Iran could potentially elect a new supreme leader within one or two days, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said, as the country begins a 40-day mourning period following the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint US-Israeli strikes.

Speaking exclusively to Al Jazeera as Iran continued to exchange fire with Israel and the United States, Araghchi confirmed that the constitutional machinery of succession was already turning.

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“The transition council is established,” he said, describing a three-member body comprising the president, the head of the judiciary, and a jurist from the Guardian Council. “This group of three would act as in charge of the leadership before the new leader is elected. I assume that it takes a short period of time. Maybe in one or two days, they will elect a new leader for the country.” 

President Masoud Pezeshkian confirmed on Sunday that the council “has begun its work”, in a prerecorded address aired on Iranian state television, in which he also condemned Khamenei’s killing as “a great crime” and declared seven days of public holidays alongside the mourning period.

Khamenei, 86, was assassinated on Saturday in a wave of US-Israeli strikes across the country that killed at least 201 people in total, according to Iranian emergency services.

Among the dead were senior security figures and members of Khamenei’s own family: his daughter, son-in-law and grandson.

The process for choosing Khamenei’s replacement is enshrined in Iran’s constitution. A clerical assembly of 88 members, elected by the public, holds the authority to appoint a new supreme leader by simple majority.

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The last time this process was triggered was in 1989, when a relatively junior Khamenei was elevated to the position after the death of the revolution’s founding father, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

‘Unprecedented violation’

Araghchi called the killing of Khamenei “absolutely unprecedented and a major violation of international law”, warning it had made the conflict “even more dangerous and more complicated”.

He said that Khamenei was not only Iran’s political leader, but “a high-ranking religious leader for millions of Muslims, even outside of Iran, across the region”, pointing to protests that had erupted in Iraq, Pakistan and elsewhere where the leader had a following.

Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, echoed that fury in a televised address, saying, “You have crossed our red line and must pay the price”, and adding that Iran would “deliver such devastating blows that you yourselves will be driven to beg”.

Araghchi was defiant when asked about Iran’s military position, dismissing any suggestion that the US-Israeli strikes had achieved their aims despite the killing of the country’s leader.

“There is no victory in this war. They have not been able to achieve their targets, and they will not be able to achieve their targets in the coming days,” he told Al Jazeera.

Drawing a parallel with last June’s 12-day war between Israel and Iran, which the US briefly joined, Araghchi said that the US and Israel “expected that in two or three days Iran would capitulate and surrender. But it took 12 days for them to understand that Iran was not surrendering, and that they had no option but to ask for an unconditional ceasefire. I do not see any difference between this time and the previous time.”

US President Donald Trump warned that any retaliation would only lead to further escalation.

The interview by Aragchi was given as Iranian strikes widened across the Gulf for a second consecutive day, with strikes reported in Dubai, Doha, Manama, and the Omani port of Duqm.

“What happened in Oman was not our choice. We have already told our armed forces to be careful about the targets they choose,” Araghchi said, adding that the Iranian army was acting on general instructions.

Araghchi was keen to distance Iran from any suggestion that its neighbours were the main targets, insisting he had been in direct contact with regional counterparts since the fighting began.

Some, he acknowledged, were “not happy”, others, “even angry.” But Iran’s foreign minister was unapologetic.

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“This is a war imposed on us by the United States and Israel,” he said. “I wish that they understand that what is going on in the region is not our fault, it is not our choice.”

“They [Gulf partners] shouldn’t pressurise us to stop this war. They should pressurise the other side.”