The Ayatollah Still Has Not Come Out Of His Undergound Bunker Yet

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There is now a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. The missiles and bombs have gone silent. Without a doubt the Americans, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio worked feverishly to bring this ceasefire into effect. Those Iranian government planes flying into and out of Muscat in Oman may have had a big role to play in this ceasefire.
The Americans also took part in bombing the Iranian nuclear facilities to the Stone Age. Yet they mediated the ceasefire. Speak loudly and carry a big stick, you will solve problems - Donald J Trump.


Despite the ceasefire the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has still not come out of his underground bunker. He is still in hiding. In another age it was called occultation.
The other thing is despite the ceasefire the airspace in the Middle East is still closed. When Israel attacked Iran on  Friday 13th June 2025 the airspace above Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, large parts of Turkey, the whole of Syria, the whole of Iraq, the whole of Iran and a chunk of Saudi Arabia was closed to all civilian and commercial air traffic.
Because this was the route taken by the Israeli Airforce over the next two weeks to hit Iran. They flew unimpeded through Syria, Iraq and then into Iran. There was also a possible "southern" route through Jordan and Saudi Arabia and over the Persian Gulf.
Ever since the US invaded Iraq in 2003 (and despite the Americans "leaving" Iraq in 2021), the Americans still have full control over Iraqi airspace - until today. They maintain multiple military and airbases in Iraq. The Iraqis have no air force to speak of and neither do they have air defenses of any significance. Everything is under the control of the Americans. This condition will prevail for a very long time.
And since Al Jolani took over Damascus in December 2024 the Americans have full control over Syrian airspace as well.  The Syrian airforce was fully destroyed by Israel in December 2024 and Syria too does not have any real air defense. This condition will also prevail for a very long time.
So as you can see in this map (Flightracker??) the airspace over Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, eastern Turkey and Iran is fully closed. 


There must be terms of the ceasefire which we will ultimately know about. In brief the ayatollahs keep their pants zipped up. No more indecent exposure.
There is one more item on the agenda - regime change. The Ayatollahs seem to have been given some reprieve. But that is something that has to be seen. The Ayatollah still has not come out of his undergound bunker yet.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
By Syed Akbar Ali 

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