Hardline Iran faction launched attack to derail peace deal — while ‘phantom’ Supreme Leader is nowhere to be found: report

NY Post ^ | 9/13/26 | Ronny Reyes

[Libloather]

A faction of hardliners inside Tehran took advantage of the country’s phantom supreme leader to launch the summer attacks in the Strait of Hormuz that derailed a peace deal with the US, according to a new report.

After the US and Iran agreed to the Memorandum of Understanding in June, Iranian moderates led by President Masoud Pezeshkian believed the cease-fire would create a pathway to permanently end the war.

Those hopes, however, were dashed when Iran attacked three vessels sailing in the Strait of Hormuz, an attack greenlit not by Tehran’s army, but by its newly appointed paramilitary chief, Hossein Taeb, the New York Times reported.

Taeb, who runs the brutal Basij militia that carried out the deadly crackdown on protesters in January, allegedly ordered the strikes in July to avoid peace at all costs, believing that Iran should not compromise with the US.

“The attack on the ships was orchestrated with the goal to blow up the memorandum of understanding with Trump and to kill the prospects of any future negotiations and deal,” Alireza Namvar Haghighi, an Iranian expert with contacts inside Tehran, told the Times.

Despite leading a force separate from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Taeb was able to get his orders through while Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei remains missing from the public.

The whereabouts of Khamenei, who was severely injured in the first strikes of the war, remain unknown, and his physical and mental condition has repeatedly come into question as his reported orders are only given on readouts.

[Libloather]

Big Mo is missing. He's got one leg. How far can he go? Hey, I've got an idea - why not ask his boyfriend?

[MtnClimber]

I think the Cardboard Gayatollah has taken the down elevator.

[SteelPSUGOP]

Let the Israelis get this asshat

[Libloather]

Not anatomically correct.

[frank ballenger]

I still can’t understand why ALL the TV media keep showing OLD, OUTDATED photos and screenshots of the leader.

And unlike all the war scenes they don’t add “File Photo” or “Pentagon Video from 2025” and so on to the news clips.

If he is not in tip top shape now then stop making it look like he is.

[frank ballenger]

Photo...

Like Vogue, Mademoiselle, Elle and InStyle, Iran is showing the latest in new cardboard cutout fashions for men. He has his own personal cardboard stylist.

[frank ballenger]

Iranian kids loved the Mister Ayatollah Head toys but the leader said they were getting on his nerves so they’re off sale now. Pinatas of Donald Trump replaced them.

[Justa]

Word is he was eaten by rodents in a bunker while still alive.

Gross.

[frank ballenger]

Word is he was eaten by rodents in a bunker while still alive. Gross.

He barely had time to do his Jimmy Cagney impression: "You dirty rats." Used to go over well in the gay clubs on amateur night.

[House Atreides]

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has descended into a well.

[Paul R.]

It is highly doubtful that the Iranian “moderates” led by President Masoud Pezeshkian have any real control over the IRGC, anyway...

[T Ruth]

the New York Times reported.

Believe Nothing You Read In the New York Times

[gleeaikin]

Is it true certain Iranian forces are keeping him out of sight to immortalize him like/as the 12th Imam?

[cymbeline]

“He barely had time to do his Jimmy Cagney impression: “You dirty rats.””

Good one!

[SunkenCiv]

• Heavy fighting spreads in southeastern Iran, with security force casualties reported [09/14/2026]
  • BREAKING: Civil War In Iran - Armed Pro-Pahlavi Iranians Attack IRGC [09/12/2026]
• Trump: Iran War Will End Even if GOP Loses Because People 'Think if We Lose,' I'll Be Mad and 'Just Take Care of Business' [09/12/2026]
  • NYT: Vance sought 'unvarnished' views on Iran war directly from commanders [09/11/2026]
• Oh, *Now* You Need Us: Houthis Rally, Seize Port City of Mocha As Yemen Coalition Splits and Trump Declines Saudi Arabia's Strike Plea [09/13/2026]
  • Users in Houthi-held Yemen tried to develop advanced weapons with AI, Anthropic says [09/14/2026]
  • The Gulf's AI nightmare came courtesy of an Iranian drone [09/14/2026]
  • Mark Steyn [Yemen]: The Wasted Years [09/12/2026]
• Shot down over IRAN. Parachute shredded in the missile strike. Looks up... NO CHUTE. Free-falling 70-100 mph toward enemy mountains with a broken back coming. He doesn't panic. He PAUSES. And prays..."Lord, Your will be done. But if I'm getting through this... [09/14/2026]
  • US airman rescued from Iran shares unbelievable tale of survival with '60 Minutes': 'Most terrifying thing I've ever seen' [09/14/2026]
• Up to three years in prison: Norway prepares to pass bill banning trade with West Bank settlements [09/14/2026]
  • So what about Qatar tipping off KSM and the Islamic 911 massacres? [09/14/2026]
  • Animal Rights Activists Defend Muslim Migrants Killing Animals [09/14/2026]
• Trump praises Witkoff, Kushner; says Gaza fighting scant and Hamas willing to disarm [09/14/2026]
  • Bill Maher to Macklemore 'You Don't Know S***' [09/12/2026]
• Yale Professor Exposes New York Times' Systematic Minimization of Hamas, Palestinian Violence in Gaza War [09/14/2026]
  • New York Times and antisemitism: the Jewish enemy within [09/14/2026]
• How the Biden White House Subverted Brazil's Bolsonaro [09/14/2026]
  • Bush's Islamic Appeasement Greatly Damaged America [09/14/2026]
• 25 Years Later, Yes, They're Winning [09/14/2026]
  • President Bush's 9-11 Message [09/14/2026]
• Jew-hating Cornell student Austin Franco gets cold-shoulder, 'dirty looks' from peers as he insists he's a campus celebrity [09/13/2026]
  • New movie depicts a vicious Nazi death camp guard, who lived for years in Queens undetected [09/13/2026]
  • We Can Kill Our Enemies Abroad And Fail To Save Ourselves [09/13/2026]
  • Increasingly obvious: Islam is incompatible with Western Civilization [09/13/2026]
  • Inside the 'summer camp' training rabbis how to use firearms [09/13/2026]
• The Strongest Argument Against Islam -- Simpler Than You Think! [09/12/2026]