Former Pakistan skipper Ramiz Raja has criticised the PCB for removing Shan Masood as the Test captain for the upcoming tours of West Indies and England. The PCB has reinstated Babar Azam as the skipper, something that hasn't gone down well with Raja, who is also a former cricket board chairman. Incidentally Babar led the national Test team from 2020 to 2023. “You give him an ordinary Test team and then expect him to produce good results,” Ramiz commented on his YouTube channel. He expressed concerns that Babar, who had replaced Shan as the Test captain for the coming tours of the Caribbean and England, would also face similar challenges. "If I had been in Shan's place, I would have submitted a written protest with the board that when a captain is consistently given a group of ordinary players consistently then how can you expect positive results?," Raja lashed out at PCB mandarins. “If the standard of the Test squad is not good, how is the captain only responsi...
Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is dependent on the advice of the generals in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to manage the country, who collectively make the decisions, The New York Times reported.
"Mojtaba is managing the country as though he is the director of the board. He relies heavily on the advice and guidance of the board members, and they collectively make all the decisions. The generals are the board members," said Abdolreza Davari, a politician who was a top aide to former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with ties to Mojtaba Khamenei.
Mojtaba has been in hiding since the US-Israeli strikes killed his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28. Although he survived with injuries, his wife and son were also killed in the bombing. Currently, access to him is limited, with only doctors and medical staff treating his injuries.
To prevent Israeli tracking and potential strikes, senior Iranian military and political leaders have ceased visiting Mojtaba. His treatment is currently being overseen by the health minister and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is himself a heart surgeon.
The report says that even though the Supreme Leader is "gravely wounded", he is mentally sharp and engaged.
One of his legs has been operated on thrice, and he will be using a prosthetic for it. His arm has also undergone surgery and is gradually regaining function. His face and lips have been severely burnt, which makes it difficult for him to speak. Officials have said that he might even need plastic surgery.
Moreover, Mojtaba has not issued a statement verbally because he does not want to appear vulnerable or "sound weak", which is why he only issues written statements.
Owing to Mojtaba's safety, injuries and challenges of reaching him, the decision-making has been delegated to the generals. The report states that "ultra-hard-liners" are still participants of political discussions and the influence of clerics is diminishing.
How The Guards Have Taken Over
Iran's power structure is currently being steered by the Revolutionary Guards, who hold sway across multiple centres of authority. The force is led by Ahmad Vahidi, while Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, a former hardline commander, now heads the Supreme National Security Council. Another key figure, Yahya Rahim Safavi, continues to wield influence, as he served as a senior adviser to both father and son supreme leaders.
Meanwhile, the elected government has been pushed to the sidelines. The president and his cabinet have largely been tasked with maintaining internal stability, ensuring consistent supplies of essentials like food and fuel, and keeping day-to-day governance running smoothly, according to officials familiar with the situation.
Diplomatic authority has also shifted. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Abbas Araghchi, who previously led negotiations with the United States, has seen his role diminished. In his place, parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has assumed a more prominent position in shaping the country's external engagement.
Strategic military decisions, ranging from operations against Israel and Gulf nations to the closure of key maritime routes, have been driven by the Guards. They have also overseen ceasefire arrangements with Washington and sanctioned both backchannel outreach and direct talks. Notably, senior Guard commanders were, for the first time, directly included in Iran's negotiating team with the United States.
That said, Iran's political system has never operated as a single, unified bloc. Its structure deliberately accommodates overlapping centres of power, where disagreements are frequent and sometimes openly aired. Figures like Pezeshkian and Araghchi still retain positions on the National Security Council.
Even so, within the current leadership framework, the balance of power appears firmly tilted toward the military establishment. For now, the generals remain aligned, with little indication of internal fractures.
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