[PLEASE PAYWALL AND SCHEDULE FOR 5 AM ET] As Iran moves to fill the vacuum left by the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the opening phase of the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic, the next man chosen to rule may not enjoy the same level of absolute authority as his predecessors. Such a succession has only taken place once before, when Khamenei was elected in 1989 to the top position upon the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic founder who led for a decade after the revolution toppled Iran's West-aligned monarchy. Since then, however
[PLEASE PAYWALL AND SCHEDULE FOR 5 AM ET] As Iran moves to fill the vacuum left by the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the opening phase of the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic, the next man chosen to rule may not enjoy the same level of absolute authority as his predecessors. Such a succession has only taken place once before, when Khamenei was elected in 1989 to the top position upon the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic founder who led for a decade after the revolution toppled Iran's West-aligned monarchy. Since then, however