Ali Hosseini Khamenei (; born 19 April 1939) is an Iranian cleric and politician who has served as the second
supreme leader of Iran
The supreme leader of Iran, also referred to as the supreme leader of the Islamic Revolution, but officially called the supreme leadership authority, is the head of state and the highest political and religious authority of Iran (above the Presi ...
since 1989. He previously served as the third
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
from 1981 to 1989. Khamenei's tenure as Supreme Leader, spanning over years, makes him the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East and the second-longest-serving Iranian leader of the 20th and 21st centuries, after Shah
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last List of monarchs of Iran, Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the ...
. A
Grand Ayatollah
Marja (; plural ''marājiʿ''; ) is a title given to the highest level of Twelver Shia religious cleric, with the authority given by a hawzah (a seminary where Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated) to make legal decisions within the confines of Sh ...
and , he is often associated with leading the
Axis of Resistance
The Axis of Resistance is an informal coalition of Iranian-supported militant and political organizations across the Middle East. Formed by Iran, it unites actors committed to countering the influence of the United States and Israel in the regio ...
, a term used to describe a coalition of Iran-aligned groups in the Middle East.
According to his official website, Khamenei was arrested six times before being exiled for three years during the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In June 1981, after the
Iranian revolution
The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...
and the overthrow of the shah, he was the target of an attempted assassination that paralysed his right arm. Khamenei was one of Iran's leaders during the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...
in the 1980s, and developed close ties with the
Iranian Revolutionary Guards
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khomeini as a military branch in May 1979 i ...
, which he controls, and whose commanders are elected and dismissed by him. The Revolutionary Guards have been deployed to suppress opposition to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Khamenei served as the third president of Iran from 1981 to 1989, while becoming a close ally of the first supreme leader,
Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...
. Shortly before his death, Khomeini had a disagreement with his deputy – Hussein Ali Montazeri – and there was quandary for choosing a successor when Khomeini died. The
Assembly of Experts
The Assembly of Experts (), also translated as the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership or as the Council of Experts, is the deliberative body empowered to appoint the Supreme Leader of Iran. All directly elected members must first be vetted ...
elected Elected may refer to:
* "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973
* ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008
*The Elected, an American indie rock band
See also
*Election
An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population ch ...
Khamenei as the next supreme leader on 4 June 1989, at age 50. According to
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Akbar Hashemi Bahramani Rafsanjani (25 August 19348 January 2017) was an Iranian cleric, politician and writer who served as the fourth president of Iran from 1989 to 1997. One of the founding fathers of the Government of Iran, Islamic Republic, ...
, Khamenei was the man Khomeini had endorsed as his successor. Khamenei has been head of the servants of
Astan Quds Razavi
Astan Quds Razavi () is a bonyad based at Mashhad, Iran. It is the administrative organization which manages the Imam Reza shrine and various institutions which belong to the organization.
The administrative apparatus of Astan Quds Razavi is con ...
since 14 April 1979.
As supreme leader, Khamenei is the most powerful political authority in the Islamic Republic of Iran.Ganji, Akbar, "The Latter-Day Sultan: Power and Politics in Iran", ''Foreign Affairs'', November December 2008 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 economy, the environment, foreign policy, and national planning in Iran. 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. All candidates for the Assembly of Experts, the presidency and the
Majlis
(, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning 'sitting room', used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural connections to the Mus ...
(Parliament) are vetted by the
Guardian Council
The Guardian Council (also called Council of Guardians or Constitutional Council, ) is an appointed and constitutionally mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The constitution ...
Mahsa Amini protests
Civil unrest and protests against the Government of Iran, government of the Islamic Republic of Iran associated with the Death in custody, death in police custody of Death of Mahsa Amini#Victim, Mahsa Amini () began on 16 September 2022 and ca ...
. Journalists, bloggers, and others have been imprisoned in Iran for insulting Khamenei, often in conjunction with
blasphemy
Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...
charges. Their sentences have included lashing and jail time; some have died in custody. Regarding the
nuclear program of Iran
The nuclear program of Iran is one of the most scrutinized nuclear programs in the world. The military capabilities of the program are possible through its mass enrichment activities in facilities such as Natanz and Arak. In June 2025, t ...
, Khamenei issued a fatwa in 2003 forbidding the production, stockpiling and use of all kinds of weapons of mass destruction.
Alim
Alim (or ʿAlīm , also anglicized as Aleem) is one of the Names of God in Islam, meaning "All-knowing one". It is also used as a personal name, as a short form of Abdul Alim, "Servant of the All-Knowing".
Given name
* Alim Ashirov (1955-1979), ...
and
Mujtahid
''Ijtihad'' ( ; ' , ) is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question. It is contrasted with '' taqlid'' (i ...
born in
Najaf
Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...
, Iraq, and Khadijeh Mirdamadi (daughter of Hashem Mirdamadi) in
Mashhad
Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...
, Khamenei is the second of eight children. Two of his brothers are also clerics; his younger brother,
Hadi Khamenei
Hujjat al-Islam Sayyid Hadi Khamenei (; born 26 January 1948) is an Iranian reformist politician, mujtahid and linguist.(14 February 1999Reformist Kin of Iran Leader is Attacked by Militants''The New York Times'' He is a key member of the reform ...
, is a newspaper editor and cleric. His elder sister Fatemeh Hosseini Khamenei died in 2015, aged 89. His father was an ethnic Azerbaijani from
Khamaneh
Khamaneh () is a city in the Central District (Shabestar County), Central District of Shabestar County, East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province, Iran. The city is 72 km from Tabriz.
History
The main industry of Khameneh used to ...
, while his mother was an ethnic
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
from
Yazd
Yazd (; ) is a city in the Central District of Yazd County, Yazd province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. At the 2016 census, its population was 529,673. Since 2017, the historical city of Yazd is rec ...
. Some of his ancestors are from
Tafresh
Tafresh () is a city in the Central District (Tafresh County), Central District of Tafresh County, Markazi province, Markazi province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Tafresh is located amidst high mountains sou ...
in today's
Markazi Province
Markazi province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Arak. The present borders of the province date to 1977, when the province was split into the current Markazi and Tehran provinces, with portions being annexed b ...
and migrated from their original home in Tafresh to Khamaneh near
Tabriz
Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...
.
Khamenei's great ancestor was Sayyid Hossein Tafreshi, a descendant of the Aftasi Sayyids, whose lineage supposedly reached to Sultan ul-Ulama Ahmad, known as Sultan Sayyid, a grandchild of fourth
Shia Imam
In Shia Islam, the Imamah () is a doctrine which asserts that certain individuals from the lineage of the Islamic prophet Muhammad are to be accepted as leaders and guides of the ummah after the death of Muhammad. Imamah further says that Imam ...
, the
Ali al-Sajjad
Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Sajjad (, – 712), also known as Zayn al-Abidin () was the great-grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the fourth imam in Shia Islam, succeeding his father, Husayn ibn Ali, his uncle, Hasan ibn Ali, and his gr ...
.
Education
Khamenei's education began at the age of four, by learning the
Quran
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
at Maktab; he spent his basic and advanced levels of
seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
studies at the
hawza
A hawza () or ḥawzah ʿilmīyah () is the collective term (plural hawzat) for a ''madrasa'' (i.e. seminary) where Marja', Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated.
The word ''ḥawzah'' is Arabic, and has been adopted into Persian as a loan word. ...
of Mashhad, under mentors such as Sheikh Hashem Qazvini and Ayatollah Milani. Then, he went to Najaf in 1957, but soon returned to Mashhad due to his father's unwillingness to let him stay there. In 1958, he settled in
Qom
Qom (; ) is a city in the Central District of Qom County, Qom province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. The city is ...
where he attended the classes of
Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi
Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Hossein Ali Tabatabaei Borujerdi ( Luri/; 23 March 1875 – 30 March 1961) was a leading Iranian Shia Marja' in Iran from approximately 1947 to his death in 1961. He was a major proponent for the elimination of Baha'is in I ...
and
Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...
. Like many other politically active clerics at the time, Khamenei was far more involved with politics than religious scholarship.
Political life and presidency
Khamenei was a key figure in the
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...
in Iran and a close confidant of
Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...
. Since the founding of the
Islamic Republic
The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been used for a s ...
, Khamenei has held many government posts. Muhammad Sahimi claims that his political career began after the Iranian Revolution, when the former President of Iran,
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Akbar Hashemi Bahramani Rafsanjani (25 August 19348 January 2017) was an Iranian cleric, politician and writer who served as the fourth president of Iran from 1989 to 1997. One of the founding fathers of the Government of Iran, Islamic Republic, ...
, then a confidant of Khomeini, brought Khamenei into Khomeini's inner circle. Later on,
Hassan Rouhani
Hassan Rouhani (; born Hassan Fereydoun, 12 November 1948) is an Iranian peoples, Iranian politician who served as the seventh president of Iran from 2013 to 2021. He is also a sharia lawyer ("Wakil"), academic, former diplomat and Islamic cl ...
, then a member of Parliament, arranged for Khamenei to get his first major post in the provisional revolutionary government as deputy defense minister.
Khomeini appointed Khamenei to the post of Tehran's Friday prayers Imam in 1980, after the resignation of
Hussein-Ali Montazeri
Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri ( ; 24 September 1922 – 19 December 2009) was an Iranian Shia Islamic theologian, Islamic democracy advocate, writer, and human rights activist. He was one of the leaders of the Iranian Revolution and on ...
from the post. He was briefly the vice Minister of National Defence from late July to 6 November 1979 and as a supervisor of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards. He also went to the battlefield as a representative of the parliament's defense commission.
Assassination attempt
Khamenei narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by the
Mujahedin-e Khalq
The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) (), is an Iranian dissident organization. It was an armed group until 2003, afterwards transitioning into a politica ...
when a bomb, concealed in a tape recorder, exploded beside him. On 27 June 1981, while Khamenei had returned from the frontline, he went to the Aboozar Mosque according to his Saturday's schedule. After the first prayer, he lectured to worshippers who had written their questions on paper. Meanwhile, a young man who pressed a button put a tape recorder accompanied by papers on the desk in front of Khamenei. After a minute the recorder began whistling, then suddenly exploded. "A gift of Furqan Group to the Islamic Republic" was written on the inner wall of the tape recorder. Khamenei's treatment took several months and his arm,
vocal cords
In humans, the vocal cords, also known as vocal folds, are folds of throat tissues that are key in creating sounds through Speech, vocalization. The length of the vocal cords affects the pitch of voice, similar to a violin string. Open when brea ...
and lungs were seriously injured. He was permanently injured, losing the use of his right arm.
