Iran’s leadership council formed after Khamenei’s death meets again

According to the Islamic Republic News Agency, the Provisional Leadership Council of Iran met for the second time in the presence of Iranian President Masoud Pezekshian, Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, and Ayatollah Alireza Arafi.

Second meeting comes after Ayatollah Khamenei was murdered

IRNA shared photos from the meeting in a post on X on Monday, saying, “The second meeting of the Provisional Leadership Council was held with the presence of President @drpezeshkian, Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei and Alireza A’rafi.”

The Provisional Leadership Council’s second meeting comes after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei was murdered in Israeli-US strikes as part of Operation Epic Fury/Roaring Lion on Saturday.

Following Khamenei’s assassination, Trump addressed the Iranian people again on Saturday, urging them to depose the regime. “This will probably be your only chance for generations,” he declared Saturday, just after the US and Israeli attacks on Iran began.

Also reads : Trump Warns Iran of Force ‘Never Seen Before’ Amid Threats of Retaliation

The Provisional Leadership Council was founded shortly after Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei and key security officers were slain in ongoing strikes by the United States and Israel.

The interim council, which includes President Masoud Pezeshkian, will lead the country until a new supreme leader is elected. According to Al Jazeera, at least 201 individuals were killed in attacks spanning 24 provinces.

The meeting was attended by three council members: Iranian President Masoud Pezekshian, Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, and Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei.

According to Al Jazeera, Arafi has been a Guardian Council member since 2019, and its members are nominated by the Supreme Leader. It acts as the Islamic legal authority, vetting Iran’s laws and policies to ensure that they adhere to Islamic precepts. The Council also approves election candidates, has veto authority over laws passed by Parliament, and oversees elections.

According to Al Jazeera, Alireza Arafi, a cleric member of the Guardian Council, has been selected as a jurist member of Iran’s Leadership Council, a group entrusted with performing the role of supreme leader until the Assembly of Experts elects a new leader.

It was also reported that Arafi is the deputy chairman of the Assembly of Experts, which is in charge of supervising the nomination of the Supreme Leader. He leads Friday prayers at Iran’s most important religious center, Qom, and is in charge of the seminary system, which oversees religious leadership education throughout the country.

The Council’s third member, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, is a senior religious leader who has led the judiciary since Khamenei nominated him in July 2021, according to Al Jazeera. From 2005 until 2009, he was intelligence minister, then prosecutor-general, and finally first deputy chief justice.