EXPLAINER - Who are candidates for Iran’s next supreme leader?

By Efe Ozkan

ISTANBUL (AA) — Following the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday, attention has turned to the constitutional process that will determine his successor.

His office announced Sunday that during the transition period, joint responsibility for the duties of the Supreme Leader will be assumed by the president, the head of the judiciary and a cleric from the Guardian Council until a new leader is selected.

The interim Leadership Council currently consists of President Masoud Pezeshkian, Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, and Guardian Council member Alireza Arafi. Until the 88-member Assembly of Experts elects a new Supreme Leader, the tripartite council represents Iran’s highest authority.

Khamenei did not publicly designate a successor. Anadolu has compiled six figures widely viewed as leading candidates in the succession process.

-Guardian Council member Alireza Arafi

A dual member of the Assembly of Experts and the 12-member Guardian Council, Arafi holds significant influence within Iran’s power structure.

In addition to serving on the interim Leadership Council, he is head of Iran’s seminaries and the Friday prayer imam in Qom.

-Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i

Previously Iran’s intelligence minister from 2005 to 2009, Mohseni-Eje’i has held several senior government positions since 1984 and now serves on the interim Leadership Council.

As the country’s top judicial authority, he is regarded as a key figure behind the suppression of the 2025–2026 nationwide protests.

-Chairman of Expediency Discernment Council Sadiq Larijani

Former chief justice Sadiq Larijani, now chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council, was a close aide to Khamenei and has long been considered a potential successor.

Born in Najaf, Iraq, he is the son of Grand Ayatollah Hashim Larijani, who was reportedly exiled by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The family later returned to Iran, where Sadiq rose to the rank of Grand Ayatollah.

-Former president Hassan Rouhani

Born Hassan Fereydoun, Hassan Rouhani served as Iran’s seventh president from 2013 to 2021.
A cleric and sharia lawyer, Rouhani previously served on the Assembly of Experts, Expediency Council and Supreme National Security Council.

After leaving office, he was not appointed to a senior position and was barred from running in the 2024 Assembly of Experts elections.

-Grand Ayatollah Hossein Noori Hamediani

Grand Ayatollah Hossein Noori Hamediani, aged 100, is regarded as one of Iran’s leading religious scholars and is known for his hardline and ultra-conservative views.

Before the 1979 revolution, he was an outspoken opponent of the Shah and was arrested several times by SAVAK secret police. He currently resides in Qom and remains a member of the Assembly of Experts.

-Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei

The second eldest son of Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba Khamenei served during the Iran–Iraq War from 1987 to 1988.

He is widely regarded as the most influential of Khamenei’s children and has been linked to the Basij force used to suppress protests following the disputed 2009 election.

Although he holds no formal public office, the US Treasury sanctioned him in 2019 “for representing the Supreme Leader in an official capacity despite never being elected or appointed to a government position aside from work in the office of his father.”

-How will new leader be elected?

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has had only two supreme leaders: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and Ali Khamenei, who succeeded him in 1989.

Article 111 of the Iranian Constitution states that in the event of the death, “the experts shall take steps within the shortest possible time for the appointment of the new Leader. Till the appointment of the new Leader, a council consisting of the President, head of the judiciary power, and a faqih from the Guardian Council, upon the decision of the Nation's Exigency Council, shall temporarily take over all the duties of the Leader.”

Article 107 of the Iranian Constitution states that "the determination of the Leader rests with the experts elected by the people," ultimately placing the responsibility on the 88 members of the Assembly of Experts to vet and appoint the country's top figure.

Beyond selecting the leader, the body is responsible for supervising his performance and holds the authority to dismiss him if he fails to fulfill his duties.