Recent rumours about the health of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have thrown the spotlight on what will happen if he becomes too ill to rule, or dies. He served briefly as the vice Minister of National Defence from late July to 6 November 1979[75] and as a supervisor of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards. "[150] 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. [128] It's been widely discussed by international officials and specifically recognized by the US administration. Khamenei warned that "those who are hostile to these policies are the ones who are going to lose their interests and influence. [61][62][63], According to Mehdi Khalaji, an Iran expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Khamenei has a decent life "without it being luxurious". "[U]surpation of houses, lands, and business [of Palestinian people] are carried out using these people. In Nasr's view, Khamenei is an "unusual sort of dictator". The then Iranian Parliament speaker Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri dismissed the ruling as being political, untrue and unsubstantiated. [142], Khamenei developed a cult of personality; with supporters describing him as a "divine gift to mankind" and in which Khamenei critics are persecuted.[143][144][145][146][147]. [273], 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.[274]. That is why the country has a sitting president and a Supreme Leader … Subsequently, the conservatives won about 70 percent of parliamentary seats. Khamenei became the first cleric to serve in the office. [264][265] According to the Iran's Press Law "spreading rumors and lies and distorts the words of others" is not allowed. [229] In 2013, Khamenei accused France of "kneeling" before Israel, while saying that Israel was led by people unworthy of the "title human". [159] On 6 May 2011, it was reported that Ahmadinejad had been given an ultimatum to accept the leader's intervention or resign,[163] and on 8 May he "apparently bowed" to the reinstatement, welcoming back Moslehi to a cabinet meeting. The draft bill is not legitimate and in the interests of the system and the revolution. [296] However, major protests against the Iranian regime also broke out throughout Iran in 2011, and they became known as the 2011–12 Iranian protests. The Assembly of Experts elected Khamenei as the next Supreme Leader on 4 June 1989, at the age of 49. Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei is a Twelver Shia Marja' and the second and current supreme leader of Iran, in office since 1989. "This crisis has forced the UN to declare state of emergency 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", he said. [206], 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. [280], In 2002, after protests erupted in the capital, Khamenei intervened against the death sentence given to Hashem Aghajari for arguing that Muslims should re-interpret Islam rather than blindly follow leaders. After a minute the loud speaker's sound become like whistle and suddenly the tape recorder exploded. Ayatollah Khamenei in the city of Ardabil reading different poems in Azerbaijani language about Imam Hussein and events in Karbala. The fatwa was issued in an effort to reconcile legal, social, and political disagreements between Sunni and Shia. [196], U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized Khamenei for his refusal to condemn the Xinjiang re-education camps and human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim minority in China. According to Rafsanjani, he and Khamenei were against the proposal while Ayatollah Haeri Shirazi and Ayatollah Ebrahim Amini were in favor of it. "Castro to Ayatollah Khamenei: "Why did you shake with your left hand instead of right? Meanwhile, a tape recorder accompanied with papers was put on the desk in front of Khamenei by a young man who pressed a button. Check out 'CodyCross' answers for TODAY! [130] Khamenei's official website specifically cites a 2010 version[131] of these statements in the fatwa section of the website in Farsi as a fatwa on "Prohibition of Weapons of Mass Destruction". [100] On 29 April 1989, responding to the letter of Ayatollah Meshkini, the head of committee responsible for revising the Constitution, asking Khomeini's viewpoint regarding the 'marjaʿiyyat criteria, Khomeini said: "From the very beginning, I believed and insisted that there is no need for the requirements of marjaʿiyyat (authority in jurisprudence). Khamenei said in regards to the 2015 nuclear deal that "Even after this deal our policy towards the arrogant U.S. will not change. [22][23] Khamenei served as the third President of Iran from 1981 to 1989, while becoming a close ally of the first Supreme Leader, Ruhollah Khomeini. ", "خبرگان رهبری – رييس مجمع تشخيص مصلحت نظام: از مهمترين پيشرفت‌هاي واقعي انقلاب اسلامي، تأسيس سازماني براي ولايت فقيه بود[ايلنا]", "هاشمي رفسنجاني: در سال 68 مهمترين مخالفت با رهبري يك فرد را، خود مقام معظم رهبري داشتند", "Analysis: Iran's Theological Community Contends With Changing World", "Assembly of experts; From Montazeri to re-election of Khamenei", Iran’s supreme leader blames US-Israeli plot for protests, Leaked Video Embarrasses Iran’s Khamenei, Implicates Rafsanjani, Leaked video reveals new details about election of Iran's supreme leader, Shocking