Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader since 1989, was assassinated on Saturday by the United States and Israel, despite Tehran and Washington being in the middle of talks to reach a deal. The Iranian state has now announced a 40-day period of national mourning as prescribed by Shia tradition.
Until a new Supreme Leader is elected, Iran is being led by an interim three-member council made up of President Masoud Pezeshkian, Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, and a member of the Guardian Council, Ayatollah Alireza Arafi.
This has thrust the city of Qom's clerical establishment into the centre of Iran's immediate future.
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All About Qom
Qom is a historical city in central Iran, covering roughly 730 sq km and situated about 140 km south of Tehran. With a population in the hundreds of thousands, it is one of the most important religious cities in the Islamic world.
Qom is home to one of the largest and most influential Shia seminaries (hawza) in the world, the Hawzah ‘Ilmiyya Qom'. This network of religious schools includes hundreds of institutions that train tens of thousands of clerics, jurists, and scholars from Iran and across the Islamic world.
Students come from over 80 countries to study theology, jurisprudence, philosophy, modern thought, and traditional Islamic sciences.
The city's religious prominence is tied to the Shrine of Fatima Masumeh, a major pilgrimage site.
Qom acts as the ideological brain and leadership pipeline of Iran's theocratic state. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, clerics trained in Qom have shaped the Islamic Republic's ideology and guided its system of governance.
Many of Iran's political elite, including Supreme Leaders (from Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei), spent crucial years of their training or teaching in Qom's seminaries.
Qom's Continuing Role After Ali Khamenei
The city of Qom, its seminaries, clerical networks, and religious institutions, will play a role in
- Training future clerics and jurists.
- Shaping theological justification for state policy.
- Providing candidates for senior positions, including Supreme Leader.
- Maintaining religious authority and public morale amid upheaval.
Who An ‘Ayatollah' Is And How They Are Recognised
In Shia Islam, especially the Twelver Shia tradition dominant in Iran, religious authority is hierarchical.
- Mullahs are basic clerics who perform community duties.
- Hojjatoleslams are mid-level scholars.
- Ayatollahs are senior jurists and teachers whose interpretations of Islamic law (fiqh) are widely respected.
- Grand Ayatollahs (Maraji) are the highest authorities whose rulings are followed by lay believers.
The title Ayatollah (Sign of God) is not elected by public vote. It is a scholarly honorific awarded through recognition by peers and religious authorities, often within centres like Qom's seminaries. A cleric must show exceptional mastery of Islamic law, ethics, and jurisprudence.
What The Supreme Leader Is
In Iran's political system, the Supreme Leader holds the ultimate authority over all branches of government, including the military, judiciary, state media, and key policy decisions. Presidents and parliamentary bodies operate within limits set by the Leader's guardianship.
This comes from the doctrine of Velayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist), a principle put forth by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini that places a senior cleric at the top of both religious and state authority.
How The Supreme Leader Is Selected
When a Supreme Leader's office becomes vacant, the decision is made by the Assembly of Experts, a body composed of 88 senior clerics elected (with candidate vetting) to oversee and appoint the Leader. Only they have the constitutional power to choose the next Supreme Leader.
In 1989, when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini died, the Assembly chose Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, even though he was not originally a grand ayatollah. The decision required constitutional adjustments at the time.
Why An Ayatollah Is Needed
In Iran's political-religious system, a Supreme Leader must be someone with religious legitimacy and authority. An Ayatollah (and ideally a Grand Ayatollah) provides jurisprudential legitimacy to the office.
