Alive but weakened, Iran’s Khamenei faces new challenges

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.

But Khamenei, appointed Iran’s number one and spiritual…