Ayatollah Alireza Arafi has been appointed as the jurist member of Iran's temporary Leadership Council, the body tasked with assuming the supreme leader's duties following the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint US-Israeli strikes on February 28, ISNA reported on March 1.

Arafi, a cleric member of the Guardian Council and deputy chairman of the Assembly of Experts, will serve alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian and Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei on the three-member interim body, as stipulated under Article 111 of the Iranian constitution.

The interim arrangement comes as Iran declared 40 days of national mourning following Khamenei's death in strikes that hit his compound in Tehran.

The spokesman for the Expediency Discernment Council said the appointment was made to ensure leadership continued "without interruption" while the Assembly of Experts moves to elect a permanent successor.

"The great people of Islamic Iran should know that there is no ambiguity in the legal system and Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding this matter, and detailed measures have been foreseen," the Guardian Council spokesman said in a statement carried by state media.

The constitutional provision, outlined in Chapter Eight of Iran's basic law, mandates that the temporary council discharge the supreme leader's responsibilities until the 88-member Assembly of Experts convenes to select a replacement. It is only the second time the succession mechanism has been triggered since the Islamic Republic's founding in 1979.

Arafi, 66, has long been considered a potential successor to Khamenei. He heads Iran's nationwide seminary system, chairs Al-Mustafa International University and was appointed to the Guardian Council by Khamenei in 2019.

According to Alex Vatanka of the Middle East Institute, Khamenei's willingness to place Arafi in senior positions demonstrated considerable confidence in his abilities, though he was not regarded as a political heavyweight with close ties to the security establishment.

Iranian state media confirmed his killing in the early hours of March 1, several hours after US President Donald Trump announced it on his Truth Social platform.

The Assembly of Experts now faces the task of selecting only the third supreme leader in the Islamic Republic's 47-year history amid an active military conflict with the United States and Israel.