Iran sets up interim Leadership Council, appoints Alireza Arafi as jurist member

Alireza Arafi was appointed today (1 March) as the jurist member of Iran's interim Leadership Council, according to the ISNA news agency. The council is responsible for carrying out the duties of the supreme leader until the Assembly of Experts selects a successor.

Arafi, a cleric who serves on the Guardian Council, will join President Masoud Pezeshkian and Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei on the temporary body.

His appointment followed reports that Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in joint Israeli and US strikes, triggering calls for retaliation from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

State television today declared a 40-day national mourning period and announced seven public holidays after the reported killing of the 86-year-old leader, who had held power since 1989.

The IRGC vowed to avenge what it described as the killing of Khamenei. Iranian media also reported that the supreme leader's daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter were killed in the same US and Israeli strikes.

On Saturday, US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Khamenei was "dead."

Attack coincided with meeting of senior officials

According to two US sources and another US official familiar with the matter, Israel and the United States coordinated the timing of their strike to coincide with a meeting Khamenei was holding with senior aides on Saturday.

Israel said Khamenei was killed alongside several top figures, including Ali Shamkhani, the influential former secretary of Iran's National Security Council, and Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the IRGC.

Two Iranian sources told Reuters that shortly before the strikes began, Khamenei had been meeting Shamkhani and Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani at a secure location.