The United States now has significant leverage following the strike that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as remaining regime figures could be persuaded to break from the country's theocratic leadership, former National Security Council chief of staff Alex Gray told Newsmax on Saturday.
The central question now is who, if anyone, emerges to lead, Gray said on "The Count."
"It's the question of the hour," he said. "The Iranian leaders who remain, we have to appeal to them based on the human desire to keep their power, keep their position in Iranian society."
He pointed to what he described as a "Venezuela model," in which regime insiders are offered a path to retain influence if they distance themselves from the ruling ideology.
"There's a path for them, like there was for Delcy Rodriguez and her brother in Venezuela, where they can step up, distance themselves from the theocracy, from the ayatollahs, and you can hopefully find someone from the IRGC [the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], from the conventional military in Iran who sees their interests of survival aligned with a new Iran that supports the U.S. objectives here," Gray said.
When asked whether Ali Larijani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, could fill that role, Gray expressed skepticism.
"I would be skeptical that it's Larijani," he said. "I think he is a radical through and through and has been a participant in some very significant actions against the United States and our allies for a long time."
Gray described senior elements of Iran's security forces as deeply entrenched financially and politically.
"Most of the IRGC and most of the conventional military at a senior level in Iran are gangsters," he said.
"They've spent the last 40 years profiting personally and ... turning the IRGC and other elements of the state not just into tools of oppression but into commercial enterprises."
He added that Washington now holds "a tremendous amount of leverage" to encourage figures within the regime to distance themselves from the ayatollah's ideology if they want to preserve their positions.
Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt, a Newsmax contributor, described the military operation that preceded the ayatollah's death as highly coordinated and precise.
"The president has this incredible way of helping to guide the leadership towards objectives and then letting the military do what they do best, which is plan and execute the mission," Holt said.
"We had an incredibly perfect air campaign orchestrated at night," Holt said.
"We blinded him. We knocked out the communications, cleared the path, and then there was some great innovation in the sky."
Holt declined to detail the tactics used but said, "Let's just say drone warfare has taken a new page."
He said initial reports suggest widespread losses among Iran's leadership.
"Now we're finding out the top 40 are gone, and we're giving the Iranian people the greatest promise of freedom that they could possibly have," Holt said.
Still, Holt cautioned that instability is likely in the coming days.
"Rough stuff ahead we've got for the Iranian people," he said. "They're in for some days of chaos and some great pain as we get the transition."
Holt also warned of potential retaliation beyond Iran's borders.
"Here at home and in Europe, we have to be on guard, like the State Department and the FBI are saying, for potential cells from the IRGC also linked up with the cartels that could get activated against us," he said.
He said the United States should support, but not control, any internal uprising.
"We should not hijack a revolution. We should aid it," Holt said.
"What we should not do is pick a leader. We should help them come into the world community on their own as free people."
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