Iran after Khamenei: What direction after Supreme Leader's funeral?
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Some days they talk. Some days they fight. Iran and the United States have settled into a pattern since the truce signed last month. This Wednesday in Doha... they’re sort of talking. Both sides present in indirect negotiations. Whatever comes of that, the attention's now shifting to Tehran, where the Islamic Republic’s preparing for Friday’s kickoff of four days of state funeral proceedings for slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei with the regime boasting of a growing list of foreign dignitaries, a show of strength for a regime that’s more than rebounded since Khamenei was killed on the very first day of the war. A funeral intended as a victory lap for a leadership that’s always revered martyrdom? Definitely.