Video Clip From 1989 Shows Khamenei Elected Only For One Year As A Caretaker, "The Islamic Republic's Will to Survive: Likely Nuclear Resistance, Unlikely Social Revolt", "Leader Meets President, Cabinet Members", "Supreme Leader Meets with President Rouhani and Cabinet Members", "Leader meets with President and Cabinet members", "Ayatollah Khamenei: Judiciary Should Pursue Violated Rights of Iranian Nation at the International Level", "Iran's leader Khamenei warns of Western 'schemes' as new MPs meet", "Tehran switches gear in its relationship with Tripoli after Qaddafi's death", "Glimpses from the Life of Ayatullah al-Uzma Sayyid Ali Khamenei", "Iran's inner and outer circles of influence and power", "Ayatollah Khamenei appointed Sheikh Ahmad Marvi as the custodian of Astan Quds Razavi", Iran’s Supreme Leader Shakes Up Military Command, "Ayatollah Khamenei's Edict Appointing Dr. Velayati as the Head of the Islamic Azad University", "Al-Azhar Chancellor, Religious Leaders Hail Ayatollah Khamenei's Fatwa | AhlulBayt Islamic Mission (AIM)", "The Official Website of The Amman Message – Grand Ayatollah Al-Sayyid Ali Khamenei", "Mehr News Unity top priority of world of Islam: Leader", "An Iran option the US prefers to ignore", "Iran, holder of peaceful nuclear fuel cycle technology", "Remarks by President Obama in Address to the United Nations General Assembly", "Legal Aspects–Fatwa against Nuclear Weapons", "Supreme Leader's Message to International Conference on Nuclear Disarmament", "Nuclear Fatwa: Religion and Politics in Iran's Proliferation Strategy", "Jame'eye Baaz – The Flexibility of Khamenei's So-Called 'Nuclear Fatwa, "Iran says nuclear fatwa exists; others don't buy it", "Fact Checker Did Iran's supreme leader issue a fatwa against the development of nuclear weapons? [136] Gareth Porter believes that the fatwa is "sincere"[137] and Gholam-Hossein Elham commented that it will not change.[138]. [291] He has translated several books into Persian from Arabic, including the works of the Egyptian Islamic theoretician Sayyid Qutb. [154] The letters were called a blow to Khamenei's "status as a neutral arbiter and Islamic figurehead"[154] and an "unprecedented challenge to the country's most powerful man"[153] though not a blow to his actual power as leader. [65] In an interview with a women's magazine, his wife declared that "we do not have decorations, in the usual sense. "[254], During the Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 protests, thousands of protesters demanded Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's resignation.[255]. [25][26] He is the head of state of Iran, the commander-in-chief of its armed forces, and can issue decrees and make the final decisions on the main policies of the government in many fields such as economy, the environment, foreign policy, and national planning in Iran. In the video (drawing on the March 2014 speech),[247] lasting about three minutes, the video features images of Holocaust deniers Roger Garaudy, Robert Faurisson, and David Irving. Despite Nuke Deal", "Nuclear deal will not change Iran's relations with U.S.: supreme leader", "Ayatollah says nuclear deal will not change Iran's relations with U.S.", "Iran nuclear: Ayatollah Khamenei chastises 'arrogant' US", "Iran nuclear deal: Ayatollah Khamenei says hostile policies towards 'arrogant' America will not change", "Coronavirus: Iran's leader suggests US cooked up 'special version' of virus to target country", BBC News, Middle East, Iran condemns attacks on US, "Tehran's Genocidal Incitement against Israel", Khamenei: 'Tumor' of Israel is world's biggest problem, Iranian Leader: Israel A "Cancerous Tumor", Israel a ‘cancerous tumor’ and Middle East’s biggest problem, Iranian supreme leader says, "Kerry Calls Khamenei's 'Rabid Dog' Comment 'Inflammatory, "Iran leader calls Israel 'rabid dog', urges arms for Palestinians", "The secret behind Leader's interpretations about the Zionist regime/ A rabid dog holding the reins of his supporters", "Khamenei on Twitter: No cure for barbaric Israeli regime but to be annihilated. Tehran, Iran Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has prohibited imports of COVID-19 vaccines from the United States and the United Kingdom. [106], According to Vali Nasr of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, "[Khamenei] [took] many of the powers of the presidency with him and [turned] the office of the supreme leader into the omnipotent overseer of Iran's political scene". Khamenei is the longest serving head of state in the Middle East, as well as the second-longest serving Iranian leader of the last century, after Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. 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. He 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 United States. They [western nations] however ignore it. [17], Khamenei supported Mesbah Yazdi describing him as one of Iran's most credible ideologues prior to the 2005 election, but has reportedly "recently been concerned about Mesbah's political ambitions. Around 500 people are employed at this "Beit Rahbari compound" according to The Telegraph, "many recruited from the military and security services". 