Iran has appointed Ayatollah Alireza Arafi as its interim Supreme Leader following the reported death of Ali Khamenei in a joint US–Israeli airstrike on Saturday.
The appointment was revealed as the country begins formal preparations for a leadership transition.
While the Assembly of Experts, the constitutional body entrusted with selecting and overseeing the country’s top authority, chooses a substantive successor, Ayatollah Arafi will continue to carry out the duties of the Supreme Leader.
In line with Iran’s legal provisions for succession, Arafi will serve on an interim three-member leadership council alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian and Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei. The council is mandated to oversee the functions of the Supreme Leader during the transitional period.
Arafi, a 67-year-old senior priest, has worked for decades in Iran’s political and religious establishment.
He was confirmed by the Expediency Discernment Council to be a member of the temporary body after previously serving on the powerful Guardian Council.
He studied under eminent scholars in the holy city of Qom, Iran’s premier seminary center, and earned the title of mujtahid, which gives him the authority to render independent Islamic legal decisions.
Further details on the succession process are expected as the Assembly of Experts convenes to determine Iran’s next Supreme Leader.
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