New Delhi, March 9 -- FOR A WEEK Iran had functioned surprisingly smoothly under American and Israeli bombardment. Preparations ordered by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, before his assassination on February 28th, proceeded as planned. The first wave of air strikes killed fewer among Iran's leadership than first reported. Almost all the deputy commanders and key regime figures survived, including the president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and Ali Larijani, the secretary of the National Security Council.

Early on March 9th (in Iran) came the most defiant sign yet that the regime is still intact, with the naming of Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Ali, as the country's new supreme leader. Unlike his father, who had the last word, Mojtaba is lik...