As president
In 1981, after the assassination of Mohammad-Ali Rajai, Khamenei was elected
President of Iran
The president of the Islamic Republic of Iran () is the head of government of the Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran and the second highest-ranking official, after the Supreme Leader of Iran, supreme leader. The 1980 Iranian presidential election, fi ...
by a landslide vote (97%) in the October 1981 Iranian presidential election in which only four candidates were approved by the Council of Guardians. Khamenei became the first cleric to be in the office. Ruhollah Khomeini had originally wanted to keep clerics out of the presidency but later changed his views. Khamenei was reelected in 1985 Iranian presidential election where only three candidates were approved by the Council of Guardians, receiving 87% of the votes. The only Iranian presidential election with fewer candidates approved by the Council of Guardians was the 1989 Iranian presidential election, where only two candidates were approved by the Council of Guardians to run, and Rafsanjani easily won 96% of the votes.
In his presidential inaugural address, Khamenei vowed to eliminate "deviation, liberalism, and American-influenced leftists". According to the Iran Chamber, vigorous opposition to the government, including nonviolent and violent protest, assassinations, guerrilla activity and insurrections, was answered by state repression and terror in the early 1980s, both before and during Khamenei's presidency. Thousands of rank-and-file members of insurgent groups were killed, often by revolutionary courts. By 1982, the government announced that the courts would be reined in, although various political groups continued to be repressed by the government in the first half of the 1980s.
During Iran–Iraq war
Khamenei was one of Iran's leaders during the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...
in the 1980s and developed close ties with the now-powerful
Revolutionary Guards
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khomeini as a military branch in May 1979 i ...
. As president, he had a reputation for being deeply interested in the military, budget and administrative details. After the
Iraqi Army
The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), also referred to as the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was formerly known as the Royal Iraq ...
was expelled from Iran in 1982, Khamenei became one of the main opponents of his own decision to counter-invade into Iraq, an opinion Khamenei shared with Prime Minister
Mir-Hossein Mousavi
Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh (, ; born 2 March 1942) is an Iranian politician, artist, architect and opposition figure who served as the 45th and last Prime Minister of Iran from 1981 to 1989. He was a reformist candidate for the 2009 Iranian p ...
, with whom he would later conflict during the
2009 Iranian presidential election protests
After incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared victory in the 2009 Iranian presidential election, protests broke out in major cities across Iran in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. The protests c ...
.
After the war
In its 10 April 1997 ruling regarding the
Mykonos restaurant assassinations
In the Mykonos restaurant assassinations (, ; also the "Mykonos Incident"), Iranian-Kurdish opposition leaders Sadegh Sharafkandi, Fattah Abdoli, Homayoun Ardalan and their translator Nouri Dehkordi, were assassinated at the Mykonos Greek res ...
, the German court issued an international arrest warrant for Iranian intelligence minister
Ali Fallahian
Ali Fallahian ( , born 1949)FALLAHIAN, ALI (1949– ), in ''The A to Z of Middle Eastern Intelligence'', Ephraim Kahana and Muhammad Suwaed, pp. 85-86, 2009 is an Iranian cleric, judge and politician. He was Iran's second Minister of Intelligen ...
after declaring that the assassination had been ordered by him with knowledge of Khamenei and Rafsanjani. Iranian officials, however, have categorically denied their involvement. The then-Iranian Parliament speaker
Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri
Ali Akbar Nategh-Nuri (; born 6 October 1944) is an Iranian politician, who served as the 3rd Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran from 1992 to 2000. He was also the Minister of the Interior of Iran from 1981 to 1985.
Early li ...
dismissed the ruling as political, untrue and unsubstantiated. The ruling led to a diplomatic crisis between the governments of Iran and several European countries, which lasted until November 1997. The accused assassins, Darabi and Rhayel, were finally released from prison on 10 December 2007 and deported back to their home countries.
Supreme Leader
Election as Supreme Leader
In 1989,
Ayatollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...
dismissed Ayatollah Montazeri as his political successor, giving the position to Khamenei instead. Because Khamenei was neither a
marja'
Marja (; plural ''marājiʿ''; ) is a title given to the highest level of Twelver Shia religious cleric, with the authority given by a hawzah (a seminary where Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated) to make legal decisions within the confines of Sh ...
or
ayatollah
Ayatollah (, ; ; ) is an Title of honor, honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy. It came into widespread usage in the 20th century.
Originally used as a title bestowed by popular/clerical acclaim for a small number of the most di ...
, the Assembly of Experts had to modify the constitution to award him the position of Iran's new Supreme Leader (a decision opposed by several grand ayatollahs). Khamenei officially succeeded
Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...
after Khomeini's death, being elected as the new Supreme Leader by the
Assembly of Experts
The Assembly of Experts (), also translated as the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership or as the Council of Experts, is the deliberative body empowered to appoint the Supreme Leader of Iran. All directly elected members must first be vetted ...
Initially, some members of the Assembly of Experts proposed the idea of a leadership council. Various lists were proposed and Khamenei was named in all of them. For instance, a council of three members,
Ali Meshkini
Ali Akbar Feiz Aleni (; 2 December 1921 – 30 July 2007), better known as Ali Meshkini (علی مشکینی), was an Iranian Islamic cleric and politician.
Life
Meshkini was an Iranian Azerbaijani born in a village near Meshkin Shahr and th ...
,
Abdul-Karim Mousavi Ardebili
Sayyid Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardebili (, 28 January 1926 – 23 November 2016) was an Iranian reformist politician and Twelver shi'a marja.
Political career
Ardebili was a supporter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and was a friend of his. He made sp ...
and Khamenei, was proposed to lead Iran. According to Rafsanjani, he and Khamenei were against the proposal, while Ayatollah and Ayatollah
Ebrahim Amini
Ayatollah Ebrahim Amini (; June 30, 1925 – April 24, 2020) was an Iranian conservative politician who was a member of the Assembly of Experts. He was also a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, and was previously identified as a possi ...
were in favor of it. Supporters of the council proposal believed that having a council would produce a higher degree of unity in society and more positive characteristics would be found in a council. In contrast, the opposers believed that an individual leader was more efficient according to past experiences in the case of the Judiciary Council.
Ebrahim Amini listed the summary of the reasons presented by the two sides. According to him, the opposers rejected the proposal because: I) Evidence for
Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist
The Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist (, also ''Velayat-e Faghih''; ) is a concept in Twelver Shia Islamic law which holds that until the reappearance of the "infallible Imam" (sometime before Judgement Day), the religious and social affairs ...
was true only for the guardianship of an individual and it was not clear who held the guardianship when there was a council. The guardianship of a council was not rooted in Hadiths and Islamic jurisprudence. II) Previous council-type organizations, such as the broadcasting council and supreme judicial council, were not successful in practice and the leadership council would not do well for similar reasons. III) People were accustomed to the leadership of an individual and a council of leaders was something unfamiliar to them. IV) An individual leader could act more decisively when dealing with critical and essential decisions and solving problems and crisis.
On the other hand, the supporters of the proposal believed that: I) At the time, there were no
Faqīh
A ''faqīh'' (: ''fuqahāʾ'', ; : ) is an Islamic jurist, an expert in ''fiqh'', or Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic law.
Definition
Islamic jurisprudence or ''fiqh'' is the human understanding of Sharia, which is believed ...
equal to Khomeini or even two or three levels lower than him so that he could fulfill the expectation of people. II) In the case of a council of leaders, the members could compensate each other if any of them had some shortage in a field.
Finally, 45 members voted against the leadership council proposal while more than 20 people were in favor of it and the proposal was rejected. After the assembly rejected the idea of a Leadership Council, Khamenei was elected Leader by 60 of the 74 members present with Grand Ayatollah
Mohammad-Reza Golpaygani
Grand Ayatollah Mohammad-Reza Golpaygani (; March 20, 1899 and debated with the mujtahids of the Assembly.
Marja' criteria
Since Khamenei was not a
marja'
Marja (; plural ''marājiʿ''; ) is a title given to the highest level of Twelver Shia religious cleric, with the authority given by a hawzah (a seminary where Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated) to make legal decisions within the confines of Sh ...
at the time – which the Iranian constitution required—he was named as the temporary Supreme Leader. Later, the constitution was amended to remove that requirement and the Assembly of Experts reconvened on 6 August 1989 to reconfirm Khamenei with 60 votes out of 64 present. On 29 April 1989, responding to the letter of Ayatollah
Ali Meshkini
Ali Akbar Feiz Aleni (; 2 December 1921 – 30 July 2007), better known as Ali Meshkini (علی مشکینی), was an Iranian Islamic cleric and politician.
Life
Meshkini was an Iranian Azerbaijani born in a village near Meshkin Shahr and th ...
, the head of committee responsible for revising the Constitution, asking Khomeini's viewpoint regarding the
Marja'
Marja (; plural ''marājiʿ''; ) is a title given to the highest level of Twelver Shia religious cleric, with the authority given by a hawzah (a seminary where Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated) to make legal decisions within the confines of Sh ...
criteria, Khomeini said: "From the very beginning, I believed and insisted that there is no need for the requirements of ''marja'iyyat'' (authority in jurisprudence). A pious
mujtahid
''Ijtihad'' ( ; ' , ) is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question. It is contrasted with '' taqlid'' (i ...
(jurist-intellectual), who is approved by the esteemed Assembly of Experts (''Majlis-i Khobregan''), will suffice". In a video that surfaced during the
2017–2018 Iranian protests
Public protests took place in several cities in Iran beginning on 28 December 2017 and continued into early 2018, sometimes called the Dey protests. The first protest took place in Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city by population, initially fo ...
, Khamenei is seen before the assembly said he was not religiously qualified to be a Supreme leader. Khamenei, who was ranked as a
Hujjat al-Islam
Hujjat al-Islam (, ) is an Islamic honorific title which translates in English to "authority on Islam" or "proof of Islam".
The title "Hujjat al-Islam" is given to scholars with a high level of Islamic expertise and Islamic theology. Essentiall ...
and not a marja' as required by the Iranian constitution, said he would only be a "ceremonial leader", and was reassured by
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Akbar Hashemi Bahramani Rafsanjani (25 August 19348 January 2017) was an Iranian cleric, politician and writer who served as the fourth president of Iran from 1989 to 1997. One of the founding fathers of the Government of Iran, Islamic Republic, ...
the position would be "temporary" until a referendum, apparently planned for one year later.Iran's supreme leader blames US-Israeli plot for protests
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
, 9 January 2018
On 29 August 2022, al-Haeri announced his resignation from the position of marja due to old age and illness. This was described as the first time in history a marja has ever resigned from his position. He called on his followers to follow Ali Khamenei,
Supreme Leader of Iran
The supreme leader of Iran, also referred to as the supreme leader of the Islamic Revolution, but officially called the supreme leadership authority, is the head of state and the highest political and religious authority of Iran (above the Presi ...
as "the best person for the leadership of our people and removing the aggressors".
