The Interim Leadership Council is a body which temporarily handles the duties of the supreme leader of Iran and their functions as Iran's de jure head of state when the office is vacant. The council consists of the president of Iran, the chief justice of Iran and a member of the Guardian Council selected by the Expediency Discernment Council.
Its first and most recent composition was formed on 1 March 2026 after the assassination of Ali Khamenei, consisting of President Masoud Pezeshkian, Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i and Ayatollah Alireza Arafi.
The three Interim Leadership Council members are referred to as acting or interim supreme leaders.
When Iran became an Islamist theocracy in 1979 following the collapse of the pro-American, anti-communist authoritarian regime of the Pahlavi monarchy in the Iranian Revolution, it adopted an anti-American stance and called for Israel's destruction, allegedly developed a military nuclear program in secret, and supported anti-Western proxies across the Middle East.
US forces clashed with Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria. Israel and Iran fought a 12-day war in June 2025 that also saw US strikes aimed at destroying Iran's nuclear facilities. A month and a half before the attack, Iran massacred thousands of civilians during the largest protests since the 1979 Revolution, and US president Donald Trump announced that "help is on the way". In the following weeks, Iran and the US engaged in indirect nuclear negotiations mediated by Oman. A second round of talks in Geneva made progress but these indirect talks ended without any deal. The attack was preceded by the largest US military buildup in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
On 28 February 2026, Israel and the United States launched a coordinated joint attack on various sites in Iran, sparking a major conflict. Codenamed Operation Roaring Lion by Israel and Operation Epic Fury by the US Department of Defense, it targeted key officials, military commanders and facilities, and was aimed at regime change. The attack included the assassination of the second supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, after which Ali Larijani proclaimed the establishment of the council, which happened the same day.
Article 111 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran states:
After the death of Ruhollah Khomeini, the first matter brought up for discussion was whether the Assembly of Experts should mandate an Interim Leadership Council or a single person. 45 members voted in favor of a single person, and 23 against, who voted for a council leadership.
During the Twelve-Day War, Ali Khamenei hid and was uncontactable. During this time Ali Larijani wanted to be seen as the "savior of Iran", but he did not become the de facto leader and was not seen as such; as he became more influential in 2026, he was seen as the de facto leader until his assassination on 17 March. On the other hand, an IRGC military junta was seen as the de facto leadership of Iran, After Ali Larijan died it's regarded again that the IRGC de facto rules over Iran, which is however not proven. Further during the Twelve-Day War, Khamenei was also reportedly replaced by Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Parliament of Iran, according to the Minister of Islamic Culture and Guidance and Tourism, while according to himself Khamenei was the one personally in charge of war decision making, because of this, it was assumed that he would rise to power. Former president Hassan Rouhani was reportedly also "trying his chance" at replacing Khamenei according to TRT. Because of all this, an inner crisis broke out, but no provisional leadership council was formed, even despite Article 111.
With the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, there was a short power vacuum between 28 February and 1 March 2026, which ended with the establishment of the Interim Leadership Council.
Though the death of Khamenei was long anticipated and was expected to bring regime instability in its wake, the turmoil was predicted to intensify due to the "vastly diminished popularity and perhaps support" for the regime among the Iranian military, as well as the presence of various contenders for this position of power in Iran. The regime was weakened due to the "deep simmering anger" Iranians felt towards their government in the aftermath of the overwhelming violence it used to suppress the protests, killing thousands, as well as the Israeli-US attacks, which Iranian civilians reportedly "eagerly anticipated", and the death of Khamenei, which caused celebrations to break out in Tehran and other locations across Iran.
The appointment of a new successor has been described by Suzanne Maloney, vice president of the Brookings Institution as necessarily "improvisational" and "dictated by the context of the moment", and as experts warn that "a smooth process is nearly impossible", her expectation was that the temporary council would remain permanent.
Many German and Israeli newspapers report that Ali Larijani became the de facto head of state following Khamenei's death and that, as of early March 2026, real power was not held by the council. According to The Jerusalem Post, Larijani's de facto leadership began earlier, on 22 February 2026.
A rumor spread that Alireza Arafi was the sole supreme leader, which was proven to be false. After this it was suspected that Alireza Arafi or Ali Larijani might become head of the Interim Leadership Council, however this didn't happen.
On 8 March, Assembly of Experts members Ahmad Alamulhuda, Mahdi Mirbaqiri, and Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, all stated that a choice of successor had effectively already been made, but differed in their views about the certainty of the procedure. Alamolhoda said that any change to the decision was constitutionally forbidden, and that the delay was in waiting for Hashem Hosseini Bushehri to formally make the announcement. Mirbaqiri said that "some obstacles regarding the process [still needed] to be resolved". Alekasir said that security risks were preventing an in-person meeting for the formal decision.
Later that day, it was announced on Iranian state media that Mojtaba Khamenei, Ali Khamenei's son, was elected to succeed him as Supreme Leader.