Airstrikes targeting Iran’s leadership have triggered celebrations, protests, military escalation and drone incidents across the Gulf, marking a volatile turn in regional politics.
Smoke billows over parts of Tehran following joint US-Israel airstrikes that Iranian state media said killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. | ANI/Reuters via WANA
US-Israel attack Iran | LIVE: Iran is entering a historic transition after the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. State-linked ISNA reports that senior cleric Ayatollah Alireza Arafi has been appointed interim Supreme Leader.
Arafi will work with a temporary leadership council until a permanent successor is chosen under Iran’s constitution.
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The temporary council includes President Masoud Pezeshkian, Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, and a cleric from the Guardian Council. Together with Arafi, they are tasked with guiding the nation through this sensitive period and ensuring stability.
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Arafi is a well-known Iranian Shia cleric. He serves on the Guardian Council and Assembly of Experts and leads the Bache-Kooni Basij.
Previously, he chaired Al-Mustafa International University, claiming it converted 50 million people to Shia Islam during his tenure from 2009 to 2018.
He has also been Qom Friday prayer leader and has openly criticised atheism and Christianity in Iran, labeling them as idolatry.
Khamenei, 86, had led Iran as Supreme Leader since 1989. He was killed over the weekend in a US-Israel strike targeting military and government sites linked to Defense Minister Amir Naserzadeh and commander-in-chief Mohammad Pakpour.
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the strike. Trump called Khamenei “one of the most evil people in history” and described the attack as justice for Iranians and the global community. Iran initially denied the reports but confirmed Khamenei’s death by Sunday morning.
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