Is post-Khamenei Iran following a blind roadmap?

What we observe corresponds to a real phenomenon that can be called ‘pre-programmed emergency plans.’ That’s why: 1. The decapitation of leadership creates a decision-making vacuum Among Khamenei’s potential successors within the IRGC, many were killed in strikes, making an orderly transition very difficult. 2. An improvised crisis council takes over Ali Larijani announced the establishment of a temporary leadership council. This council executes what was planned before, without thinking it through, because it lacks the time, legitimacy, and authority to improvise. 3. The pre-established roadmap is mechanically activated The strikes on the Gulf countries—including relative allies—are not the result of a thoughtful strategic decision. They correspond to operational plans of the IRGC designed upstream for a situation of “existential aggression,” activatable without a central political order.

Why hit ‘friends’ from the Gulf? The Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait host American bases. In IRGC logic, they are not “”friends”—they are vectors of American power.

The roadmap says to “hit American interests in the region.” The hosts of these databases are targets by geographical association, not by political calculation.

The real danger of this mechanism This is precisely the risk of unintended Escalation: a system that runs without a brain cannot negotiate, cannot back down, and cannot distinguish between opportunity and threat. Iranian President Pezeshkian described revenge as a “legitimate duty,” an ideological language, not strategic. It’s the voice of an autopilot system.

What we are observing is not a coherent Iranian strategy; it is the mechanical execution of a massive retaliation doctrine designed for an annihilation scenario—without regard to diplomatic consequences or even regional “alliances.” This is precisely what makes the situation dangerous: one does not negotiate with a protocol. One does not reason with a roadmap that turns itself.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)