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Ali Khamenei

Ali Hosseini Khamenei ; , .}} (born 19 April 1939) is an Iranian cleric and politician who has served as the second supreme leader of Iran since 1989. His tenure as supreme leader, spanning 36 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.

Born in Mashhad to the Khamenei family originating from the town of Khamaneh, East Azerbaijan province, Ali Khamenei studied at a in his hometown, later settling in Qom in 1958 where he attended the classes of Ruhollah Khomeini. Khamenei became involved in opposition to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the shah of Iran, and was arrested six times before being exiled for three years by the Shah's regime. Khamenei was a mainstream figure in the 1978–1979 Iranian Revolution, and upon its success, held many posts in the newly established Islamic Republic of Iran. In the aftermath of the revolution, he was the target of an attempted assassination that paralysed his right arm. There have been continued assassination threats against Ali Khamenei by Israel. Khamenei served as the third president of Iran from 1981 to 1989 during the Iran–Iraq War, when he also developed close ties the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). After the death of Khomeini in 1989, Khamenei was elected supreme leader by the Assembly of Experts.

As supreme leader, Khamenei promoted scientific progress in Iran, making considerable advances through education and training, despite international sanctions. He supported Iran's nuclear program for civilian use while issuing a fatwa forbidding the production of weapons of mass destruction. Khamenei favoured economic privatization of state-owned industries and, with oil and gas reserves, transformed Iran into an "energy superpower". His foreign policy has centered on Shia Islamism and exporting the Iranian Revolution. Under Khamenei, Iran supported the "Axis of Resistance" coalition in the Iraq War, the Syrian civil war and the Yemeni civil war, as well as Russia during its invasion of Ukraine. A staunch critic of Israel and of Zionism, Khamenei has supported the Palestinians in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; his rhetoric has included calls for Israel's destruction and antisemitic tropes. Under Khamenei, Iran has been involved in proxy wars with Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey; in 2025, tensions with Israel escalated to a 12-day armed conflict.

Khamenei has also faced many protests during his reign, including the 1994 Qazvin Protests, the 1999 Iranian student protests, the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests, the 2011–2012 Iranian protests, the 2017–2018 Iranian protests, the 2018–2019 Iranian general strikes and protests, the 2019–2020 Iranian protests, and the Mahsa Amini protests. Journalists, bloggers and other individuals have been put on trial in Iran for the charge of insulting Supreme Leader Khamenei, often in conjunction with blasphemy charges. Their sentences have included lashing and jail time; some of them have died in custody. The subject of a pervasive cult of personality, Khamenei is regarded by his supporters as a resolute anti-imperialist leader who challenged Western hegemony in the region and the embodiment of Iran's Islamic identity. He is also known by the title Ayatollah and is considered one of the leading Shia Muslim in the world. Khamenei's critics view him as a repressive despot responsible for repression, mass murders and other acts of injustice. Provided by Wikipedia