Ayatollah Ali Reza Arafi has been named as the interim Supreme Leader of Iran, following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iranian media reported on Sunday.
“The Expediency Discernment Council has elected Ayatollah Alireza Arafi as a member of the interim leadership council,” said expediency council spokesperson Mohsen Dehnavi in a post on X.
Other members of the interim council are President Masoud Pezeshkian and Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei. The Council will handle the supreme leader’s duties until the Assembly of Experts selects a successor “as soon as possible”.
Who is Ayatollah Ali Reza Arafi?
Ayatollah Arafi has been a member of both constitutional watchdog Guardian Council and the Assembly of Experts that will choose the next leader. He was handpicked by late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a member of the Guardian Council in 2019.
Ayatollah Arafi is also the head of the Basij paramilitary force and the former chairman of Al-Mustafa International University, Qom.
Even before Saturday’s attack that killed Ali Khamenei, Arafi was long considered one of the top contenders to succeed him due to his deep institutional ties and administrative experience.
67-year-old Arafi, whose father, Mohammad Ibrahim al-Arafi, was a close friend of Ruhollah Khomeini, is considered a hardliner.
‘Declaration of war against Muslims’
Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian said the killing of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was a “declaration of war against Muslims” on Sunday, vowing vengeance.
Iranian security chief Ali Larijani then vowed to hit the US and Israel with a force never seen before.
The Iranian Supreme Leader who led the country for more than four decades, along with his family members were killed in the US-Israeli attacks on Saturday.
Several top security officials and government figures have also been killed in the ongoing attacks.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps pledged revenge and says it has launched attacks on 27 bases hosting US troops in the Middle East, as well as Israeli military facilities in Tel Aviv.
