I just read a pretty interesting analysis about how power is really structured in Iran right now, and honestly, this changes quite a bit in terms of the perspective on what’s happening in the Middle East.

The thing is: according to the Iranian constitution, the country is governed by a trio of powers that handle the functions of the Supreme Leader. We have three key figures sharing authority: one representing the clergy, another the administrative government, and the third the judiciary. It sounds balanced in theory, but that’s where it gets interesting.

Ali Reza Alavi is the key piece in all of this. Although technically there are three governing, Alavi carries far greater moral weight because he is the only senior ayatollah in the group. That means that when it comes to critical decisions such as invoking revenge or declaring an external war, his voice is practically decisive. He was born in 1959 and has, for more than three decades, been one of Jameini’s closest confidants, promoted directly by him.

Now, what many people don’t understand is that Alavi is not blood-related to Jameini, but he represents his political line even more hardline. He’s an extreme revolutionary who would act against the West with far less consideration than Jameini himself. That’s what makes him dangerous from a Western perspective.

Pezeshkian is there as president handling day-to-day affairs, and Mohseni-Ejei controls the judiciary, but when we’re talking about strategic decisions on national security, Alavi has the final moral say. Jameini built this system by placing his trusted man in the right position.

If you look at this from the perspective of the United States and Israel, this is definitely not what they wanted to see. An Alavi with more power than ever under Jameini’s shadow is a very different scenario from the one they faced years ago.