Next Supreme Leader of Iran election

Works related to Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran at Wikisource

According to Article 111 of Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, if the incumbent supreme leader dies in office or has been dismissed, the Assembly of Experts should immediately hold a session and select his successor as soon as they can.[3] According to the same article, until the selection is made, a 'Provisional Leadership Council' is mandated to carry out the responsibilities of the supreme leader, which is made up of the incumbent President, the incumbent Chief Justice, and one of clerics of the Guardian Council who is selected by the Expediency Discernment Council.[3]

In December 2015, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said a committee in the Assembly of Experts "is examining potential candidates to be the next Supreme Leader." He also said the Assembly would be open to choosing "a council of leaders if needed" instead of a single leader.[1]

Ahmad Khatami told press in 2016 that a committee made up of three Assembly members had given three names to the supreme leader "to seek his verdict", but later remarked what he said was "hypothetical" and blamed media for misreporting his words.[6] Mohsen Araki, commented in June 2019 that the committee has drafted a "top secret list of prospective supreme leaders" and will present three names to the Assembly "when it is necessary."[6] Hashem Hashemzadeh Herisi confirmed that such a committee exists, adding that the names on the list will not be disclosed. He also stated that the decisions made by the committee will not be fateful because the next leader must be voted by a majority of all members in the assembly.[6] Prior to that, in February 2019 Mohsen Mojtahed Shabestari had categorically dismissed allegations that Raisi and Khatami are considered as candidates for the next leader by the assembly, stating that the question "has never been debated at the assembly".[7]

In 2023 Israeli military intelligence had assessed President Ebrahim Raisi would succeed Khamenei.[8] John Bolton argued regime would be vulnerable in the event of Khamenei's death.[9]

The persons listed in this section are, according to analyses and comments made by various sources, potential candidates (the names are sorted by age):

Hassan Rouhani	Hassan Khomeini	Mohsen Araki	Alireza Arafi
74 years, 347 days	50 years, 326 days	c. 66–67 years	c. 63–64 years
[2]	[2][3][10][11][12]	[3][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]	[3]
Ebrahim Raisi	Mojtaba Khamenei	Sadeq Larijani	Mohammad-Mahdi Mirbagheri
62 years, 315 days	54 years, 47 days	62 years, 227 days	c. 61–62 years
[3][12][13][14][16][17][18][20][21][22][23][24]	[3][10][13][15][17][20][21][22][23]	[3]	[10][12][14][15][17][22][23]

Deceased candidates

People mentioned below had been regarded as potential candidates during their lifetime.

Abbas Vaez-Tabasi	Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani	Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi	Ebrahim Amini	Mohammad Yazdi	Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi
1935–2016	1934–2017	1948–2018	1925–2020	1931–2020	1934–2021
[10]	[2][10][11][25]	[2][10][11][13][12][17][18][20][21][25][26]	[2]	[10]	[10][11][17][23]

• Nader, Alireza; Bohandy, S. R. (2011). The Next Supreme Leader: Succession in the Islamic Republic of Iran (PDF). Santa Monica, California: Rand Corporation. ISBN 9780833051998.
• Opinion Poll: Who Will Be Iran's Next Leader? (in Persian), BBC Persian, 22 February 2016