Alive but weakened, Iran's Khamenei faces new challenges

This image grab taken from footage broadcast by Iran's IRIB news state television on June 26, 2025, shows Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, addressing the nation in front of a portrait of his predecessor, the late founder of the Islamic republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. [AFP]

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has re-emerged after the war with Israel but faces a struggle to maintain the authority he has wielded over the Islamic republic in over three-and-a-half decades of rule, analysts say.

After days of silence, Khamenei appeared on Thursday in a video address to proclaim "victory" and prove he is still alive following the 12-day conflict with Israel which ended with a truce earlier this week.