Political strategy and philosophy
Khamenei's era has differed from that of his predecessor. He has, however, continued Khomeini's policy of "balancing one group against another, making sure that no single side gains too much power". But lacking Khomeini's charisma and clerical standing, he has developed personal networks, first inside the armed forces and then among the clerics, while administering the major
bonyad
Bonyads ( "Foundation") are charitable trusts in Iran that play a major role in Iran's economy. They control an estimated 20% of Iran's GDP, and are second only to the oil industry in manufacturing, trading, and real estate development in Iran ...
s and seminaries of Qom and Mashhad. Having been Supreme Leader for three decades, Khamenei has been able to place many loyalists throughout Iran's major institutions, "building a system that serves and protects him". Former cleric Mehdi Khalaji and Saeid Golkar, describe Khamenei's system as having creating a "parallel structure" for each of the country's institutions (army, intelligence agencies, etc.) to keep those institutions weak.
According to
Vali Nasr
Vali Reza Nasr (, born 20 December 1960) is an Iranian-American academic and political scientist, specializing in Middle Eastern studies and the history of Islam. He is Majid Khaddouri Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies ...
of the
Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
The School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C. The school also maintains campuses in Bologna, Italy and Nanjing, China.
The school is devoted to the study of int ...
ook
Ook, OoK or OOK may refer to:
* Ook Chung (born 1963), Korean-Canadian writer from Quebec
* On-off keying, in radio technology
* Toksook Bay Airport (IATA code OOK), in Alaska
* Ook!, an esoteric programming language based on Brainfuck
* Ook, the ...
many of the powers of the presidency with him and urnedthe office of the supreme leader into the omnipotent overseer of Iran's political scene". In Nasr's view, Khamenei is an "unusual sort of dictator". Officials under Khamenei influence the country's various powers, and sometimes bickering, institutions, including "the parliament, the presidency, the judiciary, the Revolutionary Guards, the military, the intelligence services, the police agencies, the clerical elite, the Friday prayer leaders and much of the media", as well as various "nongovernmental foundations, organizations, councils, seminaries and business groups".
Khamenei issues decrees and makes the final decisions on the economy, environment, foreign policy and everything else in Iran. Khamenei regularly meets with the president, cabinet members, head and officials of the judiciary branch, parliamentarians, among others, and tells them what to do. Khamenei has also fired and reinstated presidential cabinet appointments. Khamenei meets with foreign dignitaries, however, he does not travel overseas; if anyone wishes to see him, that person must travel to Iran. Apart from his time in Najaf as a student, Khamenei traveled to Libya during his time as president.
In his speeches, Khamenei regularly mentions many familiar themes of the 1979 revolution: justice, independence, self-sufficiency, Islamic government and resolute opposition to Israel and the United States, while rarely mentioning other revolutionary ideals such as democracy and greater government transparency. According to Karim Sadjadpour of the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a nonpartisan international affairs think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C., with operations in Europe, South Asia, East Asia, and the Middle East, as well as the United States. Foun ...
, Khamenei has "resisted Rafsanjani's attempts to find a
modus vivendi
''Modus vivendi'' (plural ''modi vivendi'') is a Latin phrase that means "mode of living" or " way of life". In international relations, it often is used to mean an arrangement or agreement that allows conflicting parties to coexist in peace. In ...
with the United States, Khatami's aspirations for a more democratic Islamic state, and Ahmadinejad's penchant for outright confrontation."
Privatisation of state-owned businesses
In 2007, Khamenei called for privatising state-owned companies, including the telephone company, three banks and dozens of small oil and petrochemical enterprises. After a few months, at a televised meeting with then-President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (born Mahmoud Sabbaghian on 28 October 1956) is an Iranian Iranian principlists, principlist and Iranian nationalism, nationalist politician who served as the sixth president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. He is currently a mem ...
and his Cabinet ministers, important clerics, the leader of parliament and provincial governors, the heads of state broadcasting and the Iranian chamber of commerce, Khamenei ordered: "to pass some laws, sell off some businesses, and be quick about it". Khamenei warned that "those who are hostile to these policies are the ones who are going to lose their interests and influence".
Dispute regarding status as Grand Ayatollah
In 1994, after the death of Grand Ayatollah
Mohammad Ali Araki
Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Araki (, 22 December 1894 in Arak – 24 November 1994 in Qom) was an Iranian Twelver Shia Marja'. Araki was teacher of many Iranian revolutionary person and was the last survivor from Ruhollah Khomeini's era. When ...
, the
Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom
The Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom () is an Iranian group founded in 1961/3 by the leading Muslim clerics of Qom. Established by the students of Ayatollah Khomeini after his exile to Iraq, it was formed in order to organize political ac ...
declared Khamenei a new marja. Several ayatollahs, however, declined to recognize him as such. Some of those dissidents clerics included Mohammad Shirazi,
Hossein-Ali Montazeri
Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri ( ; 24 September 1922 – 19 December 2009) was an Iranian Shia Islamic theologian, Islamic democracy advocate, writer, and human rights activist. He was one of the leaders of the Iranian Revolution and one ...
,
Hassan Tabatabai-Qomi
Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Hassan Tabatabaei Qomi (; ; also Seyyed Hassan Qomi, 1912–2007) was a prominent Shia marja' who (despite his name) was born in Najaf but lived in Mashhad, Iran. He was the son of Seyyed Hussein Qomi, and the brother of Seyy ...
, and
Yasubedin Rastegar Jooybari
Grand Ayatollah Yasubeddin Rastegar Jooybari (Persian: يعسوب الدين رستگار جويباري) (born 1940) is an Iranian Twelver Shi'a Marja'.
He has studied in seminaries of Qom, Iran under Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Kazem Shariatmad ...
. In 1997, for example, Montazeri "questioned the powers of the Leader" and was subsequently punished for his comments with the closure of his religious school, an attack on his office in Qom, and a period of house arrest.
Appointments
The table below lists some of the incumbent senior officeholders in Iran directly appointed by the supreme leader (sorted by date of appointment):
Political power following reform era
Khamenei developed a
cult of personality
A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader,Cas Mudde, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create ...
, with supporters describing him as a "divine gift to mankind" and in which Khamenei critics are persecuted. Iran's former Chief Justice
Sadeq Larijani
Sadiq Ardashir Larijani (born 12 March 1963) is an Iranian cleric and politician who currently serves as the chairman of Expediency Discernment Council since 2018. He previously served as the sixth chief justice of Iran from 2009 to 2019.
Lar ...
, a Khamenei appointee, has warned the president of Iran against voicing opposition to Khamenei.
According to Karim Sadjadpour of the American
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a nonpartisan international affairs think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C., with operations in Europe, South Asia, East Asia, and the Middle East, as well as the United States. Foun ...
, several factors have strengthened Khamenei in recent years:
According to
Christopher Dickey
Christopher Swift Dickey (August 31, 1951 – July 16, 2020) was an American journalist, author, and news editor. He was the Paris-based world news editor for ''The Daily Beast''. He authored seven books, including ''Our Man in Charleston: Brita ...
, to consolidate his power base, Khamenei has developed close relations with the security and military establishment while also expanding the bureaucracy inside the government and around his Beit Rahbari compound.
Financial assets
Writing in ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', Damien McElroy and Ahmad Vahdat observed: "The ayatollah likes to cultivate an image of austerity but receives major commissions from the Iranian oil and arms industries and there have been regular claims that he and his son have amassed a fortune running into billions of dollars." A six-month investigation by
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency ...
has said that Khamenei controls a "financial empire" worth approximately US$95 billion that the Iranian Parliament does not oversee, a figure much larger than the estimated wealth of the late
Shah of Iran
The monarchs of Iran ruled for over two and a half millennia, beginning as early as the 7th century BC and enduring until the 20th century AD. The earliest Iranian king is generally considered to have been either Deioces of the Median dynasty () ...
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last List of monarchs of Iran, Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the ...
. According to the Reuters investigation, Khamenei uses the assets of a company called ''Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam'' or "Setad" in Farsi to increase his grip on power. Reuters "found no evidence that Khamenei is tapping Setad to enrich himself", but did find that he used Setad's funds, which "rival the holdings of the shah", for political expedience – "Setad gives him the financial means to operate independently of
parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
and the national budget, insulating him from Iran's messy factional infighting".Khamenei controls massive financial empire built on property seizures According to ''The Daily Telegraph'', money from Setad is used to fund Khamenei's Beit Rahbari compound, which employs over 500 stewards, as was reported in 2013. Hamid Vaezi, Setad's head of public relations, said the information "was far from realities and is not correct". The six-month investigation by Reuters found that, regarding the source of Setad's funds, "Setad built its empire on the systematic seizure of thousands of properties belonging to ordinary Iranians: members of religious minorities like Vahdat-e-Hagh, who is Baha'i, as well as Shi'ite Muslims, business people and Iranians living abroad."
Despite the negative accounts of Western sources, Iranian official authorities depict Setad as a vast charity foundation. In an interview in October 2014 with
Islamic Republic News Agency
The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA; , ''Xabargozâri-ye Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi'' or ), is the official news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Founded in November 1934 as Pars News Agency during the time of Reza Shah, it is government-fu ...
, Muhammad Mukhber, the head of Setad, stated that over 90% of profits from Setad business activities are spent on improving infrastructure in the poor regions of the country, creating jobs and improving the well-being of people in these regions reflecting the top concerns of Iran's Supreme Leader, Khamenei for the Iranian society. He states that 85 percent of Setad's charitable works occur in poor Iran regions. He cited the construction of several hundred schools, mosques and
hussainiya
A Husayniyya () is a building designed specifically for gatherings of Shia Muslims for spiritual practice, religious education and commemoration ceremonies, especially the Mourning of Muharram. The Husayniyya is a multipurpose hall for the comm ...
s, as well as direct and indirect contributions to the formation of over 350 thousand jobs expecting a total of 700 thousand for the upcoming three years. Mukhber also cited a sum total grant of 2.21 trillion
rials Rial, riyal, or RIAL may refer to:
* Rial (surname), a surname (and list of people with the name)
* Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning, McGill University
* Rial Racing, a former German Formula One team
Currency
Various currencies ...
of '' Qard al-Hasan'', interest-free loans, to 41 thousand families in poor regions of the country. He also revealed plans of gradual sell-off of Setad profitable businesses in the stock market with the aim of transferring their ownership into the hands of Iranian people. He also envisioned the construction and delivery of 17 thousand housing units to families in poor regions of Iran by 2018.
Challenges following 2009 election protest
In mid-August 2009, a group of unnamed former reformist lawmakers appealed to the
Assembly of Experts
The Assembly of Experts (), also translated as the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership or as the Council of Experts, is the deliberative body empowered to appoint the Supreme Leader of Iran. All directly elected members must first be vetted ...
