Five possible candidates: who could take over as Iran's supreme leader after Khamenei's death - CNN

With the elimination of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's clerical regime is faced with the urgent need to choose a successor. Khamenei ruled for nearly 40 years and never officially announced an heir, making the current situation particularly tense. This was reported by CNN on Sunday, 1 March.

Iran's next leader will be elected by the Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 high-ranking clerics. The new head of state must be a man, a cleric, have moral authority, political competence and loyalty to the Islamic Republic. Experts say the conservative clergy may exclude reformers from the list of contenders.

CNN names five main candidates for the throne:

• Mojtaba Khamenei - Ali Khamenei's second son, 56, has influence in the shadows of power and ties to the IRGC and Basij, but is not a high-ranking cleric and is not officially involved in politics.

• Alireza Arafi, 67, deputy chairman of the Assembly of Experts, Khamenei's confidant and head of the seminary system, but not a power player.

• Mohammad Mehdi Mirbagheri - representative of the conservative wing of the clergy, heads the Islamic Academy of Sciences in Qom, opposes the West.

• Hassan Khameni - grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic, custodian of Khameni's mausoleum, no government positions and little influence on the security forces.

• Hashem Hosseini Busheri is the first deputy chairman of the Assembly of Experts, close to Khamenei, but has no ties to the IRGC and is not active in public life.

In addition, IRGC commander-in-chief Mohammad Pakpour and the supreme leader's chief security adviser Ali Shamkhani were killed in an Israeli and US attack on 28 February.

President Massoud Pezeshkian, Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, head of the judiciary, and a member of the Constitutional Guardian Council will temporarily take over power during the transition period, according to Iran's Tasnim news agency. The Assembly of Experts is already preparing to discuss possible successors and announce the country's new supreme leader.