IRAN will fight on led by a “ghost” ayatollah in a bid to cripple the world’s economy, it was revealed last night.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei put his nation’s war machine on autopilot before he was wiped out in the first action of Operation Epic Fury.
His shadowy son Mojtaba, 56, succeeded him five days ago (May 8) but has never given a public speech and has stayed silent, with rumours he is already dead.
And Iranian insiders told The Sun yesterday this was his evil father’s grand plan – and that troops launching drones and missiles have been primed to fight on, led by “a ghost”.
The fate of Mojtaba – who lost his wife, Zahra and eight-year-old son Bagher as well as his mother and sister in the blast which killed his 86-year-old father – remained unclear last night.
But State TV is now openly referring to him as “Jaanbaaz of Ramadan” – an Iranian phrase meaning a wounded war veteran.
Evil Khamenei’s Snr’s legacy will be spiralling fears of World War III, coupled with higher bills and economic misery for Brits and consumers across the globe
Before he was blown to bits in his presidential palace, the tyrant had spent years honing a strategy to kick into gear in the event of his assassination.
Khamenei watched and learned in 2003 when US forces conquered neighbour Iraq in 2003 by capturing and killing leader Saddam Hussein and his top lieutenants.
He appointed trusted henchman Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari who spent the next four years devising a contingency plan.
Jafari divided Iran – which is seven times bigger than the UK – into 31 autonomous command centres of the all-powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Iranian sources and analysts revealed yesterday that these self-governing commands are now running Iran’s war and suppressing dissent without directions from a leader in capital Tehran.
An exiled Iranian analyst – who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals – told the Sun: “Mojtaba Khamenei has not spoken since his father was killed – he has not appeared at all on TV.
“He has not issued any kind of statement or said a single word.
“There has been no stirring address to the armed forces he now commands and that has fuelled speculation that he is seriously wounded or even dead.
“But that doesn’t matter any more.
“His father left behind a system which has kicked into gear which can be run by a ghost.
“That is why Iran’s missiles and drones are still flying and it’s why the war will go on.”
Mojtaba may be in the shadows but he is known to have close ties with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and its brutal protest-crushing paramilitary arm, known as The Basij
And experts say fanatical troops will remain loyal to him, even if he is little more than a silent figurehead.
Even before the war, Iran’s new Supreme Leader – who is reported to control a £70 million property portfolio in London – was known to be more extreme than his hate-filled father.
But Mojtaba is now potentially even more dangerous after his loathing for his western enemies was fuelled by the loss of his close family.
And his heavily armed and motivated henchmen will share his lust for revenge – whether he is dead or alive.