– the constitutional body charged with electing and (in theory) supervising and removing the Leader – to investigate Leader Ali Khamenei's qualification to rule."Investigate if Khamenei fit to rule" A week later another anonymous letter was issued "calling Iran's leader a dictator and demanding his removal", this one by a group of Iranian clerics.Robert F. Worth and Nazila Fathi The letters were called a blow to Khamenei's "status as a neutral arbiter and Islamic figurehead" and an "unprecedented challenge to the country's most powerful man" though not a blow to his actual power as a leader. ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reported "the phrase "death to Khamenei" has begun appearing in graffiti on Tehran walls, a phrase that would have been almost unimaginable not long ago".
The letter was addressed to the head of the
Assembly of Experts
The Assembly of Experts (), also translated as the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership or as the Council of Experts, is the deliberative body empowered to appoint the Supreme Leader of Iran. All directly elected members must first be vetted ...
, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a "powerful former president" who also questions the election results. According to the Associated Press, it is unlikely the letter's demands would be met as "two-thirds of the 86-member assembly are considered strong loyalists of Khamenei and would oppose" any investigation of him.
According to ''The New York Times'' reporting in mid-August 2009, a "prominent Iranian cleric and a former lawmaker said on Sunday (16 August) that they had spoken to some of the authors and had no doubt the letter was genuine". According to this cleric, the letter's signatories number "several dozen, and are mostly midranking figures from Qum, Isfahan and Mashhad", and that "the pressure on clerics in Qum is much worse than the pressure on activists because the establishment is afraid that if they say anything they can turn the more traditional sectors of society against the regime".
Relations with former President Ahmadinejad
Early in his presidency, Ahmadinejad was sometimes described as "enjoy ngthe full backing" of the
Supreme Leader
A supreme leader or supreme ruler typically refers to powerful figures with an unchallenged authority, such as autocrats, dictators to spiritual and revolutionary leaders. Historic examples are Adolf Hitler () of Nazi Germany, Francisco ...
, and even as being his "protégé". In Ahmadinejad's 2005 inauguration the supreme leader allowed Ahmadinejad to kiss his hand and cheeks in what was called "a sign of closeness and loyalty", and after the 2009 election fully endorsed Ahmadinejad against protesters. However, as early as January 2008 signs of disagreement between the two men developed over domestic policies, and by the period of 2010–2011 several sources detected a "growing rift" between them. The disagreement was described as centered on
Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei
Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei (; born 16 November 1960) is an Iranian conservative politician and former intelligence officer. As a senior Cabinet member in the administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he served as Chief of Staff from 2009 to ...
, a top adviser and close confidant of Ahmadinejad. Mashaei was vice president of Iran until being ordered to resign from the cabinet by the supreme leader, and was also an opponent of "greater involvement of clerics in politics".
In 2009, Ahmadinejad dismissed Intelligence Minister
Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i
Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i (, ; born 29 September 1956) is an Iranian Iranian Principlists, conservative politician, Faqīh, Islamic jurist and prosecutor who currently serves as Chief Justice of Iran.
He was Ministry of Intelligence and Natio ...
, an opponent of Mashaei. In April 2011, another Intelligence minister,
Heydar Moslehi
Heydar Moslehi (; born 1957 in Shahreza) is an Iranian cleric and politician who served as the minister of intelligence from 2009 to 2013.
Early life and education
Moslehi was born in Shahreza in the Isfahan province, Iran, in 1957. He was a ...
, resigned after being asked to by Ahmadinejad but was reinstated by the supreme leader within hours. Ahmadinejad declined to officially back Moslehi's reinstatement for two weeks and in protest engaged in an "11-day walkout" of cabinet meetings, religious ceremonies, and other official functions. Ahmadinejad's actions led to angry public attacks by clerics, parliamentarians and military commanders, who accused him of ignoring orders from the supreme leader. Conservative opponents in parliament launched an "impeachment drive" against him, four websites with ties to Ahmadinejad reportedly were "filtered and blocked", and several people "said to be close" to the president and Mashaei (such as Abbas Amirifar and Mohammed Sharif Malekzadeh) were arrested on charges of being "magicians" and invoking
djinn
Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam.
Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...
s. On 6 May 2011, it was reported that Ahmadinejad had been given an ultimatum to accept the leader's intervention or resign, and on 8 May he "apparently bowed" to the reinstatement, welcoming back Moslehi to a cabinet meeting. The events have been said to have "humiliated and weakened" Ahmadinejad. However, the president denied that there had been any rift between the two, and according to the semiofficial
Fars News Agency
The Fars News Agency is a news agency in Iran managed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), one of the three branches of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces. While it describes itself as "Iran's leading independent news agency" ...
, he stated that his relationship with the supreme leader "is that of a father and a son".
In 2012, Khamenei ordered a halt to a parliamentary inquiry into Ahmadinejad's mishandling of the Iranian economy. In 2016, Khamenei advised Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his former ally with whom his relationship was strained after Ahmadinejad accused his son
Mojtaba Khamenei
Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei (born 8 September 1969) is an Iranian politician and cleric who is one of the sons of Ali Khamenei. He served in the Iran–Iraq War from 1987 to 1988. He also reportedly took control of the Basij paramilitary militia t ...
of embezzling from the state treasury, to not run for president again.
2023 riots
Khamenei rejected talks for referendums on the state's future, questioning people's judgment and causing public outrage. In 2024, he claimed that while speaking to his military he had been saying what words God put in his tongue.
Fatwas and messages
Fatwa against nuclear weapons
Khamenei has reportedly issued a
fatwa
A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...
saying the production, stockpiling, and use of
nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...
s was forbidden under Islam. The fatwa was cited in an official statement by the Iranian government at an August 2005 meeting of the
International Atomic Energy Agency
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology, nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was ...
(IAEA) in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
. It's been widely discussed by international officials and specifically recognized by the US administration.
The Iranian official website for information regarding its nuclear program has provided numerous instances of public statements by Khamenei wherein he voices his opposition to the pursuit and development of nuclear weapons in moral, religious and Islamic juridical terms. Khamenei's official website specifically cites a 2010 version of these statements in the fatwa section of the website in
Farsi
Persian ( ), also known by its endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoke ...
as a fatwa on "Prohibition of Weapons of Mass Destruction".
Doubts have been cast by experts on the existence of the fatwa as it can be changed or modified as and when deemed necessary, as well as doubts on its authenticity, its impact, and its apparently religious nature.
Gareth Porter
Gareth Porter (born June 18, 1942) is an American historian, investigative journalist, author and policy analyst specializing in U.S. national security issues. He was an anti-war activist during the Vietnam War and has written about the potenti ...
believes that the fatwa is "sincere" and Gholam-Hossein Elham commented that it will not change.
Fatwa on Islamic legal interpretation
In 2000, Khamenei sent a letter to the Iranian parliament forbidding the legislature from debating a revision of the Iranian press law to allow more press freedom. He wrote: "The present press law has prevented this big plague. The draft bill is not legitimate and in the interests of the system and the revolution". Earlier in 1996, he issued a fatwa stating, "The promotion of music oth traditional and Westernin schools is contrary to the goals and teachings of Islam, regardless of age and level of study". Many music schools were closed and public (but not private) music instruction to children under 16 was banned thereafter. In 1999, Khamenei had issued a
fatwa
A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...
stating that it was permitted to use a third party (donor sperm, ova or surrogacy) in fertility treatments. This was different in "both style and substance" to the fatwa on
Assisted Reproductive Technology
Assisted reproductive technology (ART) includes medical procedures used primarily to address infertility. This subject involves procedures such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and cryopreservation of ga ...
(ART) by Gad El-Hak Ali Gad El-Hak of Egypt's Al-Azhar University in the late 1980s which permitted ART (IVF and similar technologies) as long there is no third-party donation (of sperm, eggs, embryos, or uteruses).
In 2002, Khamenei ruled that human
stem cell research
In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can change into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of cell ...
was permissible under Islam, with the condition that it be used to create only parts instead of a whole human. Also in 2002, after protests erupted in the capital, Khamenei intervened against the
death sentence
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
given to
Hashem Aghajari
Seyyed Hashem Aghajari (, born 1957) is an Iranian historian, university professor and a critic of the government of the Islamic Republic who was sentenced to death in 2002 for apostasy for a speech he gave on Islam urging Iranians to "not blind ...
for arguing that Muslims should re-interpret Islam rather than blindly follow leaders. Khamenei ordered a review of the sentence against Aghajari, which was later commuted to a prison sentence.
Other messages
Since becoming the supreme leader of Iran in 1989, Khamenei has issued annual messages on the occasion of
Hajj
Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...
for all Muslims (pilgrims). He continually invites all Muslims to
Tawhid
''Tawhid'' () is the concept of monotheism in Islam, it is the religion's central and single most important concept upon which a Muslim's entire religious adherence rests. It unequivocally holds that God is indivisibly one (''ahad'') and s ...
, and expresses the significance of Hajj in spiritual and social life. He also asks the Muslims to be aware of what he considers "the conspiracy of the enemies" by having a right comprehension and advises them to "not be deceived by them". So far, he has issued 32 messages. A part of his 6 August 2019 message was as follows:
Khamenei was one of the
Ulama
In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam.
"Ulama ...
signatories of the
Amman Message
The Amman Message () is a statement calling for tolerance and unity in the Muslim world that was issued on 9 November 2004 (27 Ramadan 1425 AH) by King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, and his advisor Sheikh Izz-Eddine Al-Tamimi. The messa ...
, which gives a broad foundation for defining Muslim orthodoxy. As well as elaborating on the factors needed to create Islamic unity, he argued: "neither the Shia Muslims allied with the British MI6 are Shias, nor the Sunni mercenaries of the American CIA are Sunnis, as they are both anti-Islamic".
Other fatwas
In 2010, Khamenei issued a fatwa that bans any insult to the
Sahabah
The Companions of the Prophet () were the Muslim disciples and followers of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who saw or met him during his lifetime. The companions played a major role in Muslim battles, society, hadith narration, and governance ...
(companions of Muhammad) as well as
Muhammad's wives
A total of eleven women are confirmed as having been married to Muhammad, the founder of Islam. As a sign of respect, Muslims refer to each of these wives with the title ''"Umm al-Mu'minin"'' (, ), which is derived from of the Quran.
Muhammad' ...
. The fatwa was issued to reconcile legal, social, and political disagreements between Sunni and Shia. In 2017, he issued a fatwa against women riding bicycles in public.
Domestic policy
Some regard Khamenei as the figurehead of the country's conservative establishment. Khamenei supported
Mesbah Yazdi
Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi Giwachi (; 31 January 19351 January 2021) was an Iranian Shia scholar, political theorist and philosopher who served as the spiritual leader of the Front of Islamic Revolution Stability.
