Those who have decided to intervene militarily must take responsibility: If the regime falls, the country must not become another failed state.
Just as the U.S. and Israeli military attack on Iran without any legal mandate is reprehensible for breaking international law, so too, is the death of Iranian leader Ali Khamenei. The ayatollah, killed in a bombing claimed by the Israeli Air Force, led a regime that violated the rights of its population for decades.
He and his government will hold a place in the annals of infamy; however, his fate should not have been to be crushed under the rubble of his headquarters, but to have appeared before a court of law.
This will no longer be possible because once again, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have chosen the dangerous shortcut of applying summary justice instead of respecting international law. This is yet another failure of the rules-based world order built through transnational institutions, including institutions of justice, after World War II.
The decapitation of the Iranian regime — in addition to Khamenei, the number of government and military officials killed is increasing by the hour and already stands at more than 40, — opens a period of uncertainty about the future of a country whose internal opposition has been cruelly repressed for years. Yet, its theocratic leadership has been preparing for Khamenei's succession for months due to his age (he was 86 years old) and, in addition, has had time to make contingency plans for situations such as the one that has just occurred.
That the Islamic dictatorship quickly appointed an interim committee to lead the country comprising President, Masoud Pezeshkian; head of the judiciary, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i; and the ayatollah Alireza Arafi, who, as a religious leader, is Khamenei’s provisional successor as supreme leader shows that the regime at least had a contingency plan in the face of a devastating blow like the one it has suffered. It remains to be seen whether its willingness to negotiate with the United States — as Trump announced yesterday — is meant to secure its hold on power under the new Venezuelan-style arrangements or, as would be preferable, to pave the way for a credible democratic transition.
Meanwhile, the fact that Iranian counterattacks continued yesterday on Gulf countries in which the United States has military installations, that a ballistic missile fell on Jerusalem, and that several projectiles almost reached Cyprus proves that the chain of command is still operational — and that the danger of an expanding war is still real.
The consequences of the intervention ordered by Trump have a global impact. We will have to see how it affects the oil market and energy prices this Monday, but, above all, how it directly impacts the Iranian civilian population.
It is legitimate to ask if those who have decided to change Tehran's government militarily also have a viable and realistic vision for a stable future that includes a democratic opposition — that is, a plan so that Iran does not join the ranks of failed states in the region should the ayatollahs’ regime collapse after more than four long decades.
History has already shown that aircraft carriers and missiles cannot bring lasting security and that overthrowing governments cannot produce regional stability.