Ejei completed his Islamic studies in the Shiite holy city of Qom and holds a master’s degree in international law, according to the judiciary’s website.
He carries the clerical title of hojatoleslam – one rank below ayatollah.
In 2010, he was placed under US sanctions for “serious human rights abuses” linked to the crackdown on protests following then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed 2009 re-election, when he was serving as intelligence minister.
“The evil regime of America and the humiliated and slanderous Zion should know that the great nation of Iran will never forgive the blood of its heroic leader,” he said after Khamenei’s killing.
THE JURIST
The interim leadership council includes 65-year-old cleric Alireza Arafi, who heads Iran’s centre for managing Shiite seminaries.
He simultaneously serves as second vice president of the Assembly of Experts, the body responsible for appointing and overseeing the supreme leader.
He is also a member of the Guardian Council.
Arafi moved to the holy city of Qom in 1971 to study Islamic sciences and, according to his official website, was imprisoned at 16 for opposing Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
The youngest and least known of the three council members, he has generally adopted a cautious tone.
On Sunday, however, he struck a defiant note, saying: “The nation will continue along the path of the revolution … and will avenge the blood of the people, of the dear youth and of the dear students.”