He was a member of the Assembly ...
, describing him as one of Iran's most credible ideologues before the 2005 election but "recently been concerned about Mesbah's political ambitions". In 2007, Khamenei requested that government officials speed up Iran's move towards economic privatisation. Its last move towards such a goal was in 2004 when Article 44 of the constitution was overturned. Article 44 had decreed that Iran's core infrastructure should remain state-run. Khamenei also suggested that ownership rights should be protected in courts set up by the Justice Ministry; the hope was that this new protection would give a measure of security to and encourage private investment. In 2007, Iranian police under the direction of Khamenei launched a "Public Security Plan", arresting dozens of "thugs" to increase public security. Additionally, Khamenei has stated that he believes in the importance of nuclear technology for civilian purposes because "oil and gas reserves cannot last forever".
On 30 April 2008, Ali Khamenei backed President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (born Mahmoud Sabbaghian on 28 October 1956) is an Iranian Iranian principlists, principlist and Iranian nationalism, nationalist politician who served as the sixth president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. He is currently a mem ...
's economic policy and said the West was struggling with more economic difficulties than Iran, with a "crisis" spreading from the United States to Europe, and inflation was a widespread problem. The Iranian leader said that the ongoing economic crisis which has debilitated the world has been unprecedented in the past 60 years. He said: "This crisis has forced the UN to declare
state of emergency
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...
for food shortages around the globe but foreign radios have focused on Iran to imply that the current price hikes and inflation in the country are the results of carelessness on the part of Iranian officials which of course is not true." Khamenei emphasized that no one has the right to blame the
Iranian government
The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran (), known simply as ''Nezam'' (), is the ruling State (polity), state and current political system in Iran, in power since the Iranian Revolution and fall of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979.
Its Const ...
for Iran's economic problems. He also advised people and the government to be content and avoid waste in order to solve economic problems. He added: "I advise you to keep in your mind that this great nation is never afraid of economic sanctions."
Presidential, parliamentary, and Assembly of Experts elections
As Supreme Leader, Khamenei has influence over
elections in Iran
Iran elects on a national level a head of government (the president), a legislature (the Majlis), and an " Assembly of Experts" (which elects the Supreme Leader). City and Village Council elections are also held every four years throughout the ...
since the
Constitution of Iran
The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran (, ''Qanun-e Asasi-ye Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Iran'') is the supreme law of Iran. It was adopted by referendum on 2 and 3 December 1979, and went into force replacing the Constitution of 1906. It ...
allows him to appoint half of the members of the
Guardian Council
The Guardian Council (also called Council of Guardians or Constitutional Council, ) is an appointed and constitutionally mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The constitution ...
and the
Chief Justice of Iran
The head of the Judicial System of the Islamic Republic of Iran (), often called the chief justice of Iran, is the head of the Judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Head of Judiciary) and is responsible for its administration and super ...
.Article 91 of the
Constitution of Iran
The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran (, ''Qanun-e Asasi-ye Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Iran'') is the supreme law of Iran. It was adopted by referendum on 2 and 3 December 1979, and went into force replacing the Constitution of 1906. It ...
The Constitution also establishes that the Council approves or disqualifies candidates for office. At the same time, the Chief Justice presents the other half of the members of the council to be selected by
Parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. These constitutional provisions give Khamenei direct and indirect influence over the council; an entity that, in turn, has direct influence over who can run for government. This influence was evident in the 2004 parliamentary elections, in which the Guardian Council disqualified thousands of candidates from running — including 80 incumbents, many of the reformist members of Parliament, and all the candidates of the
Islamic Iran Participation Front
The Islamic Iran Participation Front (; ''Jebheye Mosharekate Iran-e Eslaami'') was a reformist political party in Iran. It was sometimes described as the most dominant member within the 2nd of Khordad Front.
The party took 189 of the 290 seats ...
party. Subsequently, the Conservatives won about 70% of parliamentary seats. The election became a key turning point in the country's political evolution as it marked the end of the campaign for political and social reform initiated by former President
Mohammad Khatami
Mohammad Khatami (born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician and Shia cleric who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 to 1992. Later, he was critic ...
.
During the 2005 presidential election, Khamenei's comments about the importance of fighting corruption, being faithful to the ideals of the Islamic revolution, as well as on the superior intelligence and dynamism of those who studied engineering were interpreted by some as a subtle endorsement of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (who had a PhD in traffic engineering). After the election, and until recently, Khamenei was outspoken in his support for Ahmadinejad, and "defended him publicly in ways which he never" had reformist president Khatami. Khamenei would later certify the results of the 2009 Iranian presidential election.
Khamenei took a firm stand against the
2009–2010 Iranian election protests
After incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared victory in the 2009 Iranian presidential election, protests broke out in major cities across Iran in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. The protests con ...
, and stated that he would neither reconsider vote results nor bow to public pressure over the disputed reelection of President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (born Mahmoud Sabbaghian on 28 October 1956) is an Iranian Iranian principlists, principlist and Iranian nationalism, nationalist politician who served as the sixth president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. He is currently a mem ...
. He said: "By Allah's favor, the presidential election was accurately held, and the current matters should be pursued legally". In a public appearance on 19 June, he expressed his support for the declared winner Ahmadinejad. He accused foreign powers — including Britain, Israel and the United States — of helping foment protest against the election results. In particular, he singled out Britain, perceiving the country as the "most evil" of its enemies. He said that the Iranian people would respond with an "iron fist" if Western powers meddle in Iran's internal affairs.
In response to reformist gains in the 2015–2016 election cycle, Khamenei lamented the loss of conservative clerics from the Assembly of Experts and suggested changes to the law by which the Guardian Council vets candidates may be needed because it is currently too difficult for the Guardian Council to vet so large a number of candidates.
Science and technology
Ali Khamenei has been supportive of scientific progress in Iran. He was among the first Islamic clerics to allow
stem cell research
In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can change into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of cell ...
and
therapeutic cloning
In genetics and developmental biology, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a laboratory strategy for creating a viable embryo from a body cell and an egg cell. The technique consists of taking a denucleated oocyte (egg cell) and implanti ...
. In 2004, Khamenei said that the country's progress is dependent on investment in the field of science and technology. He also said that attaching a high status to scholars and scientists in society would help talents to flourish and science and technology to become domesticated, thus ensuring the country's progress and development.
Foreign policy
Khamenei has "direct responsibility" for foreign policy, which "cannot be conducted without his direct involvement and approval". He has a foreign policy team independent of the president's "which includes two former foreign ministers" and "can at any time of his choosing inject himself into the process and "correct" a flawed policy or decision". His foreign policy is said to steer a course that avoids either confrontation or accommodation with the West.
Khamenei condemned the
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa, launched a military intervention in Yemen at the request of Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who had been ousted from the capital, Sa ...
and compared Saudi Arabia to Israel. Khamenei also condemned the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and called Myanmar's de facto leader and
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...
a "brutal woman". U.S. Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo
Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American retired politician who served in the First presidency of Donald Trump#Administration, first administration of Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) fr ...
criticised Khamenei for his refusal to condemn the
Xinjiang internment camps
The Xinjiang internment camps, officially called vocational education and training centers by the government of the People's Republic of China, are internment camps operated by the government of Xinjiang and the Chinese Communist Party P ...
Iran nuclear deal
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; (, BARJAM)), also known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement to limit the Iranian nuclear program in return for sanctions relief and other provisions. The agreement was finalize ...
, the 2020 assassination of
Qasem Soleimani
Qasem Soleimani (; 11 March 1957 – 3 January 2020) was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until Assassination of Qasem Soleimani, his assassination by the United States in 2020, h ...
and the 2021 election of the conservative
Ebrahim Raisi
Ebrahim Raisolsadati (14 December 1960 – 19 May 2024), better known as Ebrahim Raisi, was an Iranian politician who served as the eighth president of Iran from 2021 until 2024 Varzaqan helicopter crash, his death in a helicopter crash in 202 ...
(who was supported by Khamenei) as President, Iran has taken a geopolitical course of further aligning with Russia and China. This became more evident in mid-2022 when Iran started supplying its
HESA Shahed 136
The HESA Shahed 136 (, ), also known by its Russian designation Geran-2 (, ), is an Iranian-designed loitering munition, also referred to as a kamikaze drone or suicide drone, in the form of an autonomous pusher-propelled drone. It is design ...
drones to the
Russian Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Russian Ground Forces, Ground Forces, Russian Navy, Navy, and Russi ...
7 October 2023
On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinians, Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 ...
and the decades-long military and nuclear collaboration between North Korea and Iran, these developments have led a number of critics to speak of a new Iran-Russia-China-North Korea "
Axis of Upheaval
"Axis of Upheaval" is a term coined in 2024 by Center for a New American Security foreign policy analysts Richard Fontaine and Andrea Kendall-Taylor and used by many foreign policy analysts, military officials,, Axis of Resistance, and inte ...
".
Beliefs about the United States and its foreign policy
The United States and Iran have had no formal diplomatic relations since the
Iran hostage crisis
The Iran hostage crisis () began on November 4, 1979, when 66 Americans, including diplomats and other civilian personnel, were taken hostage at the Embassy of the United States in Tehran, with 52 of them being held until January 20, 1981. Th ...
of 1980 when US embassy was taken over and US diplomats were taken prisoner. According to study by Karim Sadjadpour, speeches by Khamenei regularly mention the principle of resolute opposition to the United States; and according to Karim Sadjadpour he has "resisted Rafsanjani's attempts to find a
modus vivendi
''Modus vivendi'' (plural ''modi vivendi'') is a Latin phrase that means "mode of living" or " way of life". In international relations, it often is used to mean an arrangement or agreement that allows conflicting parties to coexist in peace. In ...
with the United States", and once told reformist president
Mohammad Khatami
Mohammad Khatami (born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician and Shia cleric who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 to 1992. Later, he was critic ...
that "we need the United States as an enemy".
On 4 June 2006, Khamenei said that Iran would disrupt energy shipments from the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
region, where about 20% of the world's daily supply of oil passes from the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz very close to Iran's coast, should the country come under attack from the US, insisting that Tehran will not give up its right to produce nuclear fuel. On 14 September 2007, on the 1st Friday prayer of
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...
, Khamenei, who asserts that the United States is the main cause of insecurity in Iraq, predicted that
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
and American officials would one day be tried in an international criminal court to be held "accountable" for the US-led
invasion of Iraq
An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression.
Generally, invasions have objectives ...
.
On 21 March 2009, a day after US President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
advocated a "new beginning" in diplomatic relations between the two countries, Khamenei said a change of US "words" was not enough and added: "We will watch and we will judge (the new US administration) ... You change, our behavior will change". He rejected US foreign policy since the Islamic revolution, insisted the United States is "hated in the world" and should end its interference in other countries.
