Senior cleric Ayatollah Alireza Arafi has been appointed Iran’s interim Supreme Leader following the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a joint US-Israeli airstrike on Tehran, according to the state-linked ISNA news agency.
After Khamenei’s assassination, Iran invoked Article 111 of its Constitution, activating an emergency provision under which a three-member council temporarily assumes the powers of the Supreme Leader until a permanent successor is selected.
Arafi has been named as the jurist member of this interim council, a position drawn from the Guardian Council as outlined in the constitutional framework. His appointment completes the three-person body that will exercise the Supreme Leader’s authority during the transition.
Under this arrangement, Arafi will share leadership with President Masoud Pezeshkian and Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i. Together, they now hold the highest authority in the country, replacing the singular leadership role previously held by Khamenei. As the only cleric in a system traditionally led by a religious Supreme Leader, Arafi is seen as the senior figure within the trio.
Born in 1959, the 67-year-old Arafi is a prominent figure in Iran’s clerical establishment. Prior to his interim role, he headed the national network of Islamic seminaries, served as a clerical member of the Guardian Council and was part of the Assembly of Experts.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has also undergone a leadership change after its commander-in-chief, General Mohammad Pakpour, was killed in Saturday’s strikes. Iranian state media reported that Ahmad Vahidi has been appointed as the new IRGC chief.
The IRGC is a powerful institution in Iran with significant military, political and economic influence, operating separately from the regular armed forces.
Khamenei, 86, who had led Iran since 1989, was killed in a large-scale US-Israeli strike targeting military installations, government facilities and senior leadership locations, including sites linked to Defence Minister Amir Naserzadeh and Mohammad Pakpour.
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were among the first to publicly confirm his death. Iran initially denied the reports but officially acknowledged Khamenei’s killing on Sunday morning. The country now faces considerable uncertainty as it navigates both external military pressure and a sensitive leadership transition.
