Iran officially announced on Sunday that Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, a seasoned cleric of the Guardian Council, was appointed to the Leadership Council, hours after the death of Ali Khamenei (at the hands of US-Israel attacks on Iran) was confirmed.
Arafi is now the jurist member of this three-person council, alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian and Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, a report from the semi-official Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) said.
This is in line with Article 111 of its Constitution, as per which the emergency three-member Leadership Council rules Iran temporarily until the Assembly of Experts “elects a permanent leader as soon as possible", according to Expediency Discernment Council spokesperson Mohsen Dehnavi.
The three members of this council will split the powers of the Supreme Leader between them in this interim period.
Who is Ayatollah Alireza Arafi?
Born in 1959 in Meybod, a town in Iran's Yazd province, 67-year-old Ayatollah Alireza Arafi is an experienced cleric and a longtime aide of Khamenei.
About a decade later, aged 11, he had already moved to Qom for further religious studies, having obtained the basics from his father. The next few decades saw his gradual, carefully managed ascent through the clerical ranks, which, in time, gave him an entrance to Khamenei's inner circle, as per the think tank Middle East Institute.
Said to be one of the frontrunners to succeed Khamenei, he has also held other vital positions, apart from his role on the Guardian Council, which reviews legislation passed by Iran's parliament and vets election candidates.
Before his new council role, the former chairman of the Al Mustafa International University also happened to be an important member of the Assembly of Experts—which appoints Supreme Leaders—as well as the head of Iran's seminary network.
Notably, he is said to be able to speak fluently in both English and Arabic, and has often advocated for the modernisation of the regime by using artificial intelligence to spread its brand of Islam.
Amid the tumult in Iran caused by coordinated joint strikes by Israel and the US, it is yet to be seen whether he can rise to become the next Supreme Leader or if he will step aside for another leader backed by Washington and Tel Aviv.