Khamenei criticised the NATO-led military intervention in Libya. On 21 March 2011, Khamenei accused the West of "coming after Libyan oil". He also stressed that "Iran utterly condemns the behavior of the Libyan government against its people, the killings and pressure on people, and the bombing of its cities... but it (also) condemns the military action in Libya." Khamenei stated that he support sending mediators rather than bombing the country.
In June 2011, Khamenei accused the United States government of terrorism and rejected the American
definition of terrorism
There is no legal or scientific consensus on the definition of terrorism. Various legal systems and government agencies use different definitions of terrorism, and governments have been reluctant to formulate an agreed-upon legally-binding defin ...
; he was quoted as saying, "The U.S. and the European governments that follow it describe Palestinian combatant groups who fight for the liberation of their land as terrorists." In June 2012, Khamenei warned Western governments that the mounting sanctions on the country would only deepen the Iranians' hatred of the West. In October 2014, Khamenei said the U.S. and the U.K. created ISIS as a tool to fight Iran and "create insecurity" in the region.
On 19 July 2015, while speaking at a mosque in Tehran, Khamenei said to his supporters that the policies of the United States in the region were "180 degrees" opposed to Iran's political and religious movement. The speech was punctuated by chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel". Khamenei said in regards to the 2015 nuclear deal, "Even after this deal, our policy towards the arrogant U.S. will not change".
U.S. Secretary of State
The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State.
The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...
said that if the comments reflected policy, it was "very disturbing", and "very troubling".
On 24 June 2019, the United States imposed sanctions on Khamenei with the signing of Executive Order 13876. In March 2020, Khamenei warned against a United States offer of aid to fight
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
because it could be a way to hurt Iran by further spreading the disease. He also suggested the US had developed a special variety of the virus "based on Iranian genetic information they have gathered", although he provided no evidence for the theory. Khamenei explained, "There are enemies who are demons, and there are enemies who are humans, and they help one another". In February 2024, it was announced that
Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms, Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Meta owns and operates several prominent social media platforms and communication services, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads ...
had removed Khamenei's
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
and
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
accounts, citing repeated violations of its Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy. In March 2022, Khamenei accused the United States of creating the conflict surrounding the
Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...
.
Condemnation of 11 September attacks
After the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
, Khamenei condemned the act and the attackers, and called for a condemnation of terrorist activities all over the world but warned strongly against a military intervention in Afghanistan. He is quoted as saying, "Mass killings of human beings are catastrophic acts which are condemned wherever they may happen and whoever the perpetrators and the victims may be".
Zionism and Israel
Khamenei is an opponent of the
State of Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
and
Zionism
Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
antisemitic
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
rhetoric. On 15 December 2000, Khamenei called Israel a "cancerous tumor of a state" that "should be removed from the region" and in 2013 called Israel a "rabid dog", as well as in 2014 during the
Gaza war
The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
, for what he called attacking innocent people. In 2014, a tweet from an account attributed to Khamenei claimed that there was no cure for Israel but its destruction.
In a September 2008 sermon for
Friday prayers
Friday prayer, or congregational prayer (), is the meeting together of Muslims for communal prayer and service at midday every Friday. In Islam, the day itself is called ''Yawm al-Jum'ah'' (shortened to ''Jum'ah''), which translated from Arabic me ...
in
Tehran
Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
, Khamenei stated that "it is incorrect, irrational, pointless and nonsense to say that we are friends of Israeli people", because he believed that the occupation is done by means of them. " urpation of houses, lands, and business f Palestinian peopleare carried out using these people. They are the background actors of Zionist elements," said Khamenei in his speech. " have no problem with Jews and Christians ... we have problem with the usurpers of Palestine land," he added. Also, he said that he had raised the issue "to spell an end to any debates". In 2013, Khamenei accused France of "kneeling" before Israel, while saying that Israel was led by people unworthy of the "title human". Nevertheless, according to anti-regime change activist
Abbas Edalat
Abbas Edalat () is a British-Iranian academic who is a professor of computer science and mathematics at the Department of Computing, Imperial College London and a political activist. In a 2018 letter to The Guardian, 129 experts in computer sc ...
, in 2005, Khamenei responded to a remark by then-President Ahmadinejad which had been widely translated as saying that the "regime occupying Jerusalem should be wiped off the map" by saying that "the
Islamic Republic
The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been used for a s ...
has never threatened and will never threaten any country".
In a September 2009 sermon, Khamenei was quoted as saying that "the Zionist cancer is gnawing into the lives of Islamic nations." In another report of the same speech, he stated that "we will support and help any nations, any groups fighting against the Zionist regime across the world, and we are not afraid of declaring this." Khamenei instead proposed that "Palestinian refugees should return and Muslims, Christians and Jews could choose a government for themselves, excluding immigrant Jews", adding, "No one will allow a bunch of thugs, lechers and outcasts from London, America and Moscow to rule over the Palestinians".
On 10 September 2015, in a speech about
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
after
agreement
Agreement may refer to:
Agreements between people and organizations
* Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law
* Trade agreement, between countries
* Consensus (disambiguation), a decision-making process
* Contract, enforceable in a court of ...
on the
nuclear program of Iran
The nuclear program of Iran is one of the most scrutinized nuclear programs in the world. The military capabilities of the program are possible through its mass enrichment activities in facilities such as Natanz and Arak. In June 2025, t ...
, Khamenei made a remark " Israel will not exist in 25 years". For the first time, the remark was published in Khamenei's official website and his
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
. This statement was reported as voted as the best and most important among Khamenei's statements in 2015 by an online poll conducted by his official website. On 21 February 2017, at the 6th International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada, Khamenei regarded the withdrawal of Israel from south Lebanon in 2000 and from Gaza in 2005 as two major achievements so far. Also, he advised the Islamic countries to refrain from "useless" crises and differences and instead concentrate on the issue of
Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
, which he regarded as the core issue of Islam. He added: "Otherwise, the potentials and capabilities of the nations will go to waste in the face of vain struggles, which would provide opportunities for the Zionist regime to become even stronger."
In September 2020, Khamenei condemned the
peace agreement
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surr ...
between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and charged UAE with betraying the Islamic world, the Arab countries and Palestine. He stated that the normalisation will be only temporary, but the UAE will forever have to bear the shame regarding the deal. In October 2023, Khamenei praised the
Hamas attack on Israel
On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...
, but denied Iran's involvement. He condemned Israel's
bombing of the Gaza Strip
The Israeli Air Force has been conducting an aerial bombardment campaign on the Gaza Strip during the Gaza war. During the bombing, Israeli airstrikes killed thousands of Palestinians (mostly civilians), and damaged or destroyed Palestinian sch ...
in retaliation for the Hamas attack and accused Israel of committing
genocide
Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...
against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
Holocaust denial
A 2006 speech of Khamenei contains the phrase that was translated into English as "the myth of the massacre of Jews". In a 2013 interview, Iran's then-Foreign Minister
Javad Zarif
Mohammad Javad Zarif (; born 8 January 1960) is an Iranian career diplomat and academic. He served as the vice president for strategic affairs from August 2024 to March 2025.upremeleader on this issue, he rejects and condemns the killing of innocent people. No, the Holocaust is not a myth." On 21 March 2014, Khamenei said that "the Holocaust is an event whose reality is uncertain and if it has happened, it's uncertain how it has happened". Additionally, because of the potential legal consequences in some countries, he commented: "No one in European countries dares to speak about heHolocaust." He also said that in the West "speaking about heHolocaust and expressing doubts about it is considered to be a great sin."
On
Holocaust Memorial Day
A Holocaust memorial day or Holocaust remembrance day is an annual observance to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust, the genocide of six million Jews and of millions of other Holocaust victims by Nazi Germany and its allies. Many countries ...
, 27 January 2016, Khamenei posted a Holocaust-denying video on his official website. The video, drawing on the March 2014 speech and lasting about three minutes, features images of Holocaust deniers
Roger Garaudy
Roger Garaudy (; 17 July 1913 – 13 June 2012) was a French philosopher, French resistance fighter and a communist author. He converted to Islam in 1982. In 1998, he was convicted for several years and fined for Holocaust denial under French law ...
,
Robert Faurisson
Robert Faurisson (; born Robert Faurisson Aitken; 25 January 1929 – 21 October 2018) was a British-born French academic who became best known for Holocaust denial. Faurisson generated much controversy with several articles published in the '' ...
, and
David Irving
David John Cawdell Irving (born 24 March 1938) is an English author and Holocaust denier who has written on the military and political history of World War II, especially Nazi Germany. He was found to be a Holocaust denier in a British court ...
. In December 2019, Khamenei praised Garaudy (a convert to Islam) and said that Garaudy's conviction for Holocaust denial violated
freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...
. In 2020, Khamenei tweeted asking "Why is it a crime to raise doubts about the Holocaust ... while insulting the Prophet (PBUH) is allowed?"
Antisemitism
Journalist
Yair Rosenberg
Yair Rosenberg is an American journalist and composer, who is currently a staff writer at ''The Atlantic'', where he has written the ''Deep Shtetl'' newsletter since 2021.
Formerly a senior writer at '' Tablet'' magazine, he covers politics, cult ...
argues that statements by Khamenei purporting to attack "Zionism" are following an antisemitic tradition of avoiding censorship by using "Zionism" as a
dog whistle
A dog whistle (also known as silent whistle or Galton's whistle) is a type of whistle that emits sound in the ultrasonic range, which humans cannot hear but some other animals can, including dogs and domestic cats, and is used in their trainin ...
for "Jews". For example, an 8 June 2022 statement
tweeted
A tweet (officially known as a post since 2023) is a short status update on the social networking site Twitter (officially known as X since 2023) which can include images, videos, GIFs, straw polls, hashtags, mentions, and hyperlinks. Around ...
by Khamenei reads: "The Zionists have always been a plague, even before establishing the fraudulent Zionist regime. Even then, Zionist capitalists were a plague for the whole world." According to Rosenberg, it makes more sense (although it is just as slanderous) if "Zionists" is replaced by "Jews". The Zionist movement was not founded until the late 19th century, and thus Zionists are not likely to "have always been a plague". Other accusations of antisemitism have come from Victoria Coates and Ellie Cohanim, who observe his Holocaust denial and find his "nine-point plan" to "wipe" Israel "off the face of the earth" uncomfortably reminiscent of Hitler's
Final Solution
The Final Solution or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question was a plan orchestrated by Nazi Germany during World War II for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews. The "Final Solution to the Jewish question" was the official ...
; and ''
The Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...
'', who quote Khamenei's attack on the 2020
Israel–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement
The Israel–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement, officially the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement: Treaty of Peace, Diplomatic Relations and Full Normalization Between the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel, was initially agr ...
