The assassination of Iran’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, within the US-Israeli air assaults has thrust Tehran to a pivotal crossroads because the clergy appears to choose the late ayatollah’s successor.
With Iran on a warfare footing, a number of senior leaders near Khamenei had been killed within the assault as nicely, together with his prime safety adviser Ali Shamkani and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander-in-chief Mohammad Pakpour.
Tehran has vowed to avenge the killing of Khamenei. The US President Donald Trump warned towards the retaliatory assaults and advised that the strikes on Iran would proceed.
The US-Israeli assaults hit Iran on Saturday, when Tehran’s prime diplomats had been ready for the following spherical of talks on upcoming Monday to lock a cope with Trump, together with laying down nuclear ambitions, and avoiding an armed battle.
After 36 years in energy, the late ayatollah’s killing has left Iran’s prime clerics to organize for the switch of energy to the following Supreme Chief. That’s one thing that they’ve solely executed as soon as earlier than, 4 many years in the past.
So, who would be the subsequent Supreme Chief of Iran? And the way will he be chosen?
How is the Supreme Chief chosen?
Iran’s Supreme Chief is chosen by the Meeting of Specialists, an 88-member clerical physique elected by the general public each eight years.
Candidates who run for the Meeting should first be vetted and authorized by the Guardian Council, a robust oversight physique whose members are partly appointed by the Supreme Chief himself.
When the place turns into vacant, resulting from dying or resignation, the Meeting of Specialists convenes to decide on a successor. A easy majority is enough to nominate the brand new Supreme Chief.
As per Iran’s structure, the candidate have to be a senior jurist with deep data of Shi’a jurisprudence, in addition to qualities comparable to political judgment, braveness, and administrative functionality.
Earlier, there had been just one different switch of energy within the workplace of the Supreme Chief of Iran, when Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the chief of the Islamic Revolution, died at age 86 in 1989.
What occurs in Iran throughout a management vacuum?
Article 111 of Iran’s structure mandates {that a} short-term council deal with duties till a brand new supreme chief is elected.
That council could have: President Masoud Pezeshkian, Supreme Courtroom Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, and a cleric from the Guardian Council, in accordance with Iranian media.
They’ll lead the nation till the meeting formally picks the brand new supreme chief.
Iran’s safety chief and a detailed confidante of the late Khamenei, Ali Larijani, mentioned on Sunday that the transition course of is underway.
Luciano Zaccara, a analysis affiliate professor in Gulf Politics at Qatar College, advised Al Jazeera that Iran’s political system has been ready for the present state of affairs, figuring out that Khamenei’s assassination was an actual chance.
“Trump needs to get the most effective deal potential, however the methodology he’s utilizing to get that deal is to annihilate or destroy as a lot as he can,” Zaccara mentioned. “That is the way in which to impose situations, to not negotiate something. Trump needs a give up of the regime, not a change.”
The late Ayatollah made certain to place in a construction, he added, to keep away from a vacuum of energy and saved replacements for all of the officers eradicated in the previous few months prepared. “The buildings stay, the road of energy [and] the road of command stay in place,” Zaccara advised Al Jazeera.
What’s the Supreme Chief of Iran?
The Supreme Chief is the highest place within the Islamic Republic’s political and spiritual hierarchy.
He’s basically the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the ultimate phrase within the nation – and appoints key judicial, army, and media officers.
He additionally leads the mighty Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary power that leads the so-called Axis of Resistance.
Listed below are the contenders for the highest job in Tehran
Mojtaba Khamenei
Khamenei’s second son, Mojtaba Khamenei, is among the many prime contenders to succeed his father in Iran.
He’s identified to wield important affect among the many directors and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), essentially the most highly effective army physique.
Nonetheless, Khamenei’s lineage can also be among the many greatest limitations he faces.
Khamenei was reportedly against the father-to-son succession. It’s frowned upon in Iran, notably after the US-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi monarchy was toppled in 1979.
Alireza Arafi
Arafi, a 67-year-old cleric, is an influential determine within the Islamic Republic’s non secular institution, however not a extensively accepted political actor.
He serves because the deputy chairman of the Meeting of Specialists, the physique accountable for overseeing the number of the Supreme Chief, and has been a member of the Guardian Council, which vets election candidates and legal guidelines handed by parliament.
Arafi was appointed as the jurist member of Iran’s Management Council, the physique tasked with fulfilling the Supreme Chief’s position till the Meeting of Specialists elects a brand new chief, Iran’s state media reported on Sunday.
Arafi can also be the Friday prayer chief of Qom — Iran’s most necessary non secular middle — and heads the nation’s seminary system, overseeing clerical training nationwide.
Mohammad Mehdi Mirbagheri
Mirbagheri is an ultra-hardline clerical voice within the institution and a member of the Meeting of Specialists.
He’s extensively identified for his unrelenting anti-Western worldview — and at the moment heads the Islamic Sciences Academy within the northern metropolis of Qom.
Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei
Mohseni-Ejei is a senior Iranian cleric and at the moment heads the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, appointed to the position in July 2021 by the late Khamenei.
He beforehand served as Minister of Intelligence from 2005 to 2009 and later as Prosecutor-Basic and First Deputy Chief Justice. He’s considered a hardline determine aligned with the conservative wing of the regime.
Hassan Khomeini
Khomeini, 54, is among the many most mentioned names in succession talks for the following Supreme Chief.
He’s the grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founding father of the Islamic Republic, and likewise the custodian of his grandfather’s mausoleum in Tehran.
Whereas he has not held a public workplace, Khomeini is a reformist determine identified for his fairly reasonable views on public life and coverage. He tried to run for the Meeting of Specialists in 2016, however the vetting council disqualified him.
