Biography

Iranian politician and cleric Ali Hosseini Khamenei was born on April 19, 1939, and has been Iran’s second Supreme Leader since 1989.Before that, from 1981 to 1989, he was Iran’s third president.As Supreme Leader, Khamenei is the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The most powerful political authority. He is Iran’s head of state, commander-in-chief of its armed forces, and can issue decrees and make final decisions on the government’s main policies in Iran’s economy, environment, foreign policy, and national planning. Khamenei’s 35-year rule makes him the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East, as well as the second longest-serving Iranian leader of the last century. After Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Khamenei is a marja’, a title given to the highest-ranking religious leaders of the Twelver Shiites.

Education

Khamenei’s education began at the age of four, learning the Qur’an in the Maktab; He did his elementary and advanced seminary studies under mentors such as Sheikh Hashem Qazvini and Ayatollah Milani in the Hawza of Mashhad. Then, he went to Najaf, Iraq in 1957, in 1958, he settled in Qawm where he attended the classes of Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi and Ruhullah Khomeini. Like many other politically active clerics at the time, Khamenei was more involved in politics than in religious scholarship.

Career

Khomeini appointed Khamenei as Imam of Friday prayers in Tehran in 1980, following the resignation of Hussein-Ali Montazeri. He was briefly Deputy Minister of National Defense from late July to 6 November 1979, and as supervisor of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Although Khamenei projected a formal neutrality in the 2005 presidential election, he showed subtle favoritism for conservative candidates, and was accused of playing a role in the surprise victory of his son, Mojtaba Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – a relatively unknown conservative former mayor of Tehran. He is also a member of the parliament’s defense commission. He went to the battlefield as a representative. During his first term in office, Ahmadinejad endeared himself to Khamenei through his antagonistic stance toward opponents at home and abroad, particularly flaunting the country’s nuclear program. However, there have been times when the two have clashed, especially during a power struggle that took place during Ahmadinejad’s second term.The Revolutionary Guards have been deployed to quell his opposition. Khamenei served as Iran’s third president from 1981 to 1989, when he was the first

Personal life

According to his official website, Khamenei was arrested six times before being exiled for three years during the regime of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In June 1981, following the Iranian Revolution and the overthrow of the Shah, he was the target of an assassination attempt that paralyzed his right arm. Became a close ally of Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini. Shortly before his death, Khomeini had a disagreement with his chosen successor – Hussein Ali Montazeri – so there was no agreed successor when Khomeini died. The Council of Experts elected Khamenei, Muhammad Sahimi claims that his political career began after the Iranian Revolution, when the former president of Iran, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, then adrew Khamenei into Khomeini’s inner circle as a confidant. Later, Hassan Rouhani, then a member of parliament, arranged for Khamenei to receive his first major post as deputy defense minister in the Provisional Revolutionary Government.

Conclusion

In his capacity as supreme leader, Khamenei has direct or indirect authority over the military, the media, and the legislative, executive, and judicial departments of government.  All candidates for the Assembly of Experts, Presidency and Majlis (Parliament) are vetted by the Guardian Council, whose members are directly or indirectly elected by Iran’s Supreme Leader. There have also been instances when the Guardian Council lifted sanctions on specific individuals after being ordered by Khamenei.

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