ANALYSIS

As Ali Khamenei’s coffin is carried through days of state-orchestrated mourning, the Islamic Republic is trying to recast a humiliating wartime death as martyrdom, continuity and power, and repair a system wounded by war and public distrust.

Since becoming Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei has repeatedly used ba’sat, a term rooted in divine mission, to cast Iranians not just as citizens but as a force tasked with carrying forward the Islamic Republic’s project at home and beyond.

Comments by an establishment pundit suggesting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) could be dismantled from within have raised an extraordinary question: is Tehran preparing to reinvent one of the pillars of the Islamic Republic?

Global oil prices have fallen back to around where they stood before the Iran war. But the decline reflects not a recovery in supply but a combination of emergency measures including strategic reserve releases, alternative export routes and, above all, weakening global demand.

Direct-to-cell satellite technology could one day help Iranians bypass part of the Islamic Republic’s digital blockade, but it is not yet a practical solution to the country’s internet shutdown despite widespread hopes.

The preliminary memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington to end the 70-day conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz has reshaped the regional balance, with consequences extending far beyond the battlefield.

Iran’s negotiators have opened a renewable 60-day clock. Its factories may not have that long. The Chamber of Commerce’s own PMI survey shows warehouses emptying, orders drying up and production lines at risk of stoppage within months.

The United States' new Iran sanctions waiver could do more than boost Iranian oil exports. It may also help shift Iranian energy trade from shadow networks back toward conventional global markets.

The agreement between Tehran and Washington holds out the prospect of sanctions relief and potentially unprecedented foreign investment, but many of its economic promises remain uncertain and some may prove difficult to deliver even if negotiations succeed.

The memorandum of understanding signed on Thursday has prompted fresh hopes of an economic revival in Iran. But even a successful US-Iran agreement may do far less for the country's oil industry than many supporters expect.

Iran's plan to connect its electricity grid to Qatar highlights a growing paradox at the heart of the country's energy strategy: even as Tehran seeks a larger regional role through cross-border energy diplomacy, it faces one of the worst domestic power shortages in decades.

The Memorandum of Understanding concluded this week between Washington and Tehran may help halt active hostilities and reopen one of the world's most important waterways, but its durability is far less certain than its supporters suggest.

Iran emerged from the recent conflict militarily weakened, its regional proxies battered and its deterrence challenged, yet many analysts now warn that Tehran may be turning battlefield losses into political leverage.

Iran's hardliners have erupted against the US-Iran MoU with death chants against chief negotiators Abbas Araghchi and M. Bagher Ghalibaf, but experts say the backlash is unlikely to derail a deal the ruling elite sees as essential to the regime's survival.

Canada’s response to the latest Iran crisis reflects the contradiction at the heart of Western policy toward Tehran: a continued call for diplomacy with a government it simultaneously treats as a source of terrorism, repression and regional instability.

Iran and Israel have paused direct attacks, but Tehran's latest warning suggests the conflict may be evolving rather than ending.

The Trump administration's sanctions on Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchange mark an escalation in Washington's effort to disrupt the financial infrastructure Tehran uses to operate outside the formal banking system.

Iran's imports of services surged to a record $25.5 billion in 2025 while merchandise imports fell sharply, according to newly released data from the Central Bank of Iran, highlighting a significant shift in the country's trade structure.