(FILES) Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei. AFP
“An interim leadership council will soon be formed. President Masoud Pezeshkian, Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, and a jurist from the Guardian Council will assume responsibility until the election of the next leader,” said Larijani, head of Iran’s top security body, the Supreme National Security Council, and a former adviser to Khamenei.
The Guardian Council is a 12-member body that vets laws in Iran.
Iran confirmed the killing of the 86-year-old Khamenei in a joint Israeli-American airstrike that targeted his office in Tehran on Saturday.
State media also announced the deaths of several senior officials, including Armed Forces Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi, Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, Revolutionary Guards Chief Mohammad Pakpour, and Defence Council Head Ali Shamkhani, who were killed during a defence council meeting.
"This council will be established as soon as possible. We are working to form it as early as today," Larijani said in an interview broadcast by state TV.
Last summer, during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran, Khamenei named three possible successors in the event of his death.
Reports earlier this month indicated that Khamenei had named four layers of succession for key government and military jobs, in an effort to ensure regime survival in the face of a US-Israeli attack.
There has been only one other leadership transition since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, in 1989, following the death of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The supreme leader is appointed by the 88-member Assembly of Experts, a clerical body that, under Iranian law, must select a successor “as soon as possible.” Until then, a leadership council can “temporarily assume all the duties of leadership.”
Larijani also warned on Sunday against attempts to divide Iran.
“Groups seeking to divide Iran should know that we will not tolerate it,” he said, calling on Iranians to unite. “The enemy is deluded if it believes that assassinating leaders will shake Iran. As our hearts burn for the Leader, we will burn the heart of America and Israel.”
He accused US President Donald Trump of “falling into an Israeli trap,” noting that Israel, rather than American interests, had become Washington’s primary concern.
Larijani further accused Israel, with US backing, of seeking to fragment Iran and exploit its national wealth.
“Israel aims to divide Iran and, together with America, plunder the resources of our people,” he said.
Warning of stronger retaliation, he declared that Iranian strikes would be “more painful for Americans than ever before,” adding that the nation and its armed forces stand ready to defend Iran’s sovereignty.
“Our armed forces are vigilant, and our response will be stronger than anything they witnessed yesterday,” he stated.
Larijani emphasized that Iran does not intend to target neighbouring countries. However, he warned that US military bases in the region could become targets if they are used to advance Washington’s objectives.
Meanwhile, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the country had prepared for “all scenarios,” warning that the US president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “crossed our red lines” and “will suffer the consequences.”
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