Tehran, 01 March (H.S.): Senior cleric Ayatollah Alireza Arafi has been appointed Iran's interim Supreme Leader following Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's death in Saturday's US-Israel airstrikes on Tehran, activating Article 111 of the constitution for emergency leadership.

Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported the three-member council—Arafi, President Masoud Pezeshkian, and Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei—will wield supreme powers until a permanent successor is elected. The 67-year-old Arafi (born 1959), a Guardian Council member and Assembly of Experts representative, heads Iran's national seminary network.

Arafi's selection completes the council's quorum amid unprecedented crisis. Separately, Ahmad Vahidi was named new IRGC chief after Commander-in-Chief General Mohammad Pakpour's death in the strikes; the IRGC operates parallel to regular forces as Iran's most powerful institution.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar