Ali Larijani, Iran’s most senior defense official, said on Sunday that an “interim leadership council” would be formed immediately, speaking following the elimination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“The president, the head of the judiciary and a jurist from the Guardian Council will assume responsibility until the election of the next leader,” stated Larijani, who heads the Supreme National Security Council.
“This council will be established as soon as possible. We are working to form it as early as today,” he added in an interview carried by state TV.
Larijani also accused Israel and the United States of breaking “the heart of the Iranian people” by killing Khamenei, vowing to “put a dagger” in them in response.
President Donald Trump confirmed Khamenei’s death on Saturday evening, calling the dictator “one of the most evil people in history.”
Khamenei, 86, was eliminated in a joint U.S.-Israeli airstrike targeting his fortified compound in Tehran on Saturday morning local time.
“This is not only justice for the people of Iran, but for all great Americans, and those people from many countries throughout the world, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty thugs,” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that the “tyrant Khamenei is thwarted in the opening strike of ‘Operation Roaring Lion’ along with other senior figures in the Iranian terror fortress.”
Katz congratulated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “for the leadership and resolve, and the IDF for the brilliant execution,” adding that “we will continue to act with full force to defend the State of Israel.”
