TEHRAN — The release of a message in Mojtaba Khamenei's name this week has raised question about whether the new supreme leader of the Islamic Republic was actually responsible for the text or whether the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has seized operational control and is using the young cleric as a symbolic conduit.

The highly unusual tone of the message — blending mourning, administrative decrees and personal narratives while issuing explicit operational threats — has furthered the impression that ultimately the IRGC crafted a statement meant to reassure domestic loyalists while signaling deterrence internationally.

Iran's leadership succession, determined by the 88-member Assembly of Experts, was murky amid the ongoing conflict. Scores of senior figures close to the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, including high-ranking IRGC commanders, intelligence officials and political actors, were killed either during the 12-day conflict last June or in recent airstrikes that also injured Mojtaba. The lack of official confirmation on his health has only added to speculation about the IRGC's de facto control over both the narrative and the nation's wartime calculus.

The IRGC has increasingly acted as the primary architect of Iran's military and strategic decisions, moving beyond its traditional role as an elite corps and into the center of governance during wartime. The organization now operates with unprecedented autonomy, and the younger generation within its ranks is believed to be adopting an even more radical approach in the Islamic Republic's foreign policy and, more importantly, in its attitude toward Israel and the United States.