Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei |
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2nd Supreme Leader of Iran | |
Assumed office 4 June 1989 |
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President | |
Preceded by | Ruhollah Khomeini |
3rd President of Iran | |
In office 13 October 1981 – 3 August 1989 |
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Prime Minister | Mir-Hossein Mousavi |
Supreme Leader | Ruhollah Khomeini |
Preceded by | Mohammad-Ali Rajai |
Succeeded by | Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani |
Member of the Assembly of Experts | |
In office 15 August 1983 – 21 February 1991 |
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Constituency | Tehran Province |
Member of the Parliament of Iran | |
In office 28 May 1980 – 13 October 1981 |
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Constituency | Tehran, Rey and Shemiranat |
Majority | 1,405,976 (65.8%) |
Tehran's Friday Prayer Imam | |
Assumed office 14 January 1980 |
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Appointed by | Ruhollah Khomeini |
Interim Imams | |
Preceded by | Hussein-Ali Montazeri |
Personal details | |
Born |
Sayyed Ali Hosseini Khameneh 17 July 1939 Mashhad, Khorasan, Iran |
Political party | Independent |
Other political affiliations |
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Spouse(s) | Khojaste Bagherzadeh (m. 1964) |
Children |
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Relatives | Hadi Khamenei (brother) |
Residence | House of Leadership |
Alma mater | Qom Seminary |
Religion | Shia Islam (Twelver) |
Signature | |
Website | english |
Military service | |
Service/branch | Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps |
Years of service | 1979–1980 |
Commands | Head of Revolutionary Guards |
Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei (Persian: سید علی حسینی خامنهای pronounced [ʔæˈliː hoseiˈniː xɒːmeneˈʔiː]; born 17 July 1939) is a marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran. Khamenei succeeded the first Supreme Leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, after Khomeini's death, being elected as the new Supreme Leader by the Assembly of Experts on 4 June 1989 at the age of 49. His political career began after the Iranian Revolution, when the former President of Iran, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, then a confidant of Khomeini, brought Khamenei into Khomeini's inner circle. Later on, the current President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, then a member of Parliament, arranged for Khamenei to get his first major post in the provisional revolutionary government as deputy defense minister. Khamenei then went to serve as President of Iran from 1981 to 1989 while becoming a close ally to Khomeini. Eventually, after Khomeini had a fall off with then- heir apparent Hussein Ali Montazeri, Rafsanjani claimed that Khomeini had chosen Khamenei as his successor while the Assembly of Experts deliberated to elect the next Supreme Leader.
Today, as Supreme Leader, Khamenei is the head of state of Iran and the commander-in-chief of its armed forces. For this reason, he is considered the most powerful political authority in the country. The authority vested upon him as Supreme Leader also allows Khamenei to issue decrees and make the final decisions on the economy, the environment, foreign policy, national planning, and everything else in Iran. According to a report by Reuters, Khamenei controls an organization called Setad—a parastatal that was worth at least $95 billion in 2015 and that reportedly gives Khamenei financial independence from parliament and the national budget. The report said that it "found no evidence that Khamenei is tapping Setad to enrich himself." Khamenei helped guide the country during the Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s, and developed close ties with the now-powerful Revolutionary Guards which he controls, and whose commanders are elected and dismissed by him. As president, he had a reputation of being deeply interested in the military, budget and administrative details, according to Vali Nasr.