Meet Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, Iran's Newly Appointed Interim Supreme Leader

Ayatollah Alireza Arafi was appointed jurist member of Iran's interim Leadership Council on Sunday. This came after the assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by the US and Israel.

The three-member council will assume the Supreme Leader's responsibilities until the Assembly of Experts elects a successor, Reuters reported, citing ISNA.

Arafi joins President Masoud Pezeshkian and Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei on the temporary body.

“We had prepared for such moments and have plans in place for all scenarios, even for the time after the martyrdom of revered Imam Khamenei,” said Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran's parliamentary speaker, according to Sky News.

Who Is Alireza Arafi?

Alireza Arafi was born in 1959 in Meybod town of Yazd province, central Iran. He comes from a clerical family. His father, Mohammad Ibrahim Arafi, was a religious figure who was later portrayed in state media as being close to former Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini, as per a Middle East Institute report.

In 1969, at the age of 11, Arafi moved to Qom to continue his religious studies. Qom is Iran's main religious centre. There, he studied under senior clerics. Over the years, he completed advanced religious training and earned the rank of mujtahid, which allows him to interpret Islamic law independently. His main fields are Islamic jurisprudence and philosophy. He is fluent in Arabic and English and has published books and articles.

During the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Arafi was 21 years old. During the 1980s, he remained one of many young clerics in the new Islamic Republic.

His rise began after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei became the supreme leader in 1989. In 1992, at age 33, Arafi was appointed Friday prayer leader in Meybod, as per Siasat. Over time, he received more appointments. In 2015, he became Friday prayer leader in Qom, a key religious post.

Arafi also became chairman of Al-Mustafa International University, an institution created to train non-Iranian Shia clerics and promote the Islamic Republic's ideology abroad, as per the Middle East Institute report. The university was formally established in 2009 after merging several earlier initiatives.

In 2016, Arafi was appointed head of Iran's seminary system nationwide. In 2019, he was appointed to the powerful Guardian Council, a 12-member body that reviews laws, supervises elections, and approves or rejects candidates for public office, Al Jazeera reported. The council can veto legislation passed by parliament. He is also a member and deputy chairman of the Assembly of Experts, which is responsible for choosing and overseeing the supreme leader.

In February 2016, Arafi ran for a seat in the Assembly of Experts from Tehran but lost. He ran on a hardline list linked to the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom.

Although not well known outside clerical circles, Arafi is considered a serious institutional figure within Iran.