by Transition Protocol [8-10-2026] Larry C. Johnson(bio).

Iran replaced the secretary of its Supreme National Security Council last night — by decree of a Supreme Leader the world has not laid eyes on since the strike that killed his father in February. Every newsroom carried the decree. None of them could tell you who signed it.

Transition Protocol has been told by a source close to him that Mojtaba Khamenei has largely recovered, that the change at the top of Iran's security apparatus was his own decision, and that Iran's answer to Washington is being carried to Islamabad this week. We report that as what it is: single-source and unconfirmed. We are telling you who told us and what they are in a position to know, and you can weigh it.

In this briefing, Larry Johnson and Zulfiqar Ali cover why Western analysts are misreading the elevation of Mohsen Rezaei as the arrival of a hardliner; what Iran's updated ten points now demand, including four names that were not in the April version; why six strikes on shipping in eight days have drawn no American retaliation; what the emerging Oman arrangement means for transit permission, tolls and the currency they are paid in; why Saudi Arabia cannot win the exchange it is now in with Yemen; and why Japan's refineries — not the barrel count — are the hidden mechanism behind the global diesel and jet-fuel shortage.

Analysis by Larry Johnson, former CIA analyst and former Deputy Director of the US State Department's Office of Counterterrorism, with Zulfiqar Ali. Hosted by Transition Protocol.

Iran's Ghost Leader Just Made His Move

A source close to Mojtaba Khamenei says he's back in command — and Iran's answer to Washington is already moving toward Islamabad.

Iran’s Supreme Leader has not appeared in public since February 28 — the day a strike killed his father, his wife, and his daughter. For five months, the world has run on his decrees without ever seeing his face. His own foreign minister admits he’s never personally met him. Analysts have openly questioned whether he’s alive.

Last night, one of his decrees replaced the head of Iran’s most sensitive security council — in the middle of a live negotiation with Washington.

Nobody covering this story can tell you who actually gave that order.

We can.

INSIDE THE PAID BRIEFING (What You’ll Unlock Below):

• What our source says about Khamenei’s actual physical condition — and who’s really running the government right now
• The real reason behind the Rezaei appointment — and why Western analysts have the story backwards
• The delegation quietly heading to Islamabad this week, and what it’s actually there to deliver
• Why Iran’s real counter-offer to Washington is smaller than what the wires are reporting — and the exact window it lands in
• The six unanswered strikes in the Strait of Hormuz that reveal Washington has quietly run out of military options
• How Saudi Arabia’s losing war with Yemen and Japan’s brewing debt crisis connect to all of it

The Islamabad delegation lands within days. By the time it’s public, this section will already be old news. Subscribe now to read it first...