larry johnson presents a case for and against the iran/empire dust up results in both governments; 

 

Over the course of the last two weeks, Donald Trump and his national security sycophants have been parroting the claim that there is chaos among the Iranian political and military leaders and that no one is in charge. This is a lie… and I will shortly explain what I believe is the source of that lie. Here is a sample of what Trump has been saying:

Truth Social post (around April 23–24, 2026): “Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is! They just don’t know! The infighting is between the ‘Hardliners,’ who have been losing BADLY on the battlefield, and the ‘Moderates,’ who are not very moderate at all (but gaining respect!), is CRAZY!”

He has described the Iranian government as “seriously fractured” (noting this was “not unexpected”), using it as a reason to extend a ceasefire so Iran could produce a “unified” proposal.

In comments tied to canceling envoy travel to Pakistan (April 25–26), Trump cited “tremendous infighting and confusion within the Iranian ‘leadership.’ Nobody knows who is in charge.” He contrasted this with U.S. leverage and suggested Iran should simply call if serious about talks.

I believe the source of this “intel” is Israel and I believe that Trump and his advisors genuinely believe it to be true. Let me explain why this is not the case. The newly minted Ayatollah Khamenei, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, the Iranian Foreign Minister and the head of the IRGC are

The Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is 56 years old as of 2026.

Speaker of the Iranian Parliament (Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf): born 23 August 1961, is 64 years old as of 28 April 2026.............more............