During this week that has already shaken the foundations of the Islamic Republic, fresh uncertainty has gripped Tehran. The question now echoing across diplomatic corridors and social media feeds alike: Is Ayatollah Alireza Arafi dead?

Iran had moved quickly to stabilise its leadership after the reported assassination of longtime Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint US-Israeli airstrikes on Tehran early Saturday. It was the second major leadership transition since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. 67-year-old Ayatollah Alireza Arafi was named to take charge as part of an interim leadership arrangement.

But within hours of that announcement, unverified reports began circulating online claiming that Arafi himself had been killed in another airstrike. The claims, widely shared on platforms such as Reddit and other social media channels, suggested that Iran’s newly appointed interim Supreme Leader had not survived long in office.

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However, there has been no official confirmation of Arafi’s death from Iranian state media, foreign governments, or major international news agencies.

{News Ei Samay didn’t independently verify the authenticity of these claims}

Several Israeli news outlets have amplified the speculation, citing unnamed sources, but no credible, independently verified reporting has confirmed that Arafi was killed.

In the absence of formal statements from Tehran or established global media organisations,

What is confirmed is that Arafi was appointed as a jurist member of a temporary three-person leadership council tasked with steering the Islamic Republic through an unprecedented crisis following Khamenei’s reported death.

Following Khamenei’s death, during a phone interview with ABC News, US President Donald Trump made these claims.

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“The attack was so successful it knocked out most of the candidates,” Trump said, per the ABC News’ Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl, “It’s not going to be anybody that we were thinking of because they are all dead. Second or third place is dead.”

Notably, as tensions between Israel and Iran escalate, claims and counterclaims are emerging at dizzying speed. Governments worldwide are watching closely, aware that leadership instability in Tehran could have profound consequences for regional security.