Iran’s interim leadership council has begun work, Pezeshkian says

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said an interim leadership council had begun work on Sunday after the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, framing the move as part of the constitution’s succession process.

In a recorded video message, Pezeshkian said the council started operating on Sunday, March 1, citing Article 111 of Iran’s constitution.

He also said Iran’s armed forces would continue attacks on what he called “enemy bases,” and urged supporters of the Islamic Republic to maintain a visible presence in public spaces.

Video released by the Israeli military on Sunday appears to show a strike on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Thar-Allah Headquarters in Tehran, a key command center responsible for security in the capital.

The IDF earlier said it had destroyed a command center of the Islamic Republic in Tehran and published aerial footage of the strike.

The Thar-Allah Headquarters is an IRGC command tasked with overseeing security in the Tehran area and reporting directly to the Guard’s top commander. Beyond its formal security role, the headquarters has played a central part in the suppression of popular protests in Iran.

Exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi called on Iran’s security forces and remaining Islamic Republic officials to stand down and hand over power after the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, saying the system was nearing collapse and urging a transition without further bloodshed.

In the video message, Pahlavi said Iranians were seeking the complete fall of the Islamic Republic.

Pahlavi warned that any move to appoint a successor to Khamenei was doomed to fail, saying whoever replaces him will not only lack legitimacy but would also be complicit in the crimes of the Islamic Republic.

Addressing the military, police and security forces, he urged them to join “the people of Iran and the Lion and Sun Revolution,” and said their weapons should be used to protect Iranians against the agents of the Islamic Republic to end what he called “a forty-seven-year nightmare.”

He also told Iranians to remain vigilant and said the time for a widespread and decisive presence in the streets was near, urging people – while protecting their safety – to show support through nightly chants and to voice their demands for Iran’s future.

Pahlavi appealed to Iranians abroad to intensify their efforts and to amplify what he described as public support for “humanitarian intervention” and the demand for the Islamic Republic’s complete downfall.

Iran’s attacks on US bases benefit Muslim countries, a senior Iranian lawmaker said on Sunday, adding that Tehran’s goal is to dismantle Israel.

“Muslim countries should know that Iran’s attack on US bases is to their benefit,” Mohammad Esmail Kowsari said.

“Our goal is dismantling the Israeli regime,” said the member of parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee and added that the current war is “much tougher” than the previous one.

Pope Leo XIV said on Sunday he was following developments after US-Israeli strikes on Iran with “deep concern” and appealed for an end to “spiral of violence.”

“Today more than ever, humanity cries out and pleads for peace,” he said, urging leaders to pursue diplomacy and restraint.

“Every member of the international community has a moral responsibility: to stop the tragedy of war, before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” the pope added.