Iran’s leaders: Who was killed? Who’s in charge now?

As U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran continue, the growing death toll in the Middle Eastern country includes a number of senior leadership officials. 

Among those killed in Iran is Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had ruled the country since 1989. In total, over 500 Iranians have died as of 6 a.m. EST Monday, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society.

With Khamenei and slew of other Iranian political and military leaders now dead, an interim leadership council is governing the Middle Eastern country. Here is what to know on who is dead and who is now in charge in Iran.

Ali Khamenei, supreme leader

Khamenei, the second supreme leader to rule Iran since the Iranian Revolution, died after strikes on his residence in Tehran. The 86-year-old succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as Iranian supreme leader in 1989, after previously serving as president of Iran for nearly eight years.

President Trump called Khamenei, who crushed dissent throughout his time leading Iran, a “wretched and vile man” on Sunday.

Ali Shamkani, former head of national defense council

Shamkani was also killed by strikes on Saturday. The 70-year-old was a longtime adviser to Khamenei, rising in military circles after joining the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in 1981.

Upon his death, Shamkani was a member of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council, after he spent a decade as the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. He was also overseeing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran on curtailing the latter’s nuclear program and ballistic missile development. 

Mohammad Pakpour, IRGC commander

Pakpour replaced Hossein Salami, who was killed in the Twelve-Day War between Israel and Iran last June, as commander of the IRGC. The 64-year-old joined the IRGC in 1979, after the Islamic Republic completed its takeover of Iran.

Pakpour reached the rank of major general and helmed the IRGC’s ground forces from 2009 until his promotion last year.

Aziz Nasirzadeh, defense minister

Another longtime Iranian military officer, this time in the country’s air force, Nasirzadeh served as defense minister for roughly 18 months before his death. 

Prior to that, he was the deputy chief of the general staff of the Iranian Armed Forces and the commander of the Iranian Air Force.

Sayyid Mousavi, Chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces

Mousavi succeeded Mohammad Bagheri, who was also killed in the Twelve-Day War. He previously spent eight years as the commander-in-chief of the Iranian Army. 

The 66-year-old joined the Iranian Army in 1979, rising to the rank of major general. In 2023, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned him for committing “serious human rights abuses” while overseeing a crackdown on protestors in 2019 and 2022.

Who is in charge now?

Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council 

Larijani, a former Speaker of the Iranian parliament, has helmed the Supreme National Security Council since August. He ran for president of Iran in 2005 and was disqualified from running in 2021 and 2025.

After a dozen years in the IRGC, Larjani has worn a number of hats within the Iranian government over the last three-plus decades. On Sunday, he said Iran “will not negotiate” with the U.S. on its nuclear and missile programs amid the conflict.

Ayatollah Alireza Arafi

Arafi is part of the three-member interim leadership council running Iran in the wake of Khamenei’s death. A member of the 88-person Assembly of Experts, which is in charge of selecting the supreme leader of Iran, Arafi has run Iran’s seminaries since 2016.

He also spent a decade in charge of Al-Mustafa International University, located in Qom, Iran. 

President Masoud Pezeshkian

The ninth president of Iran since the revolution, Pezeshkian is also part of the interim leadership council. During his time in office, Iran has fought Israel during the Twelve-Day War and in response to the latter killing officials from Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran in the fall of 2024. 

A 71-year-old heart surgeon who is part of the reformist movement in Iran, Pezeshkian joined the Iranian parliament in 2008 after a four-year stint as the country’s minister of health and medical education. 

“The fiery martyrdom of the wise Leader of the Islamic Revolution will remain with the Iranian nation for many years to come,” Pezeshkian wrote Sunday on the social platform X. “The crime of the criminals and the martyrdom of Iran’s dear ones will not create any hindrance in the determination of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to fulfill its duties and responsibilities.

“We remain steadfast in pursuing the path of Iran’s pride, independence, and glory.”

Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, chief justice

The third member of the interim leadership council, Mohseni-Eje’i was appointed by Khamenei to serve as chief justice in 2021. He played a key role in suppressing Iranian protestors in December and January, as anti-regime sentiment swept through the country.

In the 2000s, Mohseni-Eje’i spent four years as Iran’s minister of intelligence — before he was dismissed by former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He then spent five years as the prosecutor-general of Iran and seven years as the first deputy to his predecessor as chief justice, former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

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