In first remarks, newly appointed Iranian cleric says new supreme leader to be chosen soon

By AP 2 March 2026, 2:02 pm

1 Edit

The second meeting of the Interim Leadership Council attended by President Masoud Pezhakian (C) Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei (L) and Alireza Aarafi (R), a member of the Guardian Council's jurist, in Tehran, in a photo made available on March 2, 2026. (Handout / IRIBNEWS / AFP)

Iranian cleric Alireza Arafi has delivered some of his first public remarks since he was made a member of Iran’s temporary leadership council. In remarks aired on state television, Arafi says he hopes that a new supreme leader will be “quickly” appointed.

The 88-seat Assembly of Experts, a group of mostly hardline clerics, will choose a replacement for supreme leader Ali Khameini, who was killed Saturday. But no clear successor is in place.

Arafi is serving on a temporary leadership council that includes President Masoud Pezeshkian and Iran’s hardline judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei. Arafi added that state institutions were continuing to function “under these extremely difficult circumstances.”