Following the decapitation of the Islamic Republic and the death of the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on March 1, the Islamic Republic has activated its so-called Decentralised Mosaic Defence (DMD) doctrine, a core element of the Islamic Republic’s strategic military thinking, designed to ensure regime survival and complicate any attempt at a conventional invasion.

In anticipation of exactly the sort of missile attack that targets senior members of the Islamic Republic, plans had been put in place that creates a decentralized control of the military, according to military analysts.

If the leadership is killed, then cells of soldiers take direct control of the military materiel under their control and continue fighting without the need for orders coming down from a central command that no longer exists, Gulf News reported on March 2.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed that Tehran can withstand sustained US-Israeli military pressure, able to defend the regime despite a successful “decapitation” hit. He cited the DMD, which he claims Iran had developed over the years and will allow it to sustain a prolonged war. According to Araghchi, using the doctrine, Iran can choose how and when this war ends. He added that the bombings have "no impact" on Iran's ability to conduct war as its capacity to fight does not hinge on a single command centre, city, or leader. Decapitation doesn’t work if there is no one to decapitate.

US President Donald Trump) famously used the decapitation strategy to spectacular effect at the very start of this year in Operation Absolute Resolve on January 3 where the US government removed the sitting president of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro. However, Israel has long also employed the decapitation strategy targeting senior members of bodies like Hezbollah in last year's war in order to weaken and confuse the leadership.

In Operation Epic Fury that started on February 28 , it was reported that the US focused on military targets like missile launch sites, while the Israelis targeted top members of the regime, making use of their superior intelligence resources. Having lived through one clash with Israel during last summer’s 12-day war, the Islamic State leadership reportedly prepared for the next one by preparing the Mosaic Defence Doctrine.

This means the decapitation effort by the Trump administration, that has also been successful in the attacks on Libya and Iraq, will not work as well in Iran. In those other countries taking out Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and Syrian president Bashar al-Assad were effective as they were dictators and so when removed their regimes quickly collapsed. In Iran's case, the Islamic State is a much more institutionalised organisation with clear lines of succession, and a large council of experts authorised to appoint a new leader. Killing the Ayatollah doesn't lead to a similar automatic collapse of the regime and the Mosaic Doctrine is designed to allow the military to continue to function in the interregnum. Like a hydra, if you cut off one of its heads, new ones quickly grow back in its place.

They have been planning this structure for a long time in events like their main leader being taken out, which just happened. The doctrine also puts the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in charge of the autonomous military cells, which is fiercely loyal to the Islamic State and was set up to protect it.

This means the IRGC is now restructured into numerous largely autonomous operational units each with full autonomy for decision-making and operations during this war.

US military officials are reportedly concerned about who exactly is leading these attacks from Iran after two dozen top officials were killed in missile strikes in the last two days. The decentralised setup also explains the otherwise baffling attack on Oman, which is the “Switzerland of the Gulf” and has been actively mediating between Tehran and the White House to try and stitch together a last minute deal.

During an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos just a few days ago, Araghchi lashed out at Trump for the war’s outbreak, saying a deal was reached in Geneva on the eve of the war that was about to be signed.

“A deal was within reach. We left Geneva with (the) understanding that we'd seal a deal next time we met. Those who wanted to spoil diplomacy succeeded in their mission. But it was Mr. Trump, yet again, who ultimately ordered the bombing of the negotiating table,” he said, referring to the Omani brokered agreement.

Analysts speculate that an independent provincial or regional command decided to act on prewritten, pre-delegated instructions without higher oversight to strike Oman’s port infrastructure, as part of a plan to disrupt global energy markets and gain leverage over the US.

Araghchi said that Iran has had “two decades to study defeats of the US military to our immediate east and west,” referring to the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In both cases US “shock and awe” tactics of using overwhelming force lead to military control of the country. But after the initial successes, Araghchi said the lesson is that establishing lasting political stability in the face of decentralised insurgencies is impossible and ultimately the US withdrew from both theatres. From Tehran’s perspective, these conflicts showed that centralised systems and reliance on fixed positions can become liabilities in protracted wars.