Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei Killed in Air Strikes, Baton Goes to Ayatollah Alireza Arafi

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Mar 1: The Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack by Israel and the United States and the country quickly named Ayatollah Alireza Arafi to its interim leadership council, which will be at the helm of the country.

The interim council, which will also include the President and the head of the judiciary, will lead the country until the Assembly of Experts “elects a permanent leader as soon as possible,” as the Iranian top officials vowed to avenge the killing of their supreme leader and declared a new wave of strike on the US bases in the Gulf defying the US president Donald Trump’s threat of an unprecedented escalation in the war.

Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency did not report a cause of death for the 86-year-old. The assassination put the future of the Islamic Republic in doubt and raised the risk of regional instability.

“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Mr Trump wrote in a social media post. He warned of “heavy and pinpoint bombing” that he said would continue throughout the week and even beyond, part of a lethal assault the U.S. has justified as necessary to disable the country’s nuclear capabilities.

Ayatollah Khamenei, killed reportedly in his residential compound in Tehran, had spoken of possibly dying in a US strike. In an emotional address last June, Khamenei said: “My body holds little value, my life bears no significance. Even if they kill me, do not count it as our loss as long as you remain steadfast on the principles of Imam Hussain.”

Iranian state media confirmed early on Sunday that along with Khamenei, his daughter, son-in-law and the granddaughter were also killed in the US and Israeli strikes. “After establishing contact with informed sources in the Supreme Leader’s household, the news of the martyrdom of the daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter of the Revolutionary Leader has unfortunately been confirmed,” the Iranian media reported.

The attack opened a stunning new chapter in U.S. intervention in Iran, carried the potential for retaliatory violence and a wider war, and represented a startling flex of military might for an American President who swept into office on an “America First” platform and vowed to keep out of “forever wars.”

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian called Khamenei’s killing a “declaration of war against Muslims” and warned: “Iran considers it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators and masterminds of this historic crime.”

The killing of Khamenei in the second Trump administration assault on Iran in eight months appeared certain to create a leadership vacuum given the absence of a known successor and because the 86-year-old supreme leader had final say on all major policies during his decades in power. He led Iran’s clerical establishment and its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, the two main centres of power in the governing theocracy.

As reports trickled out about the death, eyewitnesses in Tehran said some residents were rejoicing, blowing whistles and letting out ululations. Iran, which responded to the strikes with its own counterassault, warned of retribution.

Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, said on Saturday that Israel and America would “regret their actions.” “The brave soldiers and the great nation of Iran will deliver an unforgettable lesson to the hellish international oppressors,” Mr Larijani posted on X.

Iran state television announced a 40-day mourning period and seven public holidays following the death of Khamenei. “With the martyrdom of the supreme leader, his path and mission neither will be lost nor will be forgotten, on the other hand, they will be pursued with greater vigour and zeal,” a presenter said.

In Trump’s style and rhetoric Ali Larijani in a social media post warned: “YESTERDAY IRAN FIRED MISSILES AT THE UNITED STATES AND ISRAEL, AND THEY DID HURT. TODAY WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT THEY HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE.”

Earlier, cheers had been heard as some Iranians celebrated early reports of Khamenei’s death but — after state media confirmed his killing — pro-government demonstrations also formed, chanting “Death to America!”

As crowds demanded revenge — and Iran’s army announced strikes targeting U.S. bases in the Gulf and Iraqi Kurdistan — Mr Trump threatened to unleash “force that has never been seen before” and urged Iran’s people to rise up and seize power.

Iran’s judiciary confirmed that Ali Shamkhani, a top adviser to Khamenei, and the head of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Pakpour, were both killed. Iran responded to the strikes with a flurry of missile and drone strikes across the Middle East, killing at least two people in Abu Dhabi and another in Tel Aviv, before following up with a new wave after state media confirmed Khamenei’s death.

Iran had already seen intense speculation on a successor to Khamenei, given his age. Upon his death, many observers expected greater power for the Revolutionary Guards, which are deeply entrenched in the Iranian economy. Mr Pezeshkian and two other top officials would lead Iran in the transitional period following Khamenei’s death, state television said.

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late pro-Western shah deposed in the 1979 Islamic revolution, said any successor within the system would be illegitimate. Hailing the demise of Khamenei, Mr Pahlavi said: “With his death, the Islamic Republic has effectively come to an end and will soon be consigned to the dustbin of history.” Mr Pahlavi, who has spent most of his life in exile near Washington, has presented himself as a transitional figure to a secular democracy, but he does not enjoy support from across the opposition.

On Sunday, Arafi was appointed as the jurist member of Iran’s interim Leadership Council, the body tasked with fulfilling the Supreme Leader’s role until the Assembly of Experts elects a permanent successor.

“The Expediency Discernment Council has elected Ayatollah Alireza Arafi as a member of the interim leadership council,” said expediency council spokesman Mohsen Dehnavi in a post on X.

Ayatollah Alireza Arafi now co-governs the Islamic republic alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian and Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei. This authority was previously held singularly by Ayatollah Khamenei. Arafi, thus, is technically one of three members. But, being a cleric in a regime that has been led by only cleric as supreme leaders, he effectively becomes the seniormost and supreme.

Born in 1959 in the historic town of Meybod in the central Iranian province of Yazd, Arafi comes from a clerical family, according to his official profile. In 1969, when he was only 11 years old, he moved to Qom to further his religious studies, which he had begun under his father back in Meybod. His ascent through the ranks of the Islamic Republic was, by most accounts, deliberate and carefully managed from above.

“At the time of the revolution in Iran in 1979, Alireza was only 21 years old and was too junior to play any significant role. It is therefore not accurate to label him as part of the ‘first-generation revolutionaries’. In fact, throughout the 1980s the young Arafi did nothing to really distinguish himself from the many other young clerics that had joined the ranks of the Islamic Republic,” reads his profile by the MEI.

His name began to rise in prominence after Khamenei became the Supreme Leader in 1989 and he was first appointed as Friday prayer leader in his hometown of Meybod in 1992. He was 33 at the time, a young age for such an appointment and a clear sign of Khamenei’s trust in him.

Khamenei’s willingness to appoint Arafi to senior and strategically sensitive positions showed “a great deal of confidence in his bureaucratic abilities,” analysts said. Arafi was, still, not known to be a political heavyweight with close ties to the security establishment; but his appointment now means he might have made up for that over the years.

Over the decades, Arafi accumulated a remarkable portfolio of institutional power. Before his emergency appointment to the Leadership Council, he simultaneously held three of the most influential positions in the country: director of Iran’s nationwide seminary system, member of the Guardian Council, and member of the Assembly of Experts.

While deeply embedded in the traditional clerical structure of Qom, Arafi represents a slightly different breed of regime insider. He is considered highly educated, a polyglot fluent in both Arabic and English, and notably technologically adept. He has frequently been speaking on the need for the regime to adapt to artificial intelligence to spread its ideological message globally.

His record is not without controversy. During the 2022 protest wave that followed the death of Mahsa Amini, Arafi drew sharp international condemnation. Speaking publicly to a gathering of clerics in Qom amid the unrest, he warned protesters who targeted Iran’s clergy: “Those who attack the turbans of the clergy should know that the turban will become their shroud,” he had threatened.

As Director of Al-Mustafa International University from 2009 to 2018, Arafi oversaw the institution’s mission of exporting the Islamic Republic’s ideology. He claimed that during his eight years leading Al-Mustafa, the institute successfully converted 50 million people to Shia Islam. This number was regarded by independent experts as “unbelievable and unachievable.”