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. "[194] His foreign policy is said to steer a course that avoids either confrontation or accommodation with the West. [231], Nevertheless, according to anti-regime change activist Abbas Edalat, 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 has never threatened and will never threaten any country. 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. [246], On Holocaust Memorial Day, 27 January 2016, Khamenei posted a Holocaust denying video on his official website. "The History of Palestine and Its Occupation", Tehran Friday prayer sermons, 18 December 1999. [76], Khamenei issues decrees and makes the final decisions on economy, environment, foreign policy and everything else in Iran. I have read Amir Arsalan. Then, he went to Najaf in 1957,[53] but soon returned to Mashhad due to his father's unwillingness to let him stay there. [295] Later, in "Islamic Awakening conferences" which were held in Tehran, Khamenei praised the Muslim youths of Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain for what he described as Islamic awakening. "[W]e have no problem with Jews and Christians ... we have problem with the usurpers of Palestine land," he added. [159][162] Ahmadinejad's actions led to angry public attacks by clerics, parliamentarians and military commanders, who accused him of ignoring orders from the supreme leader. [11] Writing some poems himself, he chose pseudonym 'Amin' for himself. But it still won't say how many people died in last month's protests", "After protests, Iran's Khamenei demands punishment for those who harm economy", "Special Report: Iran's leader ordered crackdown on unrest - 'Do whatever it takes to end it, "Iranians marched in fiery protests to demand Ayatollah Khamenei's resignation after officials shot down a commercial plane", "Iran bans 'underground university,' brands it 'extremist cult. In his presidential inaugural address Khamenei vowed to eliminate "deviation, liberalism, and American-influenced leftists". [76], On 27 June 1981,[77] while Khamenei had returned from the frontline, he went to the Aboozar Mosque according to his Saturdays schedule. He further argues that women in the West have lost their honor by pointing out perceived high rate of sexual violence in the West as well as the widespread exploitation of female sexual appeal for commercial purposes: "In effect, they have been treating women like a commodity, like another of their products. [66] In a 2011 report in The Daily Telegraph, defectors from Iran claimed Khamenei has a considerable appetite of caviar and trout, a stable of 100 horses, collects items such as pipes and (reputedly) 170 antique walking sticks, and has a private court stretching over six palaces. On the other hand, Mother Nature Network claims Khamenei has been seen riding around in a BMW car and published a picture of him exiting one. [61] Hamid Vaezi, Setad's head of public relations, said the information "was far from realities and is not correct". 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. He was "fascinated by Jean-Paul Sartre and Bertrand Russell" in his youth. ii) Previous council type organizations such as broadcasting council and supreme judicial council were not successful in practice and leadership council would not do well for similar reasons. This section contains the latest inquiries about the practical laws of islam answered by the istifta' committee of the supreme leader's office. [59][60] He has two brothers, Mohammad Khamenei and Hadi Khamenei. [81] He was permanently injured, losing the use of his right arm.[76]. "[186] In a public appearance on 19 June he expresses his support for the declared winner Ahmadinejad and accused foreign powers—including Britain, Israel and the United States—of helping foment protest against the election results. It has the trappings of a republican system while maintaining the absolute rule of an elite revolutionary Islamic council. [41][42][43] Two of his brothers are also clerics; his younger brother, Hadi Khamenei, is a newspaper editor and cleric. Ayatullah Seyed Ali Khamenei By Azadeh Moaveni, "ادوار نيوز|شکنجه دکتر زیدآبادی غیرقابل انکار است/ توضیحات ادوارنیوز در مورد گزارش کذب صداوسیما", "BBC فارسی – ايران – 'محروم کردن زندانی از درمان پزشکی، شکنجه است, "gooya news :: politics : شکنجه اکبر گنجی در بیمارستان، گزارش سازمان عفو بین الملل", "MIDDLE EAST – Iran journalist jailed for 23 months", "0009.ws | Free Website Hosting with PHP", "Aide to Ahmadinejad sentenced to a year in jail for insulting Khamenei", "Journalist Gets 35 Lashes, Jail For Insulting Ayatollah", False Freedom: Online Censorship in the Middle East and North Africa, Blogger jailed in Iran is dead, lawyer says, Activist sentenced to jail, exile and fine in Iran, Briton among eight jailed in Iran for web insults, Iranian man sentenced to death for 'insulting Islam' through messaging app, "Supreme Leader Backs Conservatives, Angering Parliament Refomers : Ayatollah Kills Effort To Remove Press Curbs", "Introduction to Persian Traditional Music", "Fatwas and ARTs: IVF and Gamete Donation in Sunni v. Shia Islam (Id. [153] 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. Various lists were proposed and Khamenei was named in all of them. [27][28][29][30][31][32] Khamenei has either direct or indirect control over the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, as well as the military and media, according to Karim Sadjadpour. According to him the opposers rejected the proposal because: i) Evidences for Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist were true only for the guardianship of an individual and it was not clear who held the guardianship when there was a council. He state that 85 percent of Setad's charitable works take place in poor regions of Iran. 