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Interim Leadership Council

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Interim Leadership Council
شورای موقت رهبری (Persian)
Emblem of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Members of the first council from left to right: Masoud Pezeshkian, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i and Alireza Arafi
TypeInterim supreme authority during vacancy of the Supreme Leader[1]
Commander-in-chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces (5 – 8 March 2026)[2][3][4][a]
Supervisor of the three branches of the state (the Judiciary, the Legislature, and the Executive)[citation needed][a]
SeatTehran[5][6]
AppointerExpediency Discernment Council[b]
Term lengthUntil a new Supreme Leader is appointed
Constituting instrumentConstitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran per Chapter VIII Article 111
Formation1 March 2026 (First council)
Abolished8 March 2026 (First council)[9]
SuccessionSupreme Leader

The Interim Leadership Council[c] is a body that temporarily handles the duties of the supreme leader of Iran when the office is vacant.[10] The council consists of the president of Iran, the chief justice of Iran, and a member of the Guardian Council selected by the Expediency Discernment Council.[11]

The council's first and so far only composition acted as supreme leader from 1 to 8 March 2026 following the assassination of Ali Khamenei. It consisted of President Masoud Pezeshkian, Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, and Ayatollah Alireza Arafi.[7][12]

Constitutional provisions

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Article 111 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran states:[11]

Dismissal of Leader

If the Leader becomes incapable of fulfilling his legal duties or loses any of the qualifications referred to in Articles 5 and 109 or it is found that he did not possess some of the qualifications from the beginning, he shall be removed from office. Jurisdiction in this matter is vested in the Experts specified in Article 108.

In the event of the death, resignation or removal of the Leader, the Experts are responsible for designating and appointing a new Leader as soon as possible.

Until the new Leader is introduced, a shura consisting of the President, the Judiciary Chief, and one of the fuqaha of the Shura-ye Negahban [Guardian Council], selected by the Expediency Council, shall provisionally assume all of the duties of the Leader, and if during this period one of them is unable to fulfill the duties for any reason, another person shall be appointed in his place, while maintaining the majority of the fuqaha (in the shura).

This council shall act with respect to the duties referred to in Paragraphs 1, 3, 5, and 10 and Sections (iv), (v), and (vi) of Paragraph 6 of Article 110, upon the approval of three-fourths of the members of the Expediency Council. Whenever the Leader, due to his illness or any other event, temporarily becomes unable to perform the duties of leadership, the council mentioned in this Article shall assume his duties during that time.

History

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Formation proposal (1989)

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After the death of Ruhollah Khomeini, the Assembly of Experts discussed whether to install an Interim Leadership Council or an individual person; 45 members voted in favor of an individual, while 23 preferred a leadership council.[13][14] Then-president Ali Khamenei was then elected acting supreme leader.[11]

First composition (2026)

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Following Khamenei's assassination on 28 February 2026 at the beginning of the Iran war, an Interim Leadership Council was established under the terms of the constitution on 1 March, as announced by secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani.[7][15][16] The Assembly of Experts named Alireza Arafi to serve as the council's jurist member.[17] The other two members, president Masoud Pezeshkian and chief justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, became members of the council ex officio.[11]

Though the death of Khamenei was long anticipated and was expected to destabilize the regime, the turmoil was predicted to intensify due to the "vastly diminished popularity and perhaps support" for the regime among the Iranian military, as well as the presence of various contenders for this position of power in Iran.[18] The regime was weakened due to the "deep simmering anger" Iranians felt towards their government in the aftermath of the overwhelming violence it used to suppress the protests, the Israeli-US attacks, which Iranian civilians reportedly "eagerly anticipated", and the death of Khamenei, which caused celebrations to break out in Tehran and other Iranian cities.[18]

The appointment of a new Supreme Leader has been described by Suzanne Maloney, vice president of the Brookings Institution, as necessarily "improvisational" and "dictated by the context of the moment"; and as experts warned that "a smooth process is nearly impossible," her expectation was that the temporary council would remain permanent.[18] On 8 March, Assembly of Experts members Ahmad Alamulhuda, Mahdi Mirbaqiri, and Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, all stated that a choice of successor had effectively already been made, but differed in their views about the certainty of the procedure. Alamolhoda said that any change to the decision was constitutionally forbidden, and that the delay was in waiting for Hashem Hosseini Bushehri[who?] to formally make the announcement. Mirbaqiri said that "some obstacles regarding the process [still needed] to be resolved". Alekasir said that security risks were preventing an in-person meeting for the formal decision.[19][20] The election of Khamenei's son Mojtaba as supreme leader was announced on the same day.[21]

