Senior cleric Ayatollah Alireza Arafi has been named to serve as Iran’s interim Supreme Leader following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to reports from Iranian state-linked sources.
The appointment places Ayatollah Alireza Arafi as the clerical head of a three-member interim leadership council that will temporarily assume the powers and responsibilities of the Supreme Leader during the transition period.
Under Iran’s constitution, the interim council also includes the country’s president and the head of the judiciary, and will govern until the Assembly of Experts selects a permanent successor.
Arafi, a senior figure within Iran’s religious establishment and a member of key clerical bodies, is expected to guide the country through a sensitive phase marked by political uncertainty and heightened regional tensions.
