DUBAI: Alireza Arafi was appointed on Sunday as the jurist member of Iran’s Leadership Council, a body tasked with fulfilling the supreme leader’s role until the Assembly of Experts elects a new leader, the ISNA news agency reported.

A cleric member of the Guardian Council, Arafi will be part of the temporary Leadership Council alongside President Mas­oud Pezeshkian and Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said a Leadership Council composed of himself, the judiciary head and a member of the powerful Guardians Council had temporarily assumed the duties of Supreme Leader following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In a recorded video statement on state TV, Pezeshkian said the council has “started its work”.

Who is Alireza Arafi

65-year-old cleric Alireza Arafi heads Iran’s centre for managing seminaries.

Arafi simultaneously serves as second vice president of the Assembly of Experts, the body responsible for appointing and overseeing the supreme leader. He is also a member of the Guardian Council.

Arafi moved to the holy city of Qom in 1971 to study Islamic sciences and, according to his official website, was imprisoned at 16 for opposing ShahMohammad Reza Pahlavi.

The youngest and least known of the three council members, he has generally adopted a cautious tone.

On Sunday, however, he struck a defiant note, saying: “The nation will continue along the path of the revolution... and will avenge the blood of the people, of the dear youth and of the dear students.”

What is Iran’s ‘Supreme Leader’?

Iran’s theocratic system dates to the 1979 revolution that ousted the Shah. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the revolution, introduced a new system of rule: vilayat-e faqih, or guardianship of the Islamic jurist.

The theory holds that until the return of the 12th Imam, who disappeared in the ninth century, power on earth should be wielded by a venerable cleric.

It means whoever takes over as supreme leader, empowered by the constitution as the ultimate authority guiding the elected president and parliament, will have to be a senior cleric.

Under Khomeini, who died in 1989, and Khamenei, who has ruled since then, the supreme leader has had the last say in all matters of state.

Who will choose Khamenei’s successor?

The constitution says a new leader must be chosen within three months. Choosing a new leader is meant to be the responsibility of the Assembly of Experts, a body of around 90 senior clerics who are elected every eight years, though with strikes continuing it is not clear how or when they will be able to meet.

Khamenei never publicly named a preferred successor and in practice the decision will likely be made by the most senior figures in the Islamic Republic who have wielded power under Khamenei for many years. The recommended successor would then have to be approved by the assembly.

The most important of those senior figures is Khamenei’s veteran adviser Ali Larijani, widely seen as Iran’s foremost powerbroker.

Who are the main candidates?

Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, has at times been seen as a likely successor but his fate is unclear. His wife was confirmed killed in a strike in Iraq on Saturday and there has been no certain news as to whether he died too.

That may mean Khomeini’s grandson, Hassan Khomeini, is a more likely choice. Khomeini is closely associated with the reformist faction that has for decades tried to moderate the Islamic Republic’s stance and may be seen as better able to assuage Western enmity and calm the fury of an embittered population Arafi and Mohseni-Ejei are less prominent possibilities who would likely continue Khamenei’s hardline stance. Mohseni-Ejei was responsible for stamping out internal protests following a disputed election outcome in 2009 when he was intelligence minister.

Assembly of Experts members Ahmad Alamolhoda and Mohsen Araki are also hardline senior clerics with a close involvement in Iranian politics who might be considered. Former president Hassan Rouhani is a senior cleric but he was distrusted by some of the most powerful hardliners who would have great sway over the choice.

The assembly could theoretically pick an even less known ayatollah as leader. But the ruling system has been so fractured by the strikes that it would be much harder to buttress the position of a newcomer.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2026