After US-Israel attack that killed Khamenei, who is running Iran now?
In the wake of the U.S. and Israel's massive and ongoing attack on Iran, which killed the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well as dozens of other leaders, questions have arisen about who is in charge.
An interim leadership council consisting of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Judiciary Chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei and Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, a Guardian Council member, are running the country, Pezeshkian announced Sunday.
The council will remain in charge until the next leader is chosen by the Assembly of Experts, a group of more than 80 Islamic scholars who are elected after a thorough vetting process by the Islamic Republic supervisory bodies. It is still unclear when the assembly will reach that decision.
The Tasnim News Agency reported Tuesday that buildings housing Iran's Assembly of Experts in Qom and Tehran were attacked.
The Israeli ambassador to the U.S. confirmed the attack, telling CNN: "We struck in an area of a meeting to appoint a new supreme leader, and there's a very good chance that the electors won't be readily available for any further meetings."
This assembly is the body responsible for choosing the next leader of the Islamic Republic. This assembly has over 80 members.
The decision to replace Khamenei takes on more salience because President Donald Trump urged Iranians to rise up and take over their government. How the new leader would square with Trump's call for a popular uprising is unclear.
Currently, the country does not have a supreme leader to replace Ali Khamenei. Iran has retaliated, targeting American military sites in several Gulf countries.
Over the past decades, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has only followed the supreme leader’s guidelines, while presidents in office have had almost zero say in the regime's international policymaking. Khamenei had wielded that power since 1989, when he became the supreme leader.
The decades-old power dynamic seems unlikely to change after Khamenei's death. The recent remarks of the country's foreign minister indicate a lack of communication among the regime's remaining top officials.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with Al Jazeera that Iran’s military command had been interrupted, with units acting in an "independent and somewhat isolated" way. He said they were operating "based on general instructions given to them in advance."
According to the Islamic Republic constitution, the country's top leadership post is both political and religious. If the Islamic Republic remains in power, it is likely that the next leader will be highly qualified in Islamic trainings, like the first two leaders of the regime who both had the title of "Ayatollah."
Pezeshkian, however, said on Monday that he has "sufficient power and a special plan" until the end of the war.
Another major figure who has recently attracted international media attention is Ali Larijani, who currently serves as secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
Larijani, a close adviser to Khamenei, has managed a broad portfolio in his political life, from leading Iran's nuclear negotiating team from 2005 to 2007 to serving as speaker of the parliament. He also has played a role in the violent suppression of protesters.
Khamenei's second son, Mojtaba, had been considered a potential replacement. He has influenced his father's political decisions and played a role in suppressing anti-regime protests.
In January, the Iranian regime killed more than 7,000 people who were participating in anti-government protests, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. More than 11,000 deaths are still under review by the group.
That violent suppression drew condemnation from the West, including from Trump, who in January promised to help the protesters.
A member of the Assembly of Experts said Tuesday that a new leader will be chosen soon.
"The election of a new leader will not take long," Ayatollah Ali Moalemi said according to ISNA News Agency.
