it plunges IRI into chaos because there is no ready replacement
and rule by a leadership council will struggle to replace a leader which has the strong support of c. 20% of the population
I disagree with you, my friend.
1st = You made a mistake by repeating one of the oldest Zionist fake news stories, which is "only 20% of the people support the government," that's on the level of "40 beheaded babies."
2st = Kameney is an elderly man of almost 90 years old, who is physically disabled and has to take a series of medications and medical care. Kameney has less power in Iran than Putin in Russia, Erdogan in Turkey, or Maduro in Venezuela. He is a symbol and will normally be replaced by another symbol in the future (since, regardless of assassination attempts, he is already almost senile). Iran has more than 15 million theologians , and there are many others living abroad; remember that Ayatollah Khomeini came from France(1979) to Iran, this could also happen if necessary.
The US plan would be to kill or kidnap him and create another "victory narrative" in the media, but in practice (in the long term) it could have the opposite effect :
1- Iran's atomic bomb would be free to happen (if it hasn't already happened and only needs the official announcement).
2. It opens the door to the assassination of Netanyahu and other Zionist leaders.
3. It radicalizes Iran and Muslims in general (even Sunnis), leading to a race for revenge and arms race because Western media portray it as a "defeat of Islam".