Ali Larijani ‘eliminated’ in most significant blow to Islamic Republic’s leadership since killing of supreme leader

Regime change is already happening in Iran but it is unlikely to come as a single flashpoint, one decisive push after which the regime simply collapses in a spectacular heap in the centre of Tehran,” Dr Burcu Ozcelik, senior research fellow in Middle East security at the Royal United Services Institute, said. “Instead, its erosion is more likely to be gradual, losing credibility over its own territory and people, becoming weaker, losing its monopoly on violence, becoming less coherent as it faces sustained and relentless pressure...For now this is externally driven pressure but with time internal pressures will grow, I suspect, as Iranians find the courage and opportunities to show they seek change, not continuity at great cost,” said Dr Ozcelik.