IRGC ‘military council’ is blocking access to supreme leader, effectively controls Iran — report

1 April 2026, 1:12 pm

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Policemen stand on top of their car with pictures of the late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right and left, and his son and successor Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during a rally in Tehran, Iran, March 9, 2026. (AP/Vahid Salemi)

A “military council” comprising senior officers of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has reportedly taken de facto control of the country, vetoing appointments by President Masoud Pezeshkian while cutting him off from Mojtaba Khamenei, the Supreme Leader.

Khamenei, who is considered a close IRGC ally, has not been seen in public since he was appointed after his father and predecessor Ali Khamenei was killed in the opening salvo of the US-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran on February 28. The younger Khamenei is thought to have also been wounded.

Informed sources cited by dissident news outlet Iran International say IRGC chief Ahmad Vahidi has nixed all of Pezeshkian’s proposed candidates for the role of intelligence minister. Israel earlier this month killed Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib.

The president is now in “complete political deadlock,” say the sources.

Iranian presidents typically nominate candidates for such roles only after security approval from the country’s supreme leader, who holds the final word on all matters of state.

But the IRGC council has placed a “security cordon” around Khamenei and prevented any contact between him and Pezeshkian despite repeated requests by the president, which have gone unanswered, Iran International says.

The council has also prevented government reports on the situation in Iran from reaching Khamenei, and has effectively taken control of the country’s decision-making apparatus, according to the outlet.

In addition, the IRGC is pushing to purge the Supreme Leader’s office of Ali Asghar Hejazi, a top aide to Ali Khamenei who explicitly opposed Mojtaba’s appointment to supreme leader, according to Iran International.

Informed sources cited by the outlet say Hejazi had warned that the younger Khamenei was unqualified for the role, that appointing him would give the IRGC full control of the country, and that hereditary succession was incompatible with Ali Khamenei’s principles.