{"id":4945,"date":"2026-03-02T13:56:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T13:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/who-will-be-the-next-iranian-supreme-leader\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T14:11:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T14:11:52","slug":"who-will-be-the-next-iranian-supreme-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/who-will-be-the-next-iranian-supreme-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Who will be the next Iranian Supreme leader?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div id=\"ai-voice-player-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"ai-voice-player-container\" data-theme=\"light\">\n<p>        <!-- Summary Section (Initially Hidden) --><\/p>\n<p>        <!-- Translate Section --><\/p>\n<div id=\"ai-voice-translate-section\" class=\"feature-section\" style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"feature-content\">\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                    <select id=\"ai-voice-translate-select\">&#13;<option value=\"en\">English (Original)<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"es\">Spanish &#8211; Espa\u00f1ol<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"fr\">French &#8211; Fran\u00e7ais<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"de\">German &#8211; Deutsch<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"ar\">Arabic &#8211; \u0627\u0644\u0639\u0631\u0628\u064a\u0629<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"zh-CN\">Chinese &#8211; \u4e2d\u6587<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"ja\">Japanese &#8211; \u65e5\u672c\u8a9e<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"ru\">Russian &#8211; \u0420\u0443\u0441\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"pt\">Portuguese &#8211; Portugu\u00eas<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"it\">Italian &#8211; Italiano<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"ko\">Korean &#8211; \ud55c\uad6d\uc5b4<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"nl\">Dutch &#8211; Nederlands<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"tr\">Turkish &#8211; T\u00fcrk\u00e7e<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"pl\">Polish &#8211; Polski<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"hi\">Hindi &#8211; \u0939\u093f\u0928\u094d\u0926\u0940<\/option>&#13;<br \/>\n                    <\/select>&#13;\n                <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>        <!-- Read Along Section --><\/p>\n<p>        <!-- Ask AI Section --><\/p>\n<div id=\"ai-voice-askai-section\" class=\"feature-section\" style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"feature-content\">\n<div id=\"ai-voice-chat-messages\" class=\"chat-messages\">\n<div class=\"chat-message ai-message\">\n<p>\ud83e\udd16<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                            Hi! I&#8217;m here to help you understand this article. Ask me anything about the content!&#13;\n                        <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                    <input type=\"text\" id=\"ai-voice-chat-input\" class=\"chat-input\" placeholder=\"Ask about the article...\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\n                    <button id=\"ai-voice-chat-send\" class=\"send-btn\">Send<\/button>&#13;\n                <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The death Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following joint US-Israeli airstrikes has thrust Iran political and religious hierarchy into the process of selecting a new supreme leader.<br \/>Under Iran\u2019s constitution, the supreme leader is appointed by the Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical body elected by the public every eight years.<br \/>Candidates for the Assembly are first vetted by the Guardian Council, tightly controlling who can run.<br \/>When the position becomes vacant, the Assembly convenes to deliberate and select a successor.<br \/>The decision requires a simple majority vote.<br \/>In the interim, a provisional three-member leadership council assumes the supreme leader\u2019s duties until a replacement is formally appointed.<br \/>It has been reported that that the temporary council comprises President Masoud Pezeshkian, Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei and Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, who serves as the Guardian Council\u2019s representative.<br \/>The council\u2019s authority is strictly transitional, while the Assembly of Experts retains sole constitutional power to choose Iran\u2019s next supreme leader.<br \/>What unfolds in the selection of a new leader remains to be seen. The choice of leader will also signal how Iran will sees it\u2019s future in the Middle East and in the wider world.