Iran has appointed senior cleric Ayatollah Alireza Arafi to an interim leadership council following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, authorities confirmed on Sunday.
According to Mohsen Dehnavi, spokesperson for Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council, Arafi was selected to serve on the temporary body that will oversee the country’s leadership transition.
“The Expediency Discernment Council has elected Ayatollah Alireza Arafi as a member of the interim leadership council,” Dehnavi announced in a statement shared on social media.
The interim council is expected to include the country’s president and the head of the judiciary.
It will administer state affairs pending the selection of a permanent successor by the Assembly of Experts, the constitutional body responsible for appointing Iran’s supreme leader.
Officials said the Assembly of Experts would convene “as soon as possible” to begin the process of choosing a new leader.
Meanwhile, tensions in the region escalated sharply following Khamenei’s death. Iranian authorities described the killing as an act of aggression and vowed retaliation.
President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned the strike, calling it “a declaration of war against Muslims,” and pledged a strong response.
Similarly, senior Iranian official Ali Larijani warned that Tehran’s retaliation would be unprecedented. “The response will be decisive and unlike anything witnessed before,” he said.
Iran’s military later announced that it had launched strikes targeting United States bases in Iraq’s Kurdistan region and in Gulf countries. In a statement broadcast on state television, the army said its air force had “successfully carried out operations against US bases in several phases.”
The renewed hostilities triggered air raid sirens in Israel after its military reported detecting missile launches from Iran. Explosions were also reported in parts of the Gulf region, including areas near Dubai, Riyadh, Manama and Doha.
A senior Emirati official cautioned Tehran against widening the conflict. “Your war is not with your neighbours,” the official said, warning that attacks on Gulf states would amount to a “serious miscalculation.”
The situation remains fluid as diplomatic efforts to contain further escalation continue.
