CARDBOARD ‘LEADER’: Iran’s new supreme leader is a no-show at own succession rally

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From the New York Post: Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was a no-show at his own succession rally in Tehran — and observers speculate that he’s either wounded or hiding out in fear.

As thousands gathered on Monday to celebrate Khamenei’s appointment as the country’s new supreme leader, the nepo baby mullah was represented by a mere portrait — one that was half the size of dad Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s.

The portrait of the dead leader took up the center of the stage, according to state media footage of the event.

“It’s either he’s out cold in a hospital, or he’s scared and hiding in the deepest bunker they have after seeing his dad be turned into red mist,” Khosro Isfahani, a research director for the opposition group National Union for Democracy, said of the missing Khamenei.

X user @IsraelPersian, an account run by the Israeli government, shared a video of the event showing the photos propped up on stage, and mockingly wrote, “Cardboard Leader, the Big-Mouth of the Region.”

Then, it appears they literally brought out a cardboard cutout on stage, with an image of Mojtaba Khamenei’s head attached to it.

It has been alleged, but not confirmed, that Motjaba Khamenei was wounded in an airstrike, and many are left wondering whether he is wounded or even still alive, despite that the Islamic regime has declared him their new Supreme Leader.

Hilarious and mocking memes of the cardboard Khamenei are going wild on X.

In one post, Israel shared an image of the cardboard figure featuring Mojtaba Khamenei’s head hiding in a bomb shelter and mocked, “You can run. You can hide. But cardboard regimes fold.”

In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “The Ayatollahs and their minions are on the run, but those cowards have nowhere to hide.”

Social media is exploding with mockery over the cardboard cutout of Khamenei.

Saul Sadka wrote, “Zionist liars claimed Khamenei’s Iran was a paper tiger. But after Israel & the US killed him, sunk his navy, trashed his air force & blew up his missiles, the truth was exposed at his son’s inauguration: they’re a cardboard tiger—with cute little feet.”

X user Tiffany Savage wrote, “Iran’s newly appointed supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, couldn’t turn up, so they pulled out the cardboard cutout of him instead. I can’t stop laughing at this. Tell me you’re terrified without telling me you’re terrified.”

Journalist Khadija Khan mocked, “They had to use the cardboard cutout of the mighty Mojtaba Khamenei since he was too scared to come out of his nook- he actually chickened out. Hey @AaronBastani, is this how a “martyr’s rule” begins? 😂.”

Author Shanaka Anslem Perera shared the following analysis:

This is the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He is made of cardboard.

A life-size cutout of Mojtaba Khamenei, assembled from brown panels held together with tape, was carried onstage at the Tehran allegiance rally in Revolution Square on 9 March while hundreds of thousands waved Iranian flags and pledged loyalty to a man who was not in the room. State television broadcast it live. This is not AI. This is not satire. This is a physical prop, photographed by Reuters and NurPhoto, published by the Daily Telegraph, Matzav, and Iran International, showing the new Supreme Leader’s face glued to cardboard while a handler steadied him from behind.

Behind the cutout hangs a framed portrait of Ali Khamenei, the father, garlands of yellow flowers. The dead leader gets a portrait. The living leader gets cardboard. Neither one is present. One because he was killed. The other because he cannot appear.

This is the man who constitutionally commands all of Iran’s armed forces under Article 110. The man whose title authorises 31 autonomous IRGC provincial commands to fire missiles and launch drones without consulting Tehran. The man whose name is inscribed on one-ton warheads targeting Tel Aviv and the Fifth Fleet. The man Ghalibaf rejects ceasefires in service of, Larijani threatens Trump on behalf of, and Shehbaz Sharif congratulates as “His Eminence.”

His Eminence is a piece of cardboard held upright by a man in a black shirt.

State television called him “Jaanbaz of Ramadan,” the institutional title for a war-wounded veteran. He has not spoken since 28 February. He has not appeared on camera. He has not issued a single order, statement, or directive. The 31 provincial commands that fire in his name have never received a command from him. The banks that froze citizen accounts overnight did so without his known authorisation. The doctrine that governs the war runs on pre-delegated orders from his dead father. The successor is a photograph taped to cardboard.

Seven P&I clubs modelled the probability that this man could guarantee the cessation of hostilities across 31 independent commands and concluded near zero. Look at the image. Look at the tape holding the panels together. The actuaries were generous.

The regime needs Mojtaba to exist. It does not need him to function. The cardboard proves both. He exists as a name, a title, a face on a prop. He does not function as a commander, a speaker, or a presence. The constitutional office of Supreme Leader is occupied by the most powerful piece of cardboard in the history of human governance.

Somewhere in Iran, possibly wounded, possibly incapacitated, a man named Mojtaba Khamenei holds the only constitutional key that could override 31 autonomous military commands, rescind a dead man’s orders, and stop a war. At his own rally, they could not produce the man. They produced a cutout.

The war is being fought in the name of a cardboard cutout. The Strait is closed in the name of a cardboard cutout. 87 Iranian sailors died in the name of a cardboard cutout. And the doctrine that sustains it all needs nothing more.

READ MORE from the New York Post.

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