Senior Iranian cleric Alireza Arafi will serve as Iran’s interim Supreme Leader following Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s killing, the state-linked ISNA news agency reported.
Arafi has been appointed to Iran’s Leadership Council, which is responsible for carrying out the Supreme Leader’s duties during the transition period until a successor is chosen under Iran’s constitutional process.
The interim council includes President Masoud Pezeshkian, Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, and a cleric from the Guardian Council. This body will jointly lead the country after Khamenei’s death as Iran enters a transition phase.
What do we know about Alireza Arafi?
Born in 1959, Alireza Arafi is a senior Iranian Shia cleric and influential religious official in the Islamic Republic, was serving as a jurist on the powerful Guardian Council (which vets legislation and election candidates and as a member of the Assembly of Experts.
He has served as the director of Iran’s nationwide seminary (hawza) system and had earlier been appointed by Khamenei to lead major religious-educational institutions such as Jamiat al-Mustafa (an international seminary university) and to serve as the Friday prayer leader in the religious city of Qom, roles that positioned him at the centre of clerical education and political-religious authority in Iran. Arafi is noted for his alignment with the Islamic Republic’s core ideology, his scholarly credentials in Islamic jurisprudence and philosophy, and his involvement in managing religious education both domestically and internationally, Iran Wire reported.
How did Khamenei die?
Eighty-six-year-old Khamenei, who had ruled Iran since 1989, was killed in a large US-Israel military strike on Saturday. The operation targeted military bases, government sites, and senior leadership locations, including those linked to Defence Minister Amir Naserzadeh and commander-in-chief Mohammad Pakpour.
Both the US and Israel have confirmed Khamenei’s death. Iran, which initially denied the reports, confirmed the death on Sunday. Iran has also announced 40 days of national mourning after Khamenei’s demise.