From Connected India, March 2:
Has Khamenei’s successor Ayatollah Arafi been killed already?
Amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, speculation is rife regarding the fate of Iran’s interim Supreme Leader, Alireza Arafi. Social media posts and some Israeli news reports have claimed that Iran’s interim Supreme Leader, Alireza Arafi, was killed in an airstrike just hours after taking charge.
These reports have been widely shared but have not been confirmed by Iranian state media or major international news agencies.
If the unverified claims about Arafi’s death are confirmed, it would add to Iran’s existing leadership crisis.
Alireza Arafi took charge as Iran’s interim Supreme Leader after the death of longtime leader, Ali Khamenei, in joint US–Israeli airstrikes on Tehran early Saturday, February 28.
After Khamenei’s death, Tehran activated Article 111 of its Constitution, and an interim three-member leadership council was formed to assume the Supreme Leader’s authority. Arafi was appointed as the jurist representative from the Guardian Council, completing the temporary body that will govern until a permanent successor is selected....
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