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. "[176][177], On 30 April 2008, Ali Khamenei backed President Ahmadinejad'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. [50][51][52] 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 Shia fourth Imam, Ali ibn Husayn. "Ayatollah Khamenei says Iran will back 'any nations, any groups' fighting Israel", "Iran leader urges destruction of 'cancerous' Israel", "Khamenei: Israel will no longer exist in 25 years", "Iran's Supreme Leader Says Israel Won't Exist in 25 Years", "Israel's Netanyahu Returns Fire After Iran Supreme Leader's Death Threat", "The best 2015 year sentence of Iranian leader in view of Iranian people was selected", "Iranian leader backs Palestinian liberation from Israel 'tumor, "6th International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada", "Iran's Khamenei: UAE 'disgraced forever' by Israel deal", "Iran's Khamenei questions 'certainty' of Holocaust", "Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei Says Reality of Holocaust is 'Uncertain, "Oops, He Did It Again: Iran's Supreme Leader Questions the Holocaust", "Ayatollah Khamenei During His National Address", "Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei Posts Holocaust Denial Video on Remembrance Day", "Supreme leader of Iran marks Holocaust Memorial Day by publishing Holocaust denying video", "Iranian Leader Khamenei Praises French Holocaust Denier on Twitter", "BBC Mundo | Irán: advertencia con petróleo", "Leader outlines elections guidelines, calls for transparency", "Iran finally admits it shot and killed 'rioters.' … [182][183] The Constitution also establishes that the Council approves or disqualifies candidates for office while the Chief Justice presents the other half of the members of the Council to be selected by Parliament. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei welcomed the Iranian New Year as one of "production, support and removal of barriers" in a live televised speech on Saturday. [257] 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. Here are all the Supreme leader of Iran in 2016 Ali __ answers. [267], Several journalists, bloggers, and other individuals were put on trial in Iran for the charge of insulting the Supreme Leader, often in conjunction with blasphemy charges. Khamenei ordered a review of the sentence against Aghajari and it was later commuted to a prison sentence. Khamenei is married to Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, with whom he has six children; four sons (Mostafa, Mojtaba, Masoud, and Meysam) and two daughters (Boshra and Hoda). [57] His eldest son, Mostafa, is married to a daughter of Azizollah Khoshvaght. "This is wrong." [11], In the field of music, he is known to have a good singing voice and plays the tar, a traditional Iranian stringed instrument.[294]. According to Karim Sadjadpour of the American Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, several factors have strengthened Khamenei in recent years: (1) A vast network of commissars stationed in strategic posts throughout government bureaucracies, dedicated to enforcing his authority; (2) the weak, conservative-dominated parliament, headed by Khamenei loyalist Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel (whose daughter is married to the Leader's son); (3) the rapidly rising political and economic influence of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, whose top leaders are directly appointed by Khamenei and have always been publicly deferential to him; (4) the political disengagement of Iran's young population ...; and (5) most significant[ly], the 2005 presidential election, which saw hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad trounce Khamenei's chief rival ... Hashemi Rafsanjani ...[83], According to Christopher Dickey, in order 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. [160] Conservative opponents in parliament launched an "impeachment drive" against him,[161] four websites with ties to Ahmadinejad reportedly were "filtered and blocked",[156] 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 djinns. [27][28][29][30] Khamenei regularly meets with president, cabinet members, head and officials of the judiciary branch, parliamentarians, among others, and tells them what to do. [165] In 2016, Khamenei advised Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his former ally with whom his relationship was strained after Ahmadinejad accused his son Mojtaba Khamenei of embezzling from the state treasury,[166] to not run for president again. iii) People were accustomed to the leadership of an individual and a council of leaders was something unfamiliar to them. [24], As Supreme Leader, Khamenei is the most powerful political authority in the Islamic Republic. [240] Also, he advised the Islamic countries to refrain from "useless" crises and differences and instead concentrate on the issue of Palestine which he regarded as the core issue of Islam.