<\/p>\n<p>Below are possible contenders for the role:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><\/figure>\n<p>Mojtaba Khamenei<br \/>Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei\u2019s second-eldest son. Bloomberg reported in January that Motjaba Khamenei oversees an investment empire, with unnamed sources saying he has access to Swiss bank accounts and British luxury property worth more than $100 million, despite US sanctions imposed on him back in 2019.\u00a0\u00a0<br \/>Khamenei\u2019s son, who has largely avoided the public eye and has not held government office, is also believed to wield massive influence, including on Iran\u2019s administrators and one of the country\u2019s most powerful organizations, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as well as the Basij volunteer paramilitary force.<br \/>But the fact that Mojtaba Khamenei is the Supreme Leader\u2019s son may work against him: a father-to-son succession in the Shiite Muslim clerical establishment may spark outrage. Khamenei had already indicated opposition to his son\u2019s candidacy, an Iranian source close to his office told Reuters in 2024, adding that the leader did not want to witness a return to hereditary rule, as many Iranians view it as undermining the 1979 revolution, which ousted the US-backed authoritarian monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Alireza-Arafi-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13363\"  \/><\/figure>\n<p>Alireza Arafi<br \/>After Ayatollah Ali Khamenei\u2019s death, Iran named senior cleric Alireza Arafi to its interim leadership council, which also includes President Pezeshkian and Chief Justice Mohseni-Eje\u2019i.<br \/>Arafi has been a member of the Guardian Council\u2014the country\u2019s powerful Islamic legal authority, comprised of clerics and lawyers\u2014since 2019. The council is mandated to oversee elections, to vet candidates for elections, and to veto legislation passed by the parliament to ensure conformity with Islamic standards. Arafi also heads the Iranian seminary.<br \/>According to Alex Vatanka of the Washington-based think tank Middle East Institute, Arafi\u2019s rise to power could be traced to how the latter has appointed him to senior posts. Vatanka described Arafi as one of Khamenei\u2019s \u201cloyalists that will advance his agenda and in return they enjoy his patronage\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"585\" src=\"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Mohammad-Mehdi-Mirbagheri.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13364\"  \/><\/figure>\n<p>Mohammad Mehdi Mirbagheri<br \/>Mohammad Mehdi Mirbagheri, an Assembly of Experts member since 2015, is known as a staunch conservative in the clerical establishment.\u00a0<br \/>The current leader of the Islamic Sciences Academy in the northern city of Qom, Mirbagheri gained public attention in 2024, after the sudden death of President Ebrahim Raisi, when he expressed support for the hardline candidate Saeed Jalili through his speeches. According to activist outlet Iran Wire, \u201csuper-revolutionary\u201d factions in the establishment view Mirbagheri as a potential future leader.<br \/>Mirbagheri has made headlines for his extreme rhetoric, including thwarting \u201cinfidels\u201d and branding the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests after Mahsa Amini\u2019s killing as \u201cWestern-inspired sedition.\u201d Mirbagheri has also previously quoted the late Supreme Leader Khomeini, saying that establishing a \u201cnew culture based on Islam in the world\u201d would entail \u201chardship, martyrdom, and hunger\u201d and that the Iranian people had \u201cvoluntarily chosen\u201d to take that path.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Ali-1-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13369\"  \/><\/figure>\n<p>Ali Larijani<br \/>Ali Larijani, a veteran politician, took the reins of Iran\u2019s crisis management and national security at the start of this year, Iranian officials told the Times. He was appointed by Pezeshkian and Khamenei to head Iran\u2019s Supreme National Security Council in August last year\u2014a post he held from 2005 to 2007\u2014and in that role led nuclear negotiations with the Trump Administration before the US and Israel launched attacks over the weekend. He was also in charge of the deadly crackdown on anti-government protests earlier this year, for which he was sanctioned by the US government.<br \/>The 67-year-old has a storied career behind him that has positioned him well to act as a power broker after Khamenei\u2019s assassination. He was a former commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting from 1994 to 2004, and has held several other governmental roles over four decades. He unsuccessfully ran for President in 2005, and filed for candidacy in the 2021 and 2024 presidential elections but was disqualified in both.