Interim leadership of Iran: Assembly of Experts agrees on candidate for Supreme Leader

(Patria) - Iranian state media reported that a majority agreement has been reached on the election of the country's new Supreme Leader. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli attacks on the first day of the war last Saturday.

Immediately after his death, a three-member interim leadership was formed to govern the country. It consists of: reformist Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, head of the judiciary and hardliner Gholamhossein Mohseni-Eje'i, and Alireza Arafi, head of the Basij, a volunteer paramilitary organization.

The Supreme Leader is elected by the so-called Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 Islamic scholars chosen for their loyalty to the regime. One of the council members, Ayatollah Mohammadmehdi Mirbagheri, said that a majority consensus has been "more or less reached," Iranian state media reported.

He added, however, that it is necessary to resolve "some obstacles" related to the procedure. Iranian media report that the body tasked with electing the Supreme Leader had a minor disagreement over whether the final decision must be made at an in-person meeting or can be announced without that formal step.