A look at some of the contenders to be Iran’s supreme leader after the killing of Khamenei

A look at some of the contenders to be Iran’s supreme leader after the killing of Khamenei 1 of 3 | In this Dec. 18, 2015 file photo, Hassan Khomeini, grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini, speaks at the election headquarters of the interior ministry in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File) 2 of 3 | Mojtaba, son of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, attends the annual Quds, or Jerusalem Day rally in Tehran, Iran, on May 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File) 3 of 3 | In this Dec. 9, 2020 file photo, released by the official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani speaks, during a meeting in Tehran, Iran. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP, File) 1 of 3 In this Dec. 18, 2015 file photo, Hassan Khomeini, grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini, speaks at the election headquarters of the interior ministry in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 2 of 3 Mojtaba, son of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, attends the annual Quds, or Jerusalem Day rally in Tehran, Iran, on May 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 3 of 3 In this Dec. 9, 2020 file photo, released by the official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani speaks, during a meeting in Tehran, Iran. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP, File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] Iran’s leaders are scrambling to replace Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled the country for 37 years before he was killed in the surprise U.S. and Israeli bombardment.It’s only the second time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that a new supreme leader is being chosen. Potential candidates range from hard-liners committed to confrontation with the West to reformists who seek diplomatic engagement. The supreme leader has the final say on all major decisions, including war, peace and the country’s disputed nuclear program.In the meantime, a provisional governing council composed of President Masoud Pezeshkian, hard-line judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei and senior Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali Reza Arafi is guiding the country through its biggest crisis in decades. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that a new supreme leader would be chosen early this week. The supreme leader is appointed by an 88-member panel called the Assembly of Experts, who by law are supposed to quickly name a successor. The panel consists of Shiite clerics who are popularly elected after their candidacies are approved by the Guardian Council, Iran’s constitutional watchdog. Khamenei had major influence over both clerical bodies, making it unlikely the next leader will mark a radical departure.Here are the top contenders.Mojtaba KhameneiThe son of Khamenei, a mid-level Shiite cleric, is widely considered a potential successor. He has strong ties to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard but has never held office. His selection could prove awkward, as the Islamic Republic has long criticized hereditary rule and cast itself as a more just alternative. Ayatollah Ali Reza Arafi Arafi is a member of the provisional government council. The senior Shiite cleric was handpicked by Khamenei to be a member of the Guardian Council in 2019, and three years later he was elected to the Assembly of Experts. He leads a network of seminaries. Hassan RouhaniRouhani, a relative moderate, was president of Iran from 2013 to 2021 and reached the landmark nuclear agreement with the Obama administration that U.S. President Donald Trump scrapped during his first term. Rouhani served on the Assembly of Experts until 2024, when he said he was disqualified from running for reelection. Rouhani criticized it as an infringement on Iranians’ political participation. Hassan KhomeiniKhomeini is the most prominent grandson of the founder of Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. He is also seen as a relative moderate, but has never held government office. He currently works at his grandfather’s mausoleum in Tehran.Ayatollah Mohammed Mehdi MirbagheriMirbagheri is a senior cleric popular with hard-liners who serves on the Assembly of Experts. He was close to the late Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, a fellow hard-liner who wrote that Iran should not deprive itself of the right to produce “special weapons,” a veiled reference to nuclear arms.During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mirbagheri denounced the closure of schools as a “conspiracy.”He is currently the head of the Islamic Cultural Center in Qom, the main center for Islamic teaching in Iran. Frankel, based in Jerusalem, has reported from across Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Her reporting focuses on war, human rights, displacement and criminal justice.