Iran has appointed Ayatollah Arafi as its interim Supreme Leader following the reported death of Ali Khamenei in a joint US–Israeli airstrike on Saturday.
The appointment was announced as the country begins formal preparations for a leadership transition.
Ayatollah Arafi will discharge the responsibilities of the Supreme Leader pending the selection of a substantive successor by the Assembly of Experts, the constitutional body tasked with appointing and supervising the nation’s highest authority.
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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, 67, is a senior cleric with decades of experience within Iran’s religious and political establishment.
He previously served on the influential Guardian Council and was confirmed as a member of the interim body by the Expediency Discernment Council.
He studied in the holy city of Qom, Iran’s foremost seminary centre, under prominent scholars and attained the rank of mujtahid, which authorises him to issue independent Islamic legal rulings.
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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