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Renewed Speculation About Succession After Khamenei 

The November 26 edition of the Iran Media Review analyzes recent discussion around who might succeed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

Ali Alfoneh

On November 7, Iran’s Assembly of Experts met with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In the wake of the meeting, there has been renewed speculation about Khamenei’s health and who might be potential leadership candidates. According to one account, the Assembly of Experts has already identified three potential successors, but their names remain undisclosed. 

  • November 14: A video of a speech by Hojjat al-Eslam Mohammad-Baqer Heydari Kashani, a well-known public preacher, commenting on Khamenei’s November 7 meeting with the Assembly of Experts, began circulating on social media. In the video, Heydari Kashani said members of the assembly began weeping when Khamenei reportedly told them “There may be a day when I’m no longer among you.” 
  • November 15: Isfahan’s temporary Friday prayer leader, Ayatollah Abou al-Hassan Mahdavi, was quoted by centrist Asr-e Iran as saying: “The leader of the revolution told the Assembly of Experts to identify a suitable successor … A secret committee in the Assembly of Experts has identified three individuals, in prioritized order … But God be praised, the leader of the revolution is in good health.”  
  • November 18: In a conversation with Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps mouthpiece Mashregh News, Hojjat al-Eslam Salah Mirzaei, a member of the Assembly of Experts, dismissed rumors concerning Khamenei’s health:  
    • “There are some incorrect stories regarding the Assembly of Experts’ meeting with the supreme leader of the revolution that have caused concern among the devout. Two points are worthy of mention: First, the meeting was substantive and optimistic. The photos from the latter part of the meeting and assembly members circling around the leader of the revolution were because the members were conveying the greetings of the people from their constituencies to the leader. The leader has not issued a special order to identify a successor, and no assembly member cried during the meeting.” 
  • November 21: Heydari Kashani, as quoted by centrist Khabar Online, corrected earlier statements: 
    • “Nobody wept. Members of the Assembly of Experts told me nobody wept when His Lordship delivered his statements. His Lordship told the Assembly of Experts: ‘Even under the hardest circumstances, the path forward is clear. In the end, the nation and the Assembly of Experts must perform their divine duty,’” a reference to appointing Khamenei’s successor. 
Ali Alfoneh

is a senior fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. He is the author of Political Succession in the Islamic Republic of Iran: Demise of the Clergy and the Rise of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (2020).

The views represented herein are the author’s or speaker’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of AGSIW, its staff, or its board of directors.

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