As Iran’s hardline establishment searches for a successor after Ali Khamenei’s death, senior cleric Alireza Arafi has made his first public comments since joining the interim leadership council, saying he hopes a new supreme leader will be appointed quickly and that state institutions are still functioning under extremely difficult circumstances. The Times of Israel said Arafi is serving on the temporary council alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian and judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, while the Assembly of Experts is expected to choose the next supreme leader.