Ali Khamenei
Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei[5] (Persian: سید علی حسینی خامنهای, romanized: Ali Hoseyni Xāmene’i, pronounced [ʔæˈliː hosejˈniː xɒːmeneˈʔiː] ⓘ; born 19 April 1939)[14][15] is an Iranian Twelver Shia marja' and politician who has been the second supreme leader of Iran since 1989.[16][17] He previously served as third president of Iran from 1981 to 1989. Khamenei is the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East, as well as the second-longest-serving Iranian leader of the last century, after Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.[18]
Not to be confused with his predecessor, Ruhollah Khomeini.
Ali Khamenei
- Ruhollah Khomeini
- Himself
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Ruhollah Khomeini
Office established
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
2,800,353 (87.8%)[3]
1,405,976 (65.8%)[4]
Ruhollah Khomeini
Independent (since 1989)
- Islamic Republican Party (1979–1987)
- Combatant Clergy Association (1977–1989)[8]
- Javad Khamenei (father)
- Khadijeh Mirdamadi (mother)
- Mohammad Khamenei (brother)
- Hadi Khamenei (brother)
- Khorasan Seminary
- Najaf Seminary
- Qom Seminary[10]
Islamic Republic of Iran
1979–1980, 1980–1981
Revolutionary Guards[12]
According to his official website, Khamenei was arrested six times before being sent into exile for three years during Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's reign.[19] After the Iranian revolution overthrowing the shah, he was the target of an attempted assassination in June 1981 that paralyzed his right arm.[20][21] Khamenei was one of Iran's leaders during the Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s, and developed close ties with the now powerful Revolutionary Guards which he controls, and whose commanders are elected and dismissed by him. The Revolutionary Guards have been deployed to suppress opposition to him.[22][23] Khamenei served as the third president of Iran from 1981 to 1989, while becoming a close ally of the first supreme leader, Ruhollah Khomeini. Shortly before his death, Khomeini had a disagreement with the heir he had chosen – Hussein Ali Montazeri – so there was no agreed-on successor when Khomeini died. The Assembly of Experts elected Khamenei as the next supreme leader on 4 June 1989, at age 50. According to Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Khamenei was the man Khomeini had chosen as his successor before dying. Khamenei has been head of the servants of Astan Quds Razavi since 14 April 1979.[24]
As supreme leader, Khamenei is the most powerful political authority in the Islamic Republic.[25][26] He is the head of state of Iran, the commander-in-chief of its armed forces, and can issue decrees and make the final decisions on the main policies of the government in many fields such as economy, the environment, foreign policy, and national planning in Iran.[27][28][29][30][31][32] As supreme leader, Khamenei has either direct or indirect control over the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, as well as the military and media.[18] All candidates for the Assembly of Experts, the presidency and the Majlis (Parliament) are vetted by the Guardian Council, whose members are selected directly or indirectly by the Supreme Leader of Iran.[33] There have also been instances when the Guardian Council reversed its ban on particular people after being ordered to do so by Khamenei.[34]
There have been major protests during Khamenei's reign, including the 1994 Qazvin protests,[35] the 1999 student protests, the 2009 presidential election protests,[36][37][38] the 2011–12 protests, the 2017–18 protests, the 2018–19 general strikes and protests, the 2019–20 protests, the 2021–22 protests, and the Mahsa Amini protests. Journalists, bloggers and others have been imprisoned in Iran for insulting Supreme Leader Khamenei, often in conjunction with blasphemy charges. Their sentences have included lashing and jail time; some have died in custody.[39][40] Regarding the nuclear program of Iran, Khamenei issued a fatwa in 2003 forbidding the production, stockpiling and use of all kinds of weapons of mass destruction.
Personal life
Family
Khamenei is married to Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, with whom he has six children; four sons (Mostafa, Mojtaba, Masoud, and Meysam) and two daughters (Boshra and Hoda).[286] One of his sons, Mojtaba, married a daughter of Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel.[287] His eldest son, Mostafa, is married to a daughter of Azizollah Khoshvaght.[288] Another son, Masoud, is married to the daughter of Mohsen Kharazi.[289][290] He has three brothers, including Mohammad Khamenei and Hadi Khamenei. One of his four sisters, Badri Hosseini Khamenei (wife of dissident Ali Tehrani), fled into exile in the 1980s.[291]
Home
As Supreme Leader, Khamenei moved to a house in Central Tehran on Palestine Street. A compound grew around it that now contains around fifty buildings. Around 500 people are employed at this "Beit Rahbari compound" according to The Telegraph, "many recruited from the military and security services".[118][292][293]
Lifestyle
According to Mehdi Khalaji, an Iran expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Khamenei has a decent life "without it being luxurious".[294] Robert Tait of The Daily Telegraph commented that Khamenei is "renowned for a spartan lifestyle."[118] Dexter Filkins describes Khamenei as presenting himself "as an ascetic, dressing and eating simply".[81] In an interview with a women's magazine, his wife declared that "we do not have decorations, in the usual sense. Years ago, we freed ourselves from these things."[81] On the other hand, Mother Nature Network claims Khamenei has been seen riding around in a BMW car and published a picture of him exiting one.[295] In a 2011 report in The Daily Telegraph, defectors from Iran claimed Khamenei has a considerable appetite of caviar and trout, a stable of 100 horses, collects items such as pipes and (reputedly) 170 antique walking sticks, and has a private court stretching over six palaces. Intelligence sources have also said his family has extensive international business interests.[296][297]
Health
Khamenei's health has been called into question. In January 2007, rumors spread of his illness or death after he had not been seen in public for some weeks and had not appeared as he traditionally does at celebrations for Eid al-Adha. Khamenei issued a statement declaring that "enemies of the Islamic system fabricated various rumors about death and health to demoralize the Iranian nation", but according to the author Hooman Majd, he appeared to be "visibly weak" in photos released with the statement.[298]
On 9 September 2014, Khamenei underwent prostate surgery in what his doctors described in state news media as a "routine operation".[299][300] According to a report by Le Figaro, Western intelligence sources said Khamenei has prostate cancer.[301][302]
In September 2022, it was reported that Khamenei had undergone surgery for bowel obstruction and had to cancel a number of meetings.[303]
Sanctions
On 24 June 2019, the United States imposed sanctions on Khamenei with the signing of Executive Order 13876.[304]
Public diplomacy
In February 2011, Ali Khamenei supported the Egyptian uprising against their government, describing it as Islamic awakening instead of Arab Spring. Trying to communicate with Arab people, he addressed Egypt's protesters in Arabic. (Even though his native language is Persian.) He introduced himself as "your brother in religion", while praising the "explosion of sacred anger".[313] Later, in "Islamic Awakening conferences" which were held in Tehran, Khamenei praised the Muslim youths of Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain for what he described as Islamic awakening. He also paralleled these events with Islamic revolution in Iran during his Nowruz oration in 2011.[314] However, major protests against the Iranian regime also broke out throughout Iran in 2011, and they became known as the 2011–12 Iranian protests.
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