Members

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Name Portrait Position Party/Grouping
(Faction)		 Ref.
  • (born 1954)
  • age 71
 President of Iran (since 2024)
Member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (since 2008)		 Independent
(Reformist)		 [7][12]
  • (born 1956)
  • age 69
 Chief Justice of Iran (since 2021)
Member of the Temporary Presidential Council (2024)		 Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom
(Principlist)		 [7][12]
  • (born 1959)
  • age c. 66–67
Second Deputy Chairman of the Assembly of Experts (since 2024)
Member of the Guardian Council (since 2019)
Independent
(Principlist)		 [12][22]
  • Masoud Pezeshkian is viewed as a reformist, and took office as the President of the Islamic Republic in 2024.[23] The president is the second-highest-ranking official in Iran and is responsible for the implementation of the Supreme Leader's decrees, daily administration, and economic policy.[23] Pezeshkian campaigned on economic stability, the easing of social restrictions, and diplomacy abroad.[23] When the 2025–2026 protests over the rising cost of living began, he initially promised to address the concerns of Iranian business leaders; however the protests were ultimately brutally crushed by security forces and thousands were killed.[23] Amid the deadly crackdown, US President Trump threatened to intervene on behalf of the protesters and negotiations between Pezeshkian and Trump failed.[23]
  • Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i is a hardliner and an ultra-conservative Chief Justice, appointed by Khamenei in 2021.[23] He is Iran's top judicial authority and has held various senior government positions in the past.[24] He is known for his harsh sentencing and has been sanctioned by Canada, the US, Switzerland, the European Union, and others for Human Rights abuses.[23] According to the Human Rights organization Faces of Crime, as the Minister of Intelligence and Prosecutor General he "has been instrumental in suppressing, torturing, and obtaining forced confessions from protesters against the 2009 presidential election results". He is considered one of the major figures responsible for the violent suppression of the nationwide protests of 2025–2026.[24] Mohsen-Ejei was one of the candidates for the position of the new Supreme Leader.[25]
  • Alireza Arafi, head of Iranian religious seminaries and a member of the Guardian Council, a legislative body which ensures compliance with Sharia law and vets presidential candidates,[23] is also a member of the Assembly of Experts, which will appoint the successor to Khamenei.[23] Between 2009 and 2018, Arafi stood at the head of the Almostafa Institute for the "spreading the ideology of Islamic Republic" and "spreading Shia Islam."[26] According to IranWire, Arafi is a "prominent hardline cleric" and is widely considered a "staunch loyalist to the core ideology of the Islamic Republic."[27] Like Mohsen-Ejei, Arafi is a potential successor to Khamenei as Supreme Leader;[25] however he is seen as being more stringent than Khamenei on cultural issues like the compulsory hijab, and he advocates for the full implementation of Shiite Islamic law.[28] After Khamenei's death in the Iran conflict, misinformation, including an online post by US General Michael Flynn, circulated on social media platforms claiming that Arafi died in the strikes on Iran.[29] Some Israeli media outlets also reported his death; however no government, including the US, Israeli, and Iranian governments, or international media outlet, has announced his death, and that he governed Iran along with the other members of the Interim Leadership Council between Ali Khamenei's death and Mojtaba Khamenei's election as Supreme Leader.[30][31][32][33][34]

Notes

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  1. 1 2 Also during vacancy of the Supreme Leader.
  2. ↑ The Expediency Discernment Council only appoints one of the members.[7] It also gave the body expanded powers.[2][3][4]
  3. ↑ Persian: شورای انتقالی رهبری, romanized: Šurâ-ye Enteqâli-ye Rahbari. "Shura" is the term for collective decision-making in Islam.

