Where's Albert?

The [not-at-all] curious case of Khamenei's absence

Sunday will be one month since the Iran–Israel War started. It’s been weeks since it ended. During this time, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (Stage Name: Albert) has remained in a bunker.

Throughout the war, decisions were made independent of his counsel, knowledge, and consent. There are many explanations for Iran’s awful performance during the war, but the biggest one is that there was no supreme commander, therefore, no strategy.

It is truly regrettable that most of my readers do not know Persian because the memes are great! The most important meme going around is a video of a Khamenei speech from the 2000s, in which he is boastfully contrasting American leaders remained hidden for days after September 11 attacks with how he and the rest of the regime’s elite would “wear battledress, ahead of the nation, ready for sacrifice,” if a crisis erupts.