Iranian clerics urge swift election of new supreme leader

Calls for new leadership in the country have intensified after the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli attacks. Part of the religious establishment is unhappy that power is currently in the hands of a three-member temporary council.

According to the Iranian constitution, the Assembly of Experts, an 88-member body of clerics, has the final say in selecting a new leader.

Ayatollah Hossein Mozafari, a member of the assembly, said the body could meet within the next 24 hours to decide on Khamenei’s successor. It is not yet clear whether the meeting would be held in person or online.

Other prominent clerics have also called for the selection process to be expedited. Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi said a new leader is needed as soon as possible to help ‘better organise the country’s affairs’. Cleric Hossein Nouri Hamedani also made a similar appeal to members of the assembly.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has said the United States should play a role in selecting Iran’s new leader, a suggestion Tehran has categorically rejected. According to the constitution, the new supreme leader must be elected within three months of the vacancy.

(reuters, est)