(1 March 2026) An interim, and third, supreme leader has just been appointed to lead. Meet 67-year-old Alireza Arafi, one of the top clerics in Iran and former member of the Assembly of Experts.
New interim “supreme leader” Alireza Arafi, pictured in 2020.
Technically he is only the senior member of a group of three clerics to rule in the interim. Word is from the regime he was appointed to fill in until the Assembly of Experts can vote in a new supreme leader.
In a post from yesterday, I was posing the question if Daniel 11:2 might apply here. Well, if Arafi is counted as number 3, then it will be supreme leader number 4 who will arouse war against Yavan.
Interestingly, if that is the case, we see history repeating and following God’s grand design here. In the ancient Persian Empire, the first king of the Empire was Cyrus II who founded the empire and ruled for 20 or 30 years depending how one counts his reign. He is the one who conquered Babylon.
Then came Cambyses II who ruled for 8 years.
The third king was an imposter named Bardiya who ruled only a few months at most. The parallel here is to Arafi, who is a fill-in between properly elected supreme leaders.
The fourth king was Darius I (the Great) who ruled for 36 years and conquered Egypt, and much of the outlying territory of Greece. The battle of Marathon in 490 BC ended Darius’ attempt to conquer Greece.
We will see if Arafi stays as supreme leader or not. By this I mean if he is replaced, the replacement might be your 4th king. If not replaced, and Arafi presides over the Second Signpost, then Daniel 11:2 can be confirmed as being fulfilled only in ancient times.
Time will tell.
Categories: In The News, Signpost #2: Iran
THE FOUR SIGNPOSTS 
“2 And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.” – Dan. 11:2
Clearly, the Pahlavi Dynasty is no longer in the running to be a part of the Daniel 11:2 quartet. Khamenei is no more in this world, and with him, the probable reign of the second “king” of Daniel 11:2 has come to a close.
Indeed, Arafi is only an interim, and as such imho, he should not be counted as one of the Dan. 11:2 kings, as the passage implies permanency of each.
How long it will take Iran to find a new and proper Supreme Leader, I’ve no idea, but when that leader is found and elevated, the coming of the fourth king of Daniel 11:2 will be imminent, and imho will not be IRGC.
Mahdi-claimant as fourth king is still in play imho (I know I still need to read your Daniel Revisited chap. 10).
Jeff,
I would tend to agree with you, by itself, that he shouldn’t be counted. But the 3rd king of Achaemenid Persia was an imposter and so wasn’t a proper king either. So a precedent has been set.
And oh yes, please read chapter 10!