Alireza Arafi joins interim council as US-Israeli strikes pound Tehran
alireza arafi was announced as the third member of a three-member governing council as huge United States and Israeli air strikes continued to hit Tehran and other cities following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The appointment matters because it signals the clerical establishment moving to its internal succession mechanisms even as missile exchanges and regional strikes escalate.
Council composition: Pezeshkian, Mohseni-Ejei and Alireza Arafi
Masoud Pezeshkian, the Iranian president, said a new leadership council "has begun its work" after the death of Khamenei, and until the Assembly of Experts can select a successor a three-member council will govern. The presidency and the judiciary are represented: Pezeshkian and judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei have vowed continuity, and the Expediency Council was tasked with selecting the jurisprudence expert for the new council.
The third member was announced on Sunday to be Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, a clerical member of the powerful constitutional watchdog known as Council, and Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said the process should be complete within days. In a first video address on Sunday, Pezeshkian called on pro-establishment supporters to congregate at mosques and major city streets despite the war. Security chief Ali Larijani backed the constitutional process for deciding future leadership and made an outreach to countries battling incoming Iranian missiles and drones; in a post on X in Arabic, he said Tehran does not [unclear in the provided context].
Tehran struck repeatedly as internet access remained blocked
Huge air strikes by the United States and Israel continued to hit Tehran and other cities, and the capital was rocked numerous times on Sunday after a series of attacks hit multiple neighbourhoods. The Israeli army said military centres were among the targets. Iranian authorities have largely refrained from discussing missile impacts, and internet connectivity remained almost entirely blocked for a second day as projectiles were launched across the region.
High-profile deaths and military vows shape response
After Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top commanders were killed in Tehran at the start of the war on Saturday, Iran’s remaining top authorities emphasised the theocratic establishment has a clear path forward based on internal mechanisms. Mohammad Pakpour, who was appointed as commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps less than a year ago after his predecessor was assassinated during the 12-day war with Israel, was killed on Saturday.
Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Defence Council chief Ali Shamkhani, and police intelligence chief Gholam-Reza Rezaeian were also among those killed. The IRGC — founded after the 1979 revolution and described as having grown into a sizeable military and economic force — vowed revenge and launched what it called "the heaviest offensive operations in the history of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic against occupied lands [a reference to Israel] and the bases of American terrorists. " Army chief Amir Hatami pledged to continue defending the country, and the army claimed its fighter jets completed bombing runs of US bases across the region without offering footage.
Regional fallout: Lebanon, Hezbollah and US casualties
Three United States service members have been killed in action and five others have been seriously wounded, the US military said. Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 31 Lebanese citizens and injured 149 others, Lebanon’s health ministry said, and the ministry warned the numbers are preliminary and could grow. The Israeli strikes came after Hezbollah claimed responsibility for strikes on an Israeli missile defense site.
