After Khamenei, Who Could Lead Iran Next?

The article examines potential successors to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following his reported killing in U.S. and Israeli attacks, which also reportedly eliminated many of his top contenders. According to Iran's constitution, the Supreme Leader must be a Shia Islamic jurist selected by the Assembly of Experts, an elected clerical body, with an interim leadership council currently overseeing the country. Key figures discussed as possible successors include hardline judiciary head Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, reformist cleric Hassan Khomeini (grandson of the Islamic Republic's founder), Khamenei's influential son Mojtaba Khamenei, senior cleric Alireza Arafi, conservative Assembly member Mohammad Mehdi Mirbagheri, and veteran politician Ali Larijani, though Larijani's lack of clerical status makes his succession unlikely. The leadership transition occurs amid ongoing domestic unrest and intensified military conflict involving Iran, the U.S., and Israel.