Trust me, I wish it weren't the case. Nobody likes being bombed and he's now a symbol of resistance. Most of the urban middle class has always hated the mullahs and various ethnic groups have conflict with the state as a whole, but Khamanei had and has support from basically every other element of society.

[1] https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/polarised-ira...

[2] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/rare-moment-indias...

[3] https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2026/3/1/thousands-in-iran...

More than half of the people who voted in the US voted for Trump. A lot of people in Iran most probably liked the old leadership there.