Iran apologises for strikes on Gulf states, but attacks continue: Who commands Guards amid Tehran power vacuum?

Dubai: Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian apologised to neighbouring countries for Iranian attacks across the region, suggesting they were the result of miscommunication within the ranks following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

He said Iran’s interim leadership council had decided that no further strikes would be carried out against neighbouring countries unless attacks on Iran originated from their territory.

“I must apologise on my own behalf and on behalf of Iran to the neighbouring countries that were attacked by Iran,” Pezeshkian said in remarks broadcast on state television.

“The interim leadership council agreed yesterday [Friday] that no more attacks will be made on neighbouring countries and no missiles will be fired unless an attack on Iran originates from those countries,” he added, saying the issue should be resolved through diplomacy.

However, despite the council’s decision, Iranian missiles and drones were reported targeting several Gulf states on Saturday as the conflict widened, triggering air defence responses in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The apparent contradiction raised questions about command and control within Iran’s armed forces as the war intensifies across the region.

Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has been at the forefront of the conflict, traditionally answers directly to the country’s supreme leader rather than the elected government.

However, an Israeli airstrike at the start of the war killed Khamenei, leaving the position vacant and forcing Iran’s political leadership to rely on a temporary leadership council.

Under Iran’s constitution, a three-member interim council — including the president, judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei and a senior cleric chosen by the Assembly of Experts — assumes the powers of the supreme leader until a successor is appointed.

Analysts say the arrangement could complicate the chain of command during wartime, particularly because the Revolutionary Guard controls Iran’s missile forces and oversees many of the country’s regional military operations.

The Guard has played a central role in the conflict with Israel and the United States, launching missiles and drones across the region while Israeli and US forces continue airstrikes on Iranian targets.

The developments have raised concerns that fragmented command structures or operational decisions taken independently by military commanders could contribute to continued attacks across Gulf states despite the leadership council’s announcement.

Analysts also say Iran’s elected leadership has limited authority over military and strategic decisions, which are largely controlled by the office of the Supreme Leader and the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Political leaders generally oversee administrative and domestic affairs, while decisions on foreign policy, security and military operations are taken by the supreme leader and senior commanders within the Guard, according to regional analysts.

With the supreme leader now dead, the Revolutionary Guard could be exercising even greater influence over operational decisions during the conflict.

“The centre of power in Iran lies with the office of the supreme leader and the Revolutionary Guard, even in peacetime,” one analyst said, adding that the Guard may now be playing a dominant role in determining whether further attacks are carried out.

The group’s new commander, Ahmad Vahidi, is widely regarded as one of the more hardline figures within the organisation, analysts say.

Under Iran’s political system, the supreme leader serves as commander-in-chief of all armed forces, including the Revolutionary Guard, the regular army and the country’s strategic missile forces.

With Khamenei dead, authority has temporarily shifted to the interim leadership council while the Assembly of Experts prepares to appoint a new supreme leader.

In theory, the council exercises the same powers as the supreme leader, including command over the armed forces. However, analysts say the wartime situation could complicate the chain of command, particularly given the Revolutionary Guard’s powerful role and its operational control over many military actions in the conflict.

Pezeshkian’s reference to “miscommunication within the ranks” suggested that some of the recent attacks may not have been centrally coordinated.

However, Pezeshkian’s apology and call for diplomacy signalled that Iran’s leadership may still be seeking ways to prevent the conflict from spreading further across the region.