimacy. The language of unity now saturates official platforms precisely because unity is in short supply.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">On <\/span>August 11, 2026, a state-television discussion offered a rare admission from within the ideological apparatus. Mohammad Abotalebi of the Imam Khomeini Institute said that \u201cmany are using the opportunity of the apparent absence of the <i>vali-e faqih<\/i> to slowly remove the principle of <i>velayat-e faqih<\/i>.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iranntv.com\/1000259-%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D9%BE%DB%8C%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%88%DB%8C-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D9%85%DB%8C%D9%84%DB%8C-%D9%85%D8%B1%DA%AF-%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B5%D9%84-%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%AA-%D9%81%D9%82%DB%8C%D9%87-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%B1%DA%98%DB%8C%D9%85\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">He warned<\/a> that the first step would not necessarily be abolition, but a transfer of real authority from the supreme leader to other institutions and officials. The significance is not the speaker\u2019s alarmism. It is that an insider now treats the central doctrine of clerical rule as politically vulnerable.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Two days earlier, Ahmad Khatami, one of the Friday prayer leaders of Tehran, gave the hardline answer: obedience rather than deliberation. \u201cIf someone says the Leader gives an order and it must be examined by experts\u2014this is not how it works,\u201d he declared in Isfahan on August 9<span data-contrast=\"auto\">. \u201cIf you want to be obedient to the Guardianship, you must say, \u2018Yes.\u2019\u201d That demand reveals the regime\u2019s dilemma: it can insist on submission, but it cannot manufacture the authority and confidence that submission once implied.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120}\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:60}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Inside Iran\u2019s Power Pyramid: Who Shapes Decisions and Who Implements Them?<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/rL8AqJT3DW\">https:\/\/t.co\/rL8AqJT3DW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/iran_policy\/status\/2088350088657588384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 14, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Consensus with no authority<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The regime\u2019s president Masoud <a href=\"https:\/\/donya-e-eqtesad.com\/%D8%A8%D8%AE%D8%B4-%D8%B3%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%AA-%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86-62\/4287289-%D8%A7%D8%B8%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%AC%D8%AF%DB%8C%D8%AF-%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%86-%D9%BE%D8%B2%D8%B4%DA%A9%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%87-%D8%AA%D8%B5%D9%85%DB%8C%D9%85-%DA%AF%DB%8C%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D8%B4%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%86%D9%81%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%B6%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B6%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%87%D9%85-%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87-%D8%B1%D8%A3%DB%8C-%D9%85%D8%AB%D8%A8%D8%AA-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AF-%DB%8C%DA%A9-%D9%86%D9%81%D8%B1-%D8%B1%D8%A3%DB%8C-%D9%85%D9%86%D9%81%DB%8C-%D8%B5%D8%AF%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%B7%DB%8C%D9%81-%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%87-%DB%8C%D8%A7-%D9%86%D8%B2%D8%AF%DB%8C%DA%A9-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D9%87%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%DB%8C%DA%A9-%D9%86%D9%81%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D9%87%D9%85%D9%87-%D8%A8%D9%84%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%AA%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pezeshkian\u2019s televised interview<\/a> on 9 August exposed the same contradiction at the summit of the state. He said that in the Supreme National Security Council, \u201c12 of the other 13 members had reached agreement,\u201d but added that \u201cultimately, the Leader announces the final decision\u201d. While the clerical establishment has always operated as a strict one-man rule, what is unprecedented is that insiders from deep within the system are now openly daring to question its core logic.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:60}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">That concentration of power produces paralysis as well as rivalry. In the Majles on <\/span>August 10<span data-contrast=\"auto\">, Deputy Speaker Hamidreza Haji-Babaei said negotiations with the United States were \u201ccurrently halted and do not exist,\u201d while another member, Mohammadreza <a href=\"https:\/\/www.khabaronline.ir\/news\/2258002\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Naghdi-Ali, demanded<\/a> that parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf resign from leadership of the negotiating team and disclose the content of understandings with Oman. \u201cWe have no answer,\u201d he said of constituents\u2019 questions about livelihoods. The factional quarrel is thus tied directly to the social crisis: rival officials cannot explain policy because the system has no transparent, accountable chain of decision-making.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The revolving door at the Supreme National Security Council and the public dispute over negotiations, the Strait of Hormuz and economic hardship are not signs of pluralism. They are symptoms of a dictatorship caught between incompatible necessities: confrontation or accommodation abroad, economic concessions or repression at home, and collective management or absolute clerical command at the apex.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;This shakeup reveals a stark institutional calculation. By maintaining a posture of permanent external crisis, the regime seeks to justify its heavy-handed domestic controls and violently suppress an explosive society before the economic collapse triggers an inevitable revolt,&quot;\u2026<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/iran_policy\/status\/2087865632918299118?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 13, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">The next stage of the crisis<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The regime\u2019s likely response is to tighten the demand for ideological obedience, elevate more security figures and portray dissent as service to a foreign enemy. Yet this approach treats the symptom, not the cause. It cannot settle succession anxieties, reconcile competing security and political networks, or persuade a population already burdened by inflation, shortages and arbitrary government.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The most dangerous development for the clerical regime is not one dramatic split but a steady loss of coherence. The more officials publicly confess that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/economy\/irans-economic-paralysis-a-54-day-digital-siege-and-post-war-collapse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">system is paralyzed<\/a>, the more its claim to divine and institutional authority is eroded. Iran\u2019s rulers may still enforce silence, but they are increasingly unable to turn silence into consent. What is unfolding is a factional war at the top of a system whose social base, governing capacity and organizing doctrine are all under pressure at once.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three-minute read&nbsp; The clerical dictatorship&rsquo;s internal crisis is no longer confined to competing opinions over policy. It is a struggle over who can speak, decide and command while the regime confronts economic pressure, regional confrontation and a profound crisis of public legitimacy. The language of unity now saturates official platforms precisely because unity is in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":319993,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-347326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Obedience, Not Consensus: Iran\u2019s Factional War Exposes a Vacuum at the Centre of Power\u00a0 - NCRI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Three-minute read\u00a0 The clerical dictatorship\u2019s internal crisis is no longer confined to competing opinions over policy. 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