: "The nation of Palestine is under various, severe pressures. Then, the UAE acts in agreement with the Israelis and filthy Zionist agents of the U.S. — such as the Jewish member of Trump's family — with utmost cruelty against the interests of the World of Islam." They argue that "filthy Zionist agents", "the Jewish member of Trump's family" (i.e.
Jared Kushner
Jared Corey Kushner (born January 10, 1981) is an American businessman and investor. He is a son-in-law of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, through his marriage to Ivanka Trump and served as a senior advisor in his father-in- ...
and his wife
Ivanka Trump
Ivana Marie "Ivanka" Trump (; born October 30, 1981) is an American businesswoman. She is the second child of Donald Trump, the president of the United States, and his first wife, Ivana. Trump was a senior advisor in her father's first admi ...
), and "cruel" are all words channeling "antisemitic tropes and dog whistles".
Open letters
Khamenei has written several open letters.
To the Youth in Europe and North America
"To the Youth in Europe and North America" is an online open letter written on 21 January 2015 by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
According to Al-Monitor, it may be the first time that young people in the West have been directly add ...
was written on 21 January 2015. Khamenei wrote a second letter to the students enrolled at U.S. universities on 30 May 2024. While describing Israel's actions as "genocide and apartheid", Khamenei asked the students to continue their protests against what he called "brutal Zionist regime".
In his letter, Khamenei expressed empathy and solidarity with the students protesting against Israel's attacks in Gaza. He referred to these students as a "branch of the Resistance Front" and predicted their victory with the "permission of God". Khamenei also runs a fund raising campaign for victims of conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon.
Human rights, freedoms, protests, and Islamic law
Critics have accused Khamenei of overseeing the assassination of as many as 160 exiled defectors worldwide, the heavy-handed repression of protesters, the killings of tens of thousands of members of the M.E.K. (
People's Mujahedin of Iran
The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) (), is an Iranian dissident organization. It was an armed group until 2003, afterwards transitioning into a politica ...
) paramilitary group, and of making dissident writers and intellectuals in Iran "a special target" of repression, among other infractions of human rights. However, Khamenei himself has insisted human rights are a fundamental principle underlying Islamic teachings that precedes Western concern for human rights by many centuries. He has attacked Western powers who have criticized the rights record of the Islamic Republic for hypocrisy, saying that these countries economically oppress people in
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...
countries and support despots and dictators. In response to Western complaints of human rights abuses in Iran he has stated that the American administration has committed many crimes and is therefore not fit to judge the Islamic Republic.
Protests during leadership
There have been several major protests during Khamenei's reign, including the 1994 Qazvin Protests where according to
Al-Arabiya
Arabiya (, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel. It is based in Riyadh and is a subsidiary of MBC Group.
The channel is a flagship of the media c ...
around 40 people were killed and over 400 were injured, the
1999 Iranian student protests
The Iranian student protests of July 1999 (also known as 18th of Tir and Kuye Daneshgah Disaster () in Iran) (7–13 July)2009 Iranian presidential election protests
After incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared victory in the 2009 Iranian presidential election, protests broke out in major cities across Iran in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. The protests c ...
, when protesters chanted "death to the dictator", and ripped down pictures of Khamenei, as well as the
2011–2012 Iranian protests
The 2011–2012 protests in Iran were a series of demonstrations in Iran which began on 14 February 2011, called "The Day of Rage". The protests followed the 2009–2010 Iranian election protests and were influenced by other concurrent protests ...
and
2017–2018 Iranian protests
Public protests took place in several cities in Iran beginning on 28 December 2017 and continued into early 2018, sometimes called the Dey protests. The first protest took place in Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city by population, initially fo ...
, among others. In 2016, Khamenei, who outlined the elections guidelines "in line with Article 110 of Iran's Constitution", asked to maximise the amount of transparency in elections in Iran, using modern technologies. During the
Mahshahr massacre
Bandar-e Mahshahr () is a city in the Central District of Bandar Mahshahr County, Khuzestan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district.
فارسی
Most of its people speak a dialect that was a mixture of South ...
, protests expanded against "government corruption, failing institutions, lack of freedoms and the repressive rule of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei".
During the
2018–2019 Iranian general strikes and protests
The 2018–2019 Iranian general strikes and protests were a series of strikes and protests that took place across Iran from early 2018 until mid-2019 against the country's economic situation, as well as the Government of the Islamic Republic of ...
, Khamenei demanded punishment for those "who disrupt economic security". According to
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency ...
, the remarks were "clearly intended to send a message to Iranians who may plan more demonstrations". During the
2019–2020 Iranian protests
The 2019–2020 Iranian protests, sometimes known as Bloody November or (using the Iranian calendar) Bloody Aban (), were a series of nationwide civil protests in Iran that took place in 2019 and 2020. Initially caused by a 50–200% increase ...
, Khamenei met with various officials and cabinet members, saying he would "hold the assembled officials responsible for the consequences of the protests if they didn't immediately stop them". According to an official, Khamenei "made clear the demonstrations required a forceful response" and that "rioters should be crushed". During the
Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 protests
The Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 protests were anti-government protests, forming part of the spillover clashes that took place in January 2020 resulting from the crackdown of the 2019 Iranian protests, which swept Iran in January 2 ...
, thousands of protesters demanded Khamenei's resignation.
Minorities
The
Baháʼí Faith
The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...
is the largest religious minority in Iran, with around 300,000 members (8,000,000 members worldwide) and is officially considered a dangerous cult by the Iranian government. It is banned in Iran and several other countries. Khamenei has approved new legislation against Baháʼís in Iran and lessen their influence abroad. According to a letter from the Chairman of the Command Headquarters of the Armed Forces in Iran addressed to the Ministry of Information, the Revolutionary Guard, and the Police Force, Khamenei has also ordered the Command Headquarters to identify people who adhere to the Baháʼí Faith and to monitor their activities and gather any and all information about the members of the Baháʼí Faith.
Relationship with the press
In 2000, he was listed by the
Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...
as "one of the top ten enemies of the press and freedom of expression", and was named to the
Time 100
''Time'' 100 is a list of the top 100 most influential people, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, politicians, and journalists, the list is now a highly ...
in 2007. Opposition journalists
Ahmad Zeidabadi
Ahmad Zeidabadi (; born 21 July 1965) is an Iranian journalist, academic, writer and political analyst and the secretary general of Office for Strengthening Unity. He is one of the notable figures of the Iranian reform movement.
Zeidabadi has ...
,
Mohsen Sazegara
Mohsen Sazegara (; born 5 January 1955) is an Iranian journalist and pro-democracy political activist. He was the founder of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. He held several offices in the government of ...
Akbar Ganji
Akbar Ganji ( , born 31 January 1960 in Tehran) is an Iranian journalist, writer and a former member of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He has been described as "Iran's preeminent political dissident", and a "wildly popular pro-democracy journ ...
were arrested and investigated for spreading critical articles containing unproven charges against Khamenei's policies as the leader and some organizations. According to Iran's Press Law "spreading rumors and lies and distorts the words of others" is not allowed. Also, according to the law, "spreading libel against officials, institutions, organizations and individuals in the country or insulting legal or real persons who are lawfully respected, even by means of pictures or caricatures" is not allowed.
In 2000, Ali Khamenei sent a letter to the Iranian parliament forbidding the legislature from debating a revision of the Iranian press law to allow more freedom. (The law had been used "to close more than 20 independent newspapers" from 1997 to 2000.) He wrote: "The present press law has prevented this big plague. The draft bill is not legitimate and in the interests of the system and the revolution." This was called a use of "extra-legislative power" by reformists and opposition groups, but Speaker of Parliament Mehdi Karroubi reminded deputies that "the constitution contained "elements of the absolute rule of the supreme clerical leader"."
''
Kayhan
''Kayhan'' () is a Persian-language newspaper published in Tehran, Iran. It is considered "the most conservative and hard-line Iranian newspaper." Hossein Shariatmadari is the editor-in-chief of ''Kayhan''. According to the report of the ' ...
'' and '' Jomhuri-ye Eslami'' are two newspapers published under the management of Khamenei. Among his controversial actions were his rejection of a bill presented by the Iranian parliament in 2000 that aimed to reform the country's press law, and the disqualification of thousands of parliamentary candidates for the
2004 Iranian legislative election
The Iranian parliamentary elections of February 20 and May 7, 2004 were a victory for Islamic conservatives over the reformist parties. Assisting the conservative victory was the disqualification of about 2500 reformist candidates earlier in Janua ...
by the
Guardian Council
The Guardian Council (also called Council of Guardians or Constitutional Council, ) is an appointed and constitutionally mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The constitution ...
he appointed. In 2012, 2013, and 2014, ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' selected Khamenei as the 21st, 23rd, and 19th most powerful person in the world, respectively, in their list of ''The World's Most Powerful People''.
Trials of people for insulting Khamenei
Several journalists, bloggers, and other individuals were put on trial in Iran for insulting the Supreme Leader, often in conjunction with
blasphemy
Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...
charges. In 1996,
Abbas Maroufi
Abbas Maroufi (, 17 May 1957 in Sangsar– 1 September 2022 in Berlin) was an Iranian novelist and journalist. His most famous novel is ''Symphony of the Dead''.
Abbas Maroufi studied dramatic arts at Tehran University
The University of Tehra ...
was sentenced to 35 lashes and six months imprisonment for spreading lies and insulting Khamenei. Maroufi was also banned from working as a journalist and his literary monthly Gardoon was closed. Maroufi had compared Khamenei to former Shah of Iran
Mohammed Reza Pahlavi
Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, ...
.
In 2005, an Iranian was jailed for two years for insulting Khamenei and Imam Khomeini while being cleared of insulting the prophet. In 2009, Iranian blogger Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, who was arrested for insulting Khamenei in an internet post, died while in custody in
Evin Prison
Evin Prison () is a prison located in the Evin neighborhood of Tehran, Iran. The prison has been the primary site for detaining Iran's political prisoners since 1972, before and after the Iranian Revolution, in a purpose-built wing nicknamed "E ...
. In 2010, opposition activist Ahmad Gabel was sentenced to 20 months in jail for insulting Khamenei, as well as 3 additional years for possessing a satellite receiver, a 3-year exile and a fine. In 2014, eight men, including a Briton, were sentenced to 19 to 20 years for insulting Khamenei and other charges relating to Facebook comments. In 2017, Sina Dehghan was sentenced to death for insulting the prophet, with an additional 16-month sentence for insulting Khamenei in a messaging application.
In 2024 X blogger Hossein Shanbezade ratioed Khamenei with a period point "." dot and was sentenced to 12 years of jail , with 3.5 years commutable sentence in Evin.
Death row Singer/Political prisoner Toomaj Salehi was charged with insulting the supreme leader leader.
