After Khamenei’s killing, who is running Iran now?
Iran has announced transition plans following the killing of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a joint Israeli-US attack of unprecedented scale.
The plans include the formation of an interim leadership council including the president, the head of the judiciary and a jurist from the Guardian Council, the body that oversees legislation and vets electoral candidates.
Also playing a central role is Iran’s top security chief Ali Larijani.
Here is a look at the key figures overseeing the transition:
– The president –
President Masoud Pezeshkian, 71, is one of three members of the interim council leading the country until a new supreme leader is elected.
The reformist heart surgeon-turned-politician took office in June 2024 after his predecessor died in a helicopter crash.
Pezeshkian was born in 1954 to an Iranian father of Turkic origin and a Kurdish mother in the city of Mahabad in the northwestern province of West Azerbaijan.
A technocrat known for his calm demeanour, Pezeshkian has overseen the government during turbulent times, including last year’s 12-day war with Israel and mass protests over rising living costs that peaked in January.
On Sunday, he described Khamenei’s killing as a “declaration of war against Muslims” and said Iran’s response would be a “legitimate duty and right”.
– The judiciary chief –
Shiite cleric Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, about 68, is also a member of the leadership council.
He was born in the village of Ejeh in central Iran’s Isfahan province.
A long-time figure within the Islamic republic’s judiciary and security apparatus, he was appointed head of the judiciary in 2021 by Khamenei.
Ejei completed his Islamic studies in the Shiite holy city of Qom and holds a master’s degree in international law, according to the judiciary’s website.
He carries the clerical title of hojatoleslam — one rank below ayatollah.
In 2010, he was placed under US sanctions for “serious human rights abuses” linked to the crackdown on protests following then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed 2009 re-election, when he was serving as intelligence minister.
“The evil regime of America and the humiliated and slanderous Zion should know that the great nation of Iran will never forgive the blood of its heroic leader,” he said after Khamenei’s killing.
– The jurist –
The interim leadership council includes 65-year-old cleric Alireza Arafi, who heads Iran’s centre for managing Shiite seminaries.
He 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 Shah Mohammad 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.”
– The security chief –
Ali Larijani, 68, is currently the head of Iran’s top security body, the Supreme National Security Council.
He is believed to have enjoyed Khamenei’s confidence after a long career in the Islamic republic’s military, media and legislature.
He was born in Najaf, Iraq in 1957 to a prominent Shiite cleric who was close to the Islamic Republic’s founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
His family has been influential within Iran’s political system for decades.
On Sunday, Larijani outlined Iran’s post Khamenei transition plans and, mimicking US President Donald Trump, vowed to hit Israel and the US with “A FORCE THAT THEY HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE”.
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