Ali Khamenei

Supreme Leader of Iran from 1989 to 2026 · Iran · Politicians · Lived 1939 to 2026 · aged 86

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Iran's second supreme leader, in power for 36 years until his assassination in 2026. He transformed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps into an instrument of regional reach, backed proxy wars across the Middle East, and oversaw decades of internal repression and escalating conflict with Israel and the United States.

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A life in dates

2026Died28 February 20261989Named Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Armed ForcesOffice4 June 1989 to 28 February 2026Named Supreme Leader of IranOffice4 June 1989 to 28 February 20261988Named Chairman of the Expediency Discernment CouncilOffice7 February 1988 to 4 June 19891987“Freedom in Islam is freedom from slavery, servitude, and domination. It calls upon ascribing value to human will.”In their wordsYvette Hovsepian-Bearce, The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader of Iran, London: Routledge,Read the whole statement

“Imam Khomeini explained on numerous occasions that exporting the revolution is the culture of the revolution and the true spirit of the revolution.”In their wordsYvette Hovsepian-Bearce, The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader of Iran, London: Routledge,Read the whole statement

“We created an Islamic government in one of the most strategic locations in the world: Iran connects the East and the West.”In their wordsYvette Hovsepian-Bearce, The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader of Iran, London: Routledge,Read the whole statement

1984“Who are the enemies of Islam? All the bullying oil customers. Oil for them is an existential matter.”In their wordsYvette Hovsepian-Bearce, The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader of Iran, London: Routledge,Read the whole statement

“What Iraq has done is treacherous and disloyal toward not only Iran, but the entire Muslim world, simply by subjecting themselves to the temptations of colonizers.”In their wordsYvette Hovsepian-Bearce, The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader of Iran, London: Routledge,Read the whole statement

1983Named Member of the Assembly of ExpertsOffice15 August 1983 to 4 June 19891982“We have no intentions of domination or becoming a superpower in the common and ordinary sense.”In their wordsYvette Hovsepian-Bearce, The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader of Iran, London: Routledge,Read the whole statement

1981Named President of IranOffice9 October 1981 to 16 August 19891980Named Member of the Islamic Consultative AssemblyOffice28 May 1980 to 13 October 1981Named Tehran's Friday Prayer ImamOffice14 January 1980 to 28 February 20261979Named Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard CorpsOffice24 November 1979 to 24 February 19801939Born19 April 1939

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Photos 12

Khamenei as a teenager

Khamenei in a protest in 1970 in Mashhad

Khamenei in the hospital after the assassination attempt

Khamenei shook hands with his left hand after an unsuccessful attempt on his life.[47]

Khamenei as Tehran's Friday Prayer Imam in 1980

In their own words 10

Ali Khamenei

10 statements, newest first

Freedom in Islam is freedom from slavery, servitude, and domination. It calls upon ascribing value to human will.
1987, Yvette Hovsepian-Bearce, The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader of Iran, London: Routledge,, Own words
Imam Khomeini explained on numerous occasions that exporting the revolution is the culture of the revolution and the true spirit of the revolution.
1987, Yvette Hovsepian-Bearce, The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader of Iran, London: Routledge,, Own words
We created an Islamic government in one of the most strategic locations in the world: Iran connects the East and the West.
1987, Yvette Hovsepian-Bearce, The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader of Iran, London: Routledge,, Own words

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Ali Khamenei

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Spouse Mansoureh Khojaste Bagherzadeh

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About this person

Born in Mashhad in 1939, Ali Khamenei studied under Ruhollah Khomeini in Qom and was arrested six times under the Shah before the 1979 revolution brought him into the new Islamic republic's inner circle. An assassination attempt in the early years paralyzed his right arm; he served as president from 1981 to 1989 during the Iran-Iraq War, forging ties with the Revolutionary Guards. When Khomeini died in 1989, the Assembly of Experts elevated Khamenei to supreme leader despite his mid-ranking clerical status - the constitution was amended to permit it. Over three and a half decades he privatized state industries, expanded Iran's nuclear program, and made the IRGC the engine of both domestic control and influence from Syria to Yemen. His rule saw waves of protest in 1999, 2009, 2017, 2018, 2022, and 2025, met with state violence and repression. Tensions with Israel and the United States sharpened into open war in 2025 and 2026; he was killed in the latter conflict, and the Assembly named his son Mojtaba as successor.

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Iran