Who can succeed Khamenei in leading Iran? | Commentary News

The assassination of Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike has pushed Tehran to a critical crossroads as clerics search for a successor to the late ayatollah. With Iran at war, several senior leaders close to Khamenei were also killed in the attack, including his senior security adviser Ali Shamkhani and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander-in-chief Mohammad Pakpour. Tehran has vowed to avenge Khamenei’s killing. US President Donald Trump has warned against retaliatory attacks and signaled continued strikes against Iran. The U.S. and Israeli attacks hit Iran on Saturday as Tehran’s top diplomat awaited the next round of talks with Trump on Monday to reach a deal with Trump that would include abandoning its nuclear ambitions and averting armed conflict. The death of the late Ayatollah after 36 years in power has left Iran’s top clerics preparing to hand over power to the next supreme leader. This was something they had only done once, forty years ago. So, who will become the next supreme leader of Iran? How will he be chosen? On March 1, 2026, Iranian state media confirmed the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran. Thousands of people gathered in Enkhrab Square for a pro-government demonstration, and a woman cried while holding a poster. (Photo by Majid Al-Saidi/Getty Images) (Getty) How is the Supreme Leader chosen? Iran’s supreme leader is elected by the Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical body that is elected every eight years. Candidates running for the assembly must first be vetted and approved by the Guardian Council, a powerful oversight body whose members are personally appointed by the Supreme Leader. The Assembly of Experts meets when a position becomes vacant by death or resignation. Choose a successor. A simple majority can appoint a new supreme leader. According to the Iranian constitution, the candidate must be a senior jurist with a deep understanding of Shiite jurisprudence and possess qualities such as political judgment, courage and administrative ability. Previously, there had been only one other transfer of power in the position of Iran’s supreme leader, when the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, died in 1989 at the age of 86. On March 1, 2026, Tel Aviv, Israel, Iran launched a missile against a residential building following the US and Israeli attacks. Reuters/Ronen Zvulun (Reuters) What happens in Iran during a leadership vacuum? Article 111 of Iran’s constitution provides for an interim committee to handle responsibilities until a new supreme leader is elected. The committee will include: President Masoud Pezeshkian, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Gholam-Hussein Mohseni-Eje and a cleric from the Guardian Council, according to Iranian media. They will lead the country until parliament formally elects a new supreme leader. Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani, a close friend of the late Khamenei, said on Sunday that the transition process was underway. Luciano Zakara, associate professor of Gulf political studies at Qatar University, told Al Jazeera that Iran’s political system was prepared for the current situation, knowing that the possibility of Khamenei’s assassination was a real possibility. “Trump wants to get the best deal possible, but the method he uses to get that deal is to eliminate or destroy as much as possible,” Zakara said. “This is a way of imposing conditions, not negotiating anything. What Trump wants is the capitulation of the regime, not change.” He added that the late ayatollah ensured that a structure was put in place to avoid a power vacuum and that candidates were prepared to replace all the officials who had been removed in the past few months. “The structures are still there, the lines of power are still there [and] Zakara told Al Jazeera. (Al Jazeera) Who is the Supreme Leader of Iran? The Supreme Leader is the highest position in the political and religious system of the Islamic Republic. He is essentially the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the final say in the country, appointing key judicial, military and media officials. He also heads the powerful Revolutionary Guards, a paramilitary force that leads the so-called axis of resistance. Here are the contenders On October 1, 2024, Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, competed for the top job in Tehran. Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran/WANA (West Asian News Agency)/Reuters Note to Editors – This image was provided by a third party. Mojtaba Khamenei’s second son, Mojtaba Khamenei, is one of Iran’s strongest contenders to succeed his father. He is known to hold significant influence among government officials and the most powerful military body, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). However, Khamenei’s pedigree is also one of the biggest obstacles he faces. Khamenei reportedly opposes father-son succession, which has caused dissatisfaction in Iran, especially after the United States supported it. The monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown in 1979. On May 30, 2022, Pope Francis received a gift during a private audience with Ayatollah Alireza Alafi, director of Iran’s Islamic Theological Seminary, and his entourage in the Vatican. Vatican Media/Handout via Reuters Cleric Alireza Alafi, 67, is an influential figure in Iran’s Islamic religious community. A religious institution in the Islamic Republic, but not a widely accepted political actor. He serves as deputy chairman of the Assembly of Experts, the body that oversees the election of the supreme leader, and is a member of the Guardian Council, which scrutinizes electoral candidates and laws passed by parliament. Alafi was appointed as a jurist member of Iran’s Leadership Council, the body responsible for carrying out the duties of the supreme leader until a congress of experts elects a new leader, Iranian state media reported on Sunday. Alafi is also the leader of Friday prayers in Qom, Iran’s most important religious center, and the head of the country’s seminary system, which oversees clerical education across the country. Mohammad Mehdi Mirbagheri Mirbagheri is an extremely hard-line cleric in the establishment and a member of the Assembly of Experts. Known for his staunchly anti-Western worldview, he is currently the president of the Islamic Academy of Sciences in the northern city. Qom Ghulam Hussein Mohseni Eje Mohseni Eje is a senior Iranian cleric and the current head of the Islamic Republic’s judiciary. He was appointed by the late Khamenei in July 2021. He served as intelligence minister from 2005 to 2009 and later as attorney general and first deputy chief justice, and is seen as a hardline figure allied with Iran’s conservatives. Hassan Khomeini, grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, stands next to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a commemoration of the 36th anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, at the Khomeini Shrine in southern Tehran, Iran, on June 4, 2025. Office of Iran’s Supreme Leader/WANA News Agency)/Handout via Reuters Hassan Khomeini, 54, is one of the most discussed names in the succession negotiations for the next Supreme Leader. He is the grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, and the custodian of his grandfather’s mausoleum in Tehran. Although he held no public office, Khomeini was a reformist figure known for his rather moderate views on public life and policy. He ran for the Assembly of Experts in 2016, but the review committee disqualified him.