Iran names Ayatollah Arafi as interim Supreme Leader after Khamenei's death

Hours after longtime Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a USIsraeli airstrike Iran on Sunday appointed Ayatollah Alireza Arafi as his interim successorAyatollah Khamenei whose death in an attack on his residential compound in Tehran was confirmed by Iranian authorities had held the position of Supreme Leader since 1989 succeeding Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini mdash the founder of the 1979 Islamic Revolution mdash who passed away that yearFollowing the announcement of Khameneirsquos death the government stated that a threemember council mdash comprising President Masoud Pezeshkian Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei and a jurist from the Guardian Council mdash would oversee the countryrsquos leadership during the transitional period according to the IRNA news agencyAs per Iranrsquos constitution this council assumes leadership responsibilities until the Assembly of Experts an 88member clerical body with ultimate authority over the political system armed forces and key institutions appoints a permanent successorAyatollah Alireza Arafi a prominent Shia cleric and Islamic jurist born in 1959 in Meybod central Iran currently heads Iranrsquos Centre for the Management of Islamic Seminaries and has been Director of the revered Qom Seminary since 2016 He is also a member of the powerful Guardian Council which vets legislation and supervises electionsArafi previously served as President of AlMustafa International University from 2008 to 2018 and has been a permanent member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution since 2011Israeli military reveals how Iranrsquos supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei was killedThe Israel Defense Forces IDF on Sunday said Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed inside his leadership compound in central Tehran asserting that the operation marked the end of what it described as a decadeslong chapter of terror directed against IsraelKhamenei was killed in an epochal attack by the United States US and Israel marking an inflexion point in the 46year Shiatheocratic rule as Tehrans retaliation set off conflagrations in a swath of the Middle EastIn its official announcement the Israeli military detailed the circumstances of the strike stating The Air Force under precise intelligence guidance from the Military Intelligence and in cooperation with the Military Intelligence attacked the leadership compound in the heart of Tehran where he was staying along with other senior officialsThe Israeli military described Khamenei as the head of what it termed the Iranian terrorist regime since 1989 and accused him of advancing an extremist ideology directed against Israel and Western nations It further alleged that he was directly responsible for the violent repression of Iranian citizens for many yearsKhamenei was the father of the plan to destroy the State of Israel the head of the Iranian octopus who sent his arms throughout the Middle East and to the borders of the State of Israel led by the terrorist organisation Hezbollah The leader of the regime was responsible for terrorist attacks on the State of Israel and had the blood of many citizens from all over the world on his hands the IDF addedThe military said the killing was part of a broader campaign targeting key figures aligned with what it called the Iranian terror axisWith IANS inputs