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ https://iranjournal.org/news/wer-haelt-nach-khamenei-die-macht-in-der-hand
  2. 1 2 "Iran's interim Leadership Council given powers to declare war". 6 March 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Interim leadership council granted authority over military appointments, war decisions". www.iranintl.com. 5 March 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Iran grants interim leadership council expanded powers after Khamenei killing". Middle East Eye.
  5. ↑ "Iran's Interim Leadership Council holds next meeting". Trend.Az. 6 March 2026.
  6. ↑ "Iran's Interim Leadership Council Holds Fourth Meeting, Paving Way for Election of New Leader". SabaNet – Yemen News Agency.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Motamedi, Maziar. "Iran forms interim council to oversee transition after Khamenei's killing". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 1 March 2026. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  8. ↑ "Mojtaba Khamenei Named as Iran's New Supreme Leader – Caspian News".
  9. ↑ [8]
  10. ↑ Reals, Tucker (1 March 2026). "Iran names three men for interim Leadership Council to pick next supreme leader". CBS News. Archived from the original on 1 March 2026. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Golkar, Saeid (Spring 2019), "Iran after Khamenei: Prospects for Political change", Middle East Policy, 26 (1): 75–88, doi:10.1111/mepo.12401, archived from the original on 6 December 2020, retrieved 11 December 2020
  12. 1 2 3 4 Multiple sources:
  13. ↑ Brumberg, Daniel; Farhi, Farideh, eds. (2016). Power and Change in Iran: Politics of Contention and Conciliation. Indiana Series in Middle East Studies. Indiana University Press. p. 136. ISBN 9780253020796.
  14. ↑ Hovsepian-Bearce, Yvette (2015). The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader of Iran. Routledge. pp. 104–105. ISBN 978-1317605829.
  15. ↑ "Temporary Leadership Council to Take Charge, Larijani Says". 1 March 2026.
  16. ↑ Malekian, Somayeh; Hutchinson, Bill (2 March 2026). "Iran forms interim leadership council as President Pezeshkian resurfaces". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2 March 2026. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  17. ↑ "Arafi to head Iran's Leadership Council after Khamenei killing". Daily Sabah. 1 March 2026. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  18. 1 2 3 "Who runs Iran now? An uncertain path to new supreme leader after Khamenei's death". The Washington Post. 1 March 2026. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  19. ↑ "Iran oil sites burn as Israel threatens Khamenei successor". Iran International. 8 March 2026. Wikidata Q138607835. Archived from the original on 8 March 2026.
  20. ↑ Habibiazad, Ghoncheh (8 March 2026). "Iran's new supreme leader elected – Iranian media". BBC Persia. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
  21. ↑ "Mojtaba Khamenei to become Iran's new supreme leader". BBC News. 8 March 2026. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
  22. ↑ "Аятолла Арафи стал врио верховного лидера Ирана". Новая газета Европа (in Russian). Archived from the original on 1 March 2026. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Who are the three men on Iran's interim leadership council?". The Globe and Mail. 1 March 2026. Archived from the original on 2 March 2026. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  24. 1 2 "EXPLAINER – Who are candidates for Iran's next supreme leader?". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  25. 1 2 Jeyaretnam, Miranda; Guzman, Chad de (2 March 2026). "After Khamenei, Who Could Lead Iran Next?". Time. Archived from the original on 3 March 2026. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  26. ↑ گنجی, اکبر (2 August 2017). "معجزه «شیعه کردن ۵۰ میلیون نفر» و «به شهادت رساندن» تعداد کثیری از آنان در سوریه و عراق". رادیو فردا (in Persian). Archived from the original on 21 June 2025. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  27. ↑ "Alireza A'rafi Appointed to Temporary Leadership Council". IranWire. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  28. ↑ Turani, Behrouz (2 March 2026). "Who is the cleric suddenly at the center of Iran's power struggle?". Iran International. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  29. ↑ "'Ayotallah Arafi also killed' says Former US NSA about new Supreme Leader appointed hours after Khamenei's killing in Israel-Iran war". The Economic Times. 2 March 2026. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  30. ↑ "Reports Claim Iran's Interim Leader Arafi Killed in Airstrike". Deccan Chronicle. 2 March 2026. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  31. ↑ Mishra, Neerja (2 March 2026). "Israel Iran Latest News: Is Iran's New Supreme Leader Ayatollah Alireza Arafi Killed After Succeeding Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?". The Sunday Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  32. ↑ "Is Iran's interim supreme leader Alireza Arafi dead? Rumours swirl after Khamenei's killing | Mathrubhumi English". english.mathrubhumi.com. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  33. ↑ DY365. "Is Iran's Interim Leader Ayatollah Alireza Arafi Dead? Rumours Persist Amid Succession Uncertainty". DY365Live. Retrieved 3 March 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  34. ↑ "Has Khamenei's successor Ayatollah Arafi been killed already?". Connected to India. 2 March 2026. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
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