Following the confirmed death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on February 28, 2026, Iran’s state news agency IRNA announced the formation of a three-member temporary leadership council to handle the duties of the supreme leader during the transition period.
According to IRNA and other Iranian state media, the council comprises:
- President Masoud Pezeshkian (Iran’s reformist president),
- Head of the Judiciary Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i (a hard-line figure overseeing the judicial branch),
- A jurist (Islamic law expert) from the Guardian Council (selected to represent clerical oversight, often chosen via the Expediency Council or related bodies).
This interim arrangement aligns with Article 111 of Iran’s Constitution, which provides for a leadership council to temporarily assume all supreme leader powers in the event of death or incapacity, until the Assembly of Experts (an 88-member clerical body) convenes to elect a permanent successor “as soon as possible.”