By Liam C. Pleven
Confusion over the status of the Strait of Hormuz reflects the competing forces making decisions in Iran during a war in which many of the country's leaders have been killed.
The Iranian government, headed by the country's president and often represented to the West by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, isn't the only important power center in the country. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is Iran's strongest political and economic force, with its own ground forces, navy, intelligence and special forces. Araghchi's statement on Friday that the strait was open was followed Saturday by the military saying the strait was closed. The Revolutionary Guard's navy said it would stay closed until a U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports was lifted.
Before the war, the ultimate decision-making power on matters of national security rested with the supreme leader in Iran's theocratic regime, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But he was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the first day of the war, on Feb. 28. Several other top Iranian officials have been killed since. Clerics chose the supreme leader's son Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed him, but he hasn't appeared in public since his appointment. It isn't clear what role he has in running the country day-to-day.
The U.S. and Israel have also inflicted far-reaching damage on Iran, adding to the challenges for the country's remaining leaders. "Their command-and-control capabilities are highly degraded," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said recently. "They have a high incentive to maintain that cease-fire, even though they can't talk and organize as well as they'd like to."
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 18, 2026 18:16 ET (22:16 GMT)
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