Kamal Ghorui
Iran’s Assembly of Experts has reached a decision on the country’s next supreme leader following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, although the name of the chosen candidate has not yet been announced, members of the body said on Sunday.“The most suitable candidate, approved by the majority of the Assembly of Experts, has been determined,” Mohsen Heydari, a member of the selection body representing Khuzestan province, said according to Iran’s ISNA news agency.Another member of the body, Mohammad Mehdi Mirbagheri, also confirmed that the clerical council had reached a consensus.“A firm opinion reflecting the majority view has been reached,” Mirbagheri said in a video carried by Iran’s Fars news agency.The Assembly of Experts is the body responsible for appointing Iran’s supreme leader, the country’s highest authority who holds ultimate control over the military, judiciary and key state institutions.The decision comes after the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in joint United States and Israeli air strikes, triggering a major escalation in tensions across the Middle East.US President Donald Trump announced Khamenei’s death after the strikes, writing that “Khamenei, one of the most evil people in history, is dead,” and calling the attack “justice for the people of Iran” and for Americans and others allegedly harmed by Tehran.The death of the 86 year old leader has pushed Iran into a sensitive transition period as the country prepares for only the second leadership change since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.Iranian state television earlier reported that President Masoud Pezeshkian, judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei and another senior official would oversee the transitional period until a new supreme leader formally takes office.Under Iran’s constitution, the 88 member Assembly of Experts is responsible for selecting the supreme leader. The body is made up of Shia clerics who are elected by the public every eight years, although candidates must first be approved by the Guardian Council, Iran’s constitutional oversight body.Iranian law requires the Assembly of Experts to appoint a new supreme leader “as soon as possible” following the death of the incumbent.If the selection process takes longer, a temporary leadership council made up of senior officials can assume the duties of the supreme leader until a permanent successor is confirmed.The current transition comes amid heightened regional tensions following the strikes on Iran that killed Khamenei and several senior officials. Iran has since launched missile attacks targeting Israel and US military bases in the Gulf.Khamenei had served as Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, when he succeeded Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic who led the 1979 revolution and ruled the country until his death.The transfer of power now underway will mark only the second succession in the office of supreme leader since the establishment of the Islamic Republic.
