FIRST ON FOX: A new report exploring the inner operations of Ayatollah’s office claims the Islamic Republic’s true command structure does not lie within Iran’s visible government, but rather in a shadow system designed to uphold regime control even if the supreme leader himself fades from public view.
Titled “Unmasking the Bayt: Inside the Supreme Leader’s Office,” the report—published by United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and authored by Saeid Golkar and Kasra Aarabi—depicts the Bayt, the Supreme Leader’s Office, as a vast institutional network embedded across Iran’s military, economy, religious institutions, and state bureaucracy.
“It is the hidden nerve center of the… it operates as a state within a state,” Aarabi stated in an interview with Digital.
According to Aarabi, this system enables Khamenei to oversee and shape decision-making at every level of the Islamic Republic, including nuclear policy, war planning, and internal security.
“This is what grants Khamenei absolute control. It is not the visible state—this is the invisible state,” he said.
The report estimates approximately 4,000 individuals operate within the Bayt’s core structure, with tens of thousands more working through affiliated institutions across the country.
“There are about 4,000 close employees… think of them as commissars… the actual policymakers,” Aarabi noted. “Beyond that, the Bayt’s umbrella includes 40,000 individuals working for it… entrenched in every layer of policy, every state entity.”
The report maps a tightly managed inner circle at the top of the Bayt, including Khamenei’s sons, particularly Mojtaba Khamenei, who is described as functioning like a “mini-supreme leader” within his father’s office.
It details how the structure extends directly into Iran’s military command chain, with senior promotions requiring approval from the Supreme Leader’s office and parallel counterintelligence bodies monitoring loyalty across the armed forces. The Bayt, the report adds, also plays a pivotal role in nuclear negotiations and wartime decision-making, ensuring ultimate authority remains centered on the supreme leader.
The network, Aarabi said, effectively replicates state ministries within Khamenei’s office, allowing direct oversight and ideological enforcement across government agencies, universities, and cultural institutions.
The report further outlines how the Bayt sustains regime stability through control of the economy, religious institutions, and the education system. Networks of foundations and conglomerates linked to the supreme leader manage major sectors of Iran’s economy, while clerical institutions, universities, and cultural organizations are monitored by embedded representatives tasked with enforcing ideological compliance and quashing dissent.
“Think of the Bayt as the nucleus of the regime’s core power,” Aarabi stated.
The findings emerge amid renewed speculation about Khamenei’s health and reduced public appearances, as well as rising regional tensions and the potential for involving Iran.
Aarabi dismissed suggestions that Khamenei’s absence from public events signals weakening authority or internal division.
“We witnessed this during the… even if he is hidden in a bunker, he remains in full control. The Bayt has been strengthening Khamenei’s grip on power,” he said.
The structure, he argued, was intentionally built to function even without the supreme leader physically present.
“Even if he is removed, the Bayt as an institution allows the supreme leader to continue functioning,” Aarabi said. “View the supreme leader as an institution rather than just a single individual.”
The report places at the top of Iran’s power hierarchy, above the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the formal government.
“The Bayt is the core apparatus… the strategic policymaking body driving the ballistic missile program, , and regional destabilization,” Aarabi said.
The implications, he added, are significant for policymakers in Washington and the region, especially as the U.S. considers options for addressing Iran’s nuclear program and regional activities.
“Eliminating Khamenei alone is insufficient… you must dismantle this extensive apparatus he has created,” Aarabi stated.
Instead, any effort to weaken the regime would require targeting the broader institutional structure surrounding the supreme leader, not just the individual at its center.
“It demands a comprehensive strategy… cyber operations, sanctions, and a military component,” he said. “For meaningful change in Iran… you must target the core nucleus of power within the Islamic regime, which is the Bayt.”
Commenting on reports of Khamenei being a target, he said, “The elimination of Khamenei alone is not enough… dismantling the Bayt’s extensive apparatus is essential,” he added.