Iran Scrambles to Appoint New Leader
Following the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran's Assembly of Experts is moving to select a new supreme leader “within one or two days.” The urgent succession process is intended to project stability and continuity as the regime unleashes retaliatory attacks and navigates a sudden power vacuum.
The 88-member Assembly of Experts, comprised of Islamic jurists elected by the public every eight years, is constitutionally empowered to select the new supreme leader. All candidates for the Assembly are first vetted by the Guardian Council, whose members are appointed directly or indirectly by the supreme leader. This is only the second time in the Islamic Republic's history that the Assembly has convened to choose a successor. Until a new leader is chosen, a temporary council assumes all leadership duties. This council is constitutionally mandated to include the sitting president, the head of the judiciary, and a cleric from the Guardian Council. The current council pairs reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian with the hardline judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei. The supreme leader holds ultimate authority in Iran, acting as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and controlling security and intelligence operations. He has the power to appoint and dismiss the head of the judiciary, the heads of state radio and television, and commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). All of Iran's ambassadors to Arab countries are chosen by the Quds Force, which reports directly to the supreme leader. Potential successors being discussed include the late leader's son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who is thought to have strong ties to the IRGC but holds no official government experience. Other names reportedly on a confidential list by the Assembly of Experts include senior cleric and close aide Mohsen Araki, judiciary head Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, and Alireza Arafi, an influential cleric who heads Iran's seminary system.
