Ayatollah Khamenei's death following the joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes has compelled country's leadership to confront the task of selecting a new supreme leader.

The supreme leader of Iran embraced hardline policies against increasing pressure for reform.

The successor to Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989, Ali Khamenei embodied the Islamic Republic, setting its political course both domestically and abroad. Over the course of his rule,…