Tehran: Senior cleric Ayatollah Alireza Arafi has been named to Iran’s interim leadership council to handle Supreme Leader duties following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, state-linked ISNA news agency reported.
The 86-year-old Khamenei was killed in a major US-Israel military strike on Saturday targeting military bases, government sites, and senior leadership locations.
Under Iran’s constitutional provisions, a interim council assumes the Supreme Leader’s responsibilities during the transition period until a permanent successor is elected. The interim council comprises three key figures — President Masoud Pezeshkian, Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, and a jurist cleric from the Guardian Council.
Ayatollah Arafi fills the clerical role, bringing his extensive experience as head of Iran’s seminary system, member of the Guardian Council, and the Assembly of Experts.
Born in 1959 in Meybod, Yazd province, from a prominent clerical family, Arafi is a respected mujtahid skilled in Islamic jurisprudence and philosophy. He is also known for his technological proficiency and fluency in English, positioning him as a modern figure within the clerical establishment.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has also announced a leadership change after its commander-in-chief, Gen Mohammad Pakpour, was killed in strikes on Saturday. Ahmad Vahidi has been appointed as the new IRGC chief, according to Iranian state media.
Vahidi, a former defense and interior minister with a background in the IRGC’s Quds Force, steps into a critical role, reports said.
The IRGC is one of Iran’s most powerful institutions, with major military, political and economic influence, and operates separately from the country’s regular armed forces.