<br \/>He is known for being a loyalist to Khamenei and a pragmatist in managing relations between rival factions within the country. He also brought a pragmatic approach to nuclear talks with the US, reportedly telling Oman state television last month that \u201cif the Americans\u2019 concern is that Iran should not move toward acquiring a nuclear weapon, that can be addressed.\u201d<br \/>After the US-Israeli attacks, however, Larijani has urged powerful retaliation and has alos stated that Iran will not be involved in peace talks with the US.. \u201cWe will make the Zionist criminals and the shameless Americans regret their actions,\u201d he posted on Saturday, noting in another post that Iran did not initiate the hostilities. \u201cThe brave soldiers and the great nation of Iran will deliver an unforgettable lesson to the hellish international oppressors.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"527\" height=\"316\" src=\"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Hassam-Khomeiny.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13366\"  \/><\/figure>\n<p>Hassan Khomeini<br \/>Hassan Khomeini is the grandson of Iran\u2019s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic who oversaw the 1979 revolution. While Khomeini, a cleric, has not held public office, he is considered a potential successor given his reformist views and his lineage.<br \/>After the June strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Reuters reported that Khomeini had already emerged as a frontrunner to succeed Khamenei. Amid conflict with the US then, five insiders told Reuters that Khomeini, who reportedly commands respect among the IRGC and Iran\u2019s senior clerics, could represent a more moderate Iran compared to Khamenei\u2019s son, Mojtaba. Iran International reported that in May last year, Khomeini, at the mausoleum of his late grandfather, said: \u201cSometimes dignity is born through war, and sometimes through holding firm in the field of negotiation.\u201d<br \/>Khomeini\u2019s close links to reformists, who have for decades tried\u2014but failed\u2014to open Iran up, resulted in Khomeini being barred from running for a seat at Iran\u2019s top clerical body, the Assembly of Experts, back in 2016. The body manages the Supreme Leader and ensures that he continues to qualify as one, lest they remove him.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"562\" src=\"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Gholam-Hossein-Mohseni-Ejei-.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13367\"  \/><\/figure>\n<p>Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje\u2019i<br \/>Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje\u2019i has served as the head of Iran\u2019s judiciary since Khamenei appointed him in July 2021. The 69-year-old, who is also a senior jurist, has held a number of other official positions, including serving as intelligence minister from 2005 to 2009, prosecutor-general from 2009 to 2014, and first deputy chief justice from 2014 to 2021.<br \/>Mohseni-Eje\u2019i is widely seen as a hardline conservative. The US State Department and the European Union sanctioned him in 2011 for his role in crushing protests in support of the political opposition after the 2009 presidential election. According to the sanction decision by the E.U., intelligence agents under Mohseni-Eje\u2019i\u2019s command detained, tortured, and coerced false confessions from hundreds of activists, journalists, dissidents and reformist political figures.<br \/>As millions of people took to the streets of Iran after the rial plunged, Mohseni-Eje\u2019i vowed to show \u201cno leniency\u201d to protestors and called for expedited trials and executions. He also accused the US and Israel of having \u201copenly and explicitly supported the unrest\u201d in Iran.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#13; &#13;English (Original)&#13;Spanish &#8211; Espa\u00f1ol&#13;French &#8211; Fran\u00e7ais&#13;German &#8211; Deutsch&#13;Arabic &#8211; \u0627\u0644\u0639\u0631\u0628\u064a\u0629&#13;Chinese &#8211; \u4e2d\u6587&#13;Japanese &#8211; \u65e5\u672c\u8a9e&#13;Russian &#8211; \u0420\u0443\u0441\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439&#13;Portuguese &#8211; Portugu\u00eas&#13;Italian &#8211; Italiano&#13;Korean &#8211; \ud55c\uad6d\uc5b4&#13;Dutch &#8211; Nederlands&#13;Turkish &#8211; T\u00fcrk\u00e7e&#13;Polish &#8211; Polski&#13;Hindi &#8211; \u0939\u093f\u0928\u094d\u0926\u0940&#13; &#13; \ud83e\udd16 &#13; Hi! I&#8217;m here to help you understand this article. Ask me anything about the content!&#13; &#13; &#13; Send&#13; The death Ayatollah<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4945","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4945"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4947,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4945\/revisions\/4947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}