Despite military setbacks during the war, Tehran is presenting a narrative of victory before negotiations with Washington.

Washington and Tehran would need to defend any potential deal as a win for their side. And each has a leader whose approach to talks is vexing mediators.

Decision making in the country is guided by a small group of men associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement that Iran would establish “new legal frameworks” for the Strait of Hormuz. He also said his country would retain its nuclear capabilities.

The killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ushered in a new form of collective leadership in the country, with more power for the Revolutionary Guards.

The fighting continued while conditions for a possible cease-fire were debated.

The Israeli military said it had killed the spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and Iran warned that it could target American and Israeli military personnel.

The Persian new year and the end of the holy month of Ramadan were marked by continuing strikes in the region as the war reached the end of its third week.

The weeklong fight over Iran’s next leader pitted the Revolutionary Guards against moderates. The generals won, but only over spirited resistance.

Iran’s new supreme leader delivered a forceful message in his first public statement since succeeding his slain father, as the Israeli military bombarded Tehran and the Lebanese capital with strikes.

Officials say Mojtaba Khamenei’s legs were hurt, but the circumstances as well as the extent of his injuries were unclear. He has remained out of view since being announced as leader three days ago.

His father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had turned what was traditionally a religious affairs office into a shadowy national security juggernaut.

Opponents of the government, however, worried the new supreme leader, a son of the recently killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would rule with an iron fist like his father.

Iran named Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as his father’s successor. The Pentagon announced the death of a seventh U.S. service member.

Mojtaba Khamenei takes on a role that makes him not only Iran’s spiritual leader but also the highest authority in the land.

The selection of a son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a strike on his compound at the start of the war, could anger Iranians seeking change.

The succession of the slain leader’s son is seen as a signal of the Islamic republic’s defiance of Israel and the United States, and of continuity during crisis.

Iranian state media reported that the country’s top clerics have identified who will replace Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They have not released his name.

With their pervasive military, political and economic clout, the Guards are often considered the main impediment to regime change, or any change, in Iran.

If Mojtaba Khamenei is chosen by Iran’s senior clerics, it may signal a victory for hard-liners, an analyst said.