Khamenei is often compared to King Zahhak. Khamenei Zahak a derogatory term used to nickname him, was a main anti-Iranian regime chant during 2019-2022 protests of Iranian women where thousands were imprisoned.
Sepideh Qolian
Sepideh Qolian (, born September 23, 1994 in Dezful), is an Iranian leftist political activist, rusticated veterinary student and journalist from the city of Dezful.
Activism
On November 18, 2018, Sepideh Qolian, who had previously worked with se ...
was put on a trial after crying "Khamenei Zahak we will take you in under the ground".
In March 2025 in Nowruz some people were arrested by the Iranian regime after chanting insults such as King must return Zahak is dead. In April 2025 a cleric was discharged for insulting Khamenei.
Women's and queer rights
In July 2007, Khamenei criticized
Iranian women's rights activists
Iranian () may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Iran
** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran
** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia
** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...
and the ''Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women'' (CEDAW). He said: "In our country ... some activist women, and some men, have been trying to play with Islamic rules to match international conventions related to women. This is wrong." Khamenei made these comments two days after Iranian women's rights activist Delaram Ali was sentenced to 34 months of jail and ten lashes by Iran's judiciary.
Khamenei believes in
gender segregation
Sex segregation, sex separation, sex partition, gender segregation, gender separation, or gender partition is the physical, legal, or cultural separation of people according to their gender or biological sex at any age. Sex segregation can si ...
. Khamenei also believes that
gender equality
Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...
is a
Zionist
Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
plot with the purpose to "corrupt the role of women in society".
Khamenei advocates the Islamic practice of
Hijab
Hijab (, ) refers to head coverings worn by Women in Islam, Muslim women. Similar to the mitpaḥat/tichel or Snood (headgear), snood worn by religious married Jewish women, certain Christian head covering, headcoverings worn by some Christian w ...
. He believes that hijab is aimed at honoring women. To the Western objection to the compulsory hijab in Iran, he responds by pointing out the compulsory unveiling in certain Western countries and obstacles created for veiled Muslim women who want to enter universities. He further argues that women in the West have lost their honor by pointing out a perceived high rate of sexual violence in the West as well as the widespread exploitation of female sexual appeal for commercial purposes.
Khamenei believes
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...
is a "moral deprivation" present in the west. Khamenei has supported Khomeini's 1985 fatwa that permitted
sex reassignment surgery
Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associat ...
for
gender dysphoria
Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to inconsistency between their gender identitytheir personal sense of their own genderand their sex assigned at birth. The term replaced the previous diagnostic label of gender i ...
Masoud
Masoud (; ) is a given name and surname, with origins in Persian and Arabic. The name is found in the Arab world, Iran, Turkey, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Russia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and China. Masoud has spelling variations p ...
, and Meysam) and two daughters (Boshra and Hoda). One of his sons, Mojtaba, married a daughter of
Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel
Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel (; born 9 May 1945) is an Iranian conservative and principlist politician and former chairman of the Parliament. He is currently member of the Expediency Discernment Council.
He was the first non-cleric in the post sinc ...
. His eldest son, Mostafa, is married to a daughter of
Azizollah Khoshvaght
Azizollah Khoshvaght (), also known as Ayatollah Khoshvaqt (or Khoshwaqt) (1926 – 19 February 2013),Mohsen Kharazi
Seyyed Mohsen Kharazi () (born in 1937 in Tehran) is a member of the Assembly of Experts of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders ...
. He has three brothers, including
Mohammad Khamenei
Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammad Khamenei (, born 25 December 1935) is an Iranian cleric and politician. He is the older brother of Ali Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader of Iran, and Hadi Khamenei. Currently, he is the president of Iranology Foundati ...
and
Hadi Khamenei
Hujjat al-Islam Sayyid Hadi Khamenei (; born 26 January 1948) is an Iranian reformist politician, mujtahid and linguist.(14 February 1999Reformist Kin of Iran Leader is Attacked by Militants''The New York Times'' He is a key member of the reform ...
. One of his four sisters, Badri Khamenei (wife of dissident Ali Tehrani), fled into exile in the 1980s.
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'', and "many recruited from the military and security services".
Lifestyle
According to
Mehdi Khalaji
Mehdi Khalaji (, born September 21, 1973) is an Iranian-American writer, scholar of Islamic studies, political analyst, and a former Shia cleric. He has been researching at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy since 2005, and is now a s ...
, an Iran expert at the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), also known simply as The Washington Institute (TWI), is a pro-Israel American think tank based in Washington, D.C., focused on the foreign policy of the United States in the Near East.
WINE ...
, Khamenei has a decent life "without it being luxurious". Robert Tait of ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' commented that Khamenei is "renowned for a spartan lifestyle". Dexter Filkins describes Khamenei as presenting himself "as an ascetic, dressing and eating simply". 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". On the other hand, ''
Mother Nature Network
Mother Nature Network (mnn.com) was a news and information website focused on sustainability and ranked by Alexa Internet as the most visited for-profit website in the world in its environmental category. It was labeled "the green CNN" by Time m ...
'' reported that Khamenei has been seen riding around in a
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...
car and published a picture of him exiting one. Khamenei, often seen as stern, enjoys poetry,
gardening
Gardening is the process of growing plants for their vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs, and appearances within a designated space. Gardens fulfill a wide assortment of purposes, notably the production of Aesthetics, aesthetically pleasing area ...
, and once smoked a pipe — unusual for a cleric. Despite his absolute power, he leads a modest life, rarely leaving Iran, and has been pictured happily tending his garden with a simple plastic
watering can
A watering can (or watering pot or watering jug) is a portable container, usually with a handle and a funnel, used to water plants by hand. It has been in use since at least A.D. 79 and has since seen many improvements in design. Apart from water ...
.
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
Eid al-Adha () is the second of the two main festivals in Islam alongside Eid al-Fitr. It falls on the 10th of Dhu al-Hijja, the twelfth and final month of the Islamic calendar. Celebrations and observances are generally carried forward to the ...
. 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
Hooman Majd (born 1957) is an Iranian-born American journalist, author, and political commentator who writes on Iranian affairs. He is based in New York City, and regularly travels to Iran.
Early life
Hooman Majd was born in 1957 in Tehran, Ira ...
, he appeared to be "visibly weak" in photos released with the statement.
On 9 September 2014, Khamenei underwent
prostate
The prostate is an male accessory gland, accessory gland of the male reproductive system and a muscle-driven mechanical switch between urination and ejaculation. It is found in all male mammals. It differs between species anatomically, chemica ...
surgery in what his doctors described in state news media as a "routine operation". According to a report by ''
Le Figaro
() is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...
'', Western intelligence sources said Khamenei has prostate cancer. In September 2022, it was reported that Khamenei had undergone surgery for bowel obstruction and had to cancel a number of meetings.
Literature and art
Khamenei has supported revising Farsi words and adding new words such as rayansphere instead of cyber space and changing word radio to radian and using televisan instead of television.
In late 1996, following a fatwa by Khamenei stating that music education corrupts the minds of young children and is against Islam, many music schools were closed and music instruction to children under the age of 16 was banned by public establishments (although private instruction continued).
Khamenei has stated that "poetry must be the vanguard of the caravan of the [Islamic] revolution... [T]hrough the arts and literature, the revolution can be exported more easily and honestly." It has been suggested (by Dexter Filkins) that this might explain his interest in banning books, prohibiting newspapers and imprisoning artists.
He has expressed interest in studying novels and stories since childhood and studied various novels of the world. He was "fascinated by Jean-Paul Sartre and Bertrand Russell" in his youth. He praised the works of Mikhail Sholokhov, Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Honoré de Balzac, and Michel Zévaco. He said that Victor Hugo's ''Les Misérables'' "is the best novel that has been written in history". He explained:
Khamenei suggested reading ''The Grapes of Wrath'' to "an audience of writers and artists" and ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' to the high-level state managers as he thought it shed light on the history of the United States:
Khamenei is fluent in Arabic language, Arabic in addition to his native languages, Persian language, Persian and Azerbaijani language, Azerbaijani. He has translated several books into Persian from Arabic, including the works of the Egyptian Islamic theoretician Sayyid Qutb. When it comes to poetry, in
Mashhad
Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...
, he used to participate in literary associations along with known poets and used to critique poems. Writing some poems himself, he chose the pseudonym Amin for himself. In the field of music, he is known to have a good singing voice and plays the Tar (string instrument), tar, a traditional Iranian stringed instrument.
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 Egyptian Revolution of 2011, Egypt's protesters in Arabic even though his native language is Persian language, Persian. He introduced himself as "your brother in religion", while praising the "explosion of sacred anger". Later in "Islamic Awakening" conferences 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. Major protests against the Iranian regime also broke out throughout Iran in 2011, and they became known as the
2011–2012 Iranian protests
The 2011–2012 protests in Iran were a series of demonstrations in Iran which began on 14 February 2011, called "The Day of Rage". The protests followed the 2009–2010 Iranian election protests and were influenced by other concurrent protests ...
. Khamenei wrote an open letter to American students in 2024, which garnered a harsh US reaction. In the letter he described US students protesting against Israel as a new branch of the
Axis of Resistance
The Axis of Resistance is an informal coalition of Iranian-supported militant and political organizations across the Middle East. Formed by Iran, it unites actors committed to countering the influence of the United States and Israel in the regio ...
and called on American students to familiarize themselves with the
Quran
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
.
Works
* Four main books of Rijal
* ''An Outline of Islamic Thought in the Quran''
* Honest leader
* ''Discourse on Patience'' (translation by Sayyid Hussein Alamdar available online)
* ''Muhammad Iqbal, Iqbal - Manifestation of the Islamic Spirit, Two Contemporary Muslim Views''
** Iqbal, the Poet-Philosopher of Islamic Resurgence ' is one of the "Two Contemporary Muslim Views", the other one is Ali Shariati's.
* ''Replies to Inquiries about the Practical Laws of Islam'' PDF version
* ''Lessons from the Nahjul-Balaghah''
* ''Human Rights in Islam''
* ''The Charter of Freedom''
* ''Essence of Tawhid: Denial of Servitude but to God''
Translations from Arabic:
* Future in the realm of Islam.
Collections:
* ''A 250 Years Old Person''
* ''Palestine (2011 book), Palestine''
See also
* Khamenei family
* Motto of years in Islamic Republic of Iran
* Islamic Government (book by Khomeini)
* Muhammad Kazim Khurasani
* Mirza Husayn Tehrani
* Abdallah Mazandarani
* Mirza Ali Aqa Tabrizi
* Mirza Sayyed Mohammad Tabatabai
* Seyyed Abdollah Behbahani
* Fazlullah Nouri
* Hibatullah Akhundzada
Ayatollah Khamenei in the city of Ardabil reading different poems in Azerbaijani language about Imam Hussein and events in Karbala.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Khamenei, Ali
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