Ali Khamenei

Extracted Attributes

• Title

  Supreme Leader of Iran (Rahbar)

• Education

  Qom Seminary, Khorasan Seminary, Najaf Seminary

• Full Name

  Ali Hosseini Khamenei

• Date of Birth

  1939-04-19

• Place of Birth

  Mashhad, Iran

• Religious Rank

  Ayatollah and Marja'

• Physical Condition

  Paralyzed right arm due to 1981 assassination attempt

• Political Affiliation

  Independent (1989–present); formerly Islamic Republican Party

• Tenure as Supreme Leader

  36 years (since 1989)

Timeline

• Born in Mashhad, Iran. (Source: Wikidata)

  1939-04-19

• Settled in Qom to attend the classes of Ruhollah Khomeini. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1958-01-01

• Appointed to the Revolutionary Council following the success of the Iranian Revolution. (Source: Web Search)

  1979-02-01

• Survived an assassination attempt that paralyzed his right arm. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1981-06-27

• Elected as the third President of Iran. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1981-10-13

• Elected as the second Supreme Leader of Iran by the Assembly of Experts following the death of Ruhollah Khomeini. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1989-06-04

• Faced the Iranian student protests. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1999-07-01

• Faced the Green Movement protests following the presidential election. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2009-06-12

• Outbreak of the Mahsa Amini protests against the regime. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2022-09-16

• Tensions with Israel escalated into a 12-day armed conflict. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2025-01-01

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. He previously served as the third president of Iran from 1981 to 1989. His tenure as supreme leader, spanning 36 years, makes him the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East and the longest-serving Iranian leader since Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Born into the Khamenei family, he studied at a hawza in his hometown Mashhad, 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 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 to 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 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. Khamenei played a pivotal role in the development of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), transforming it into a primary tool for domestic control and regional influence. Under Khamenei, Iran supported the "Axis of Resistance" coalition in the Syrian civil war, War in Iraq, Yemeni civil war and the Gaza war, as well as Russia during Russo-Ukrainian war. 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 and Saudi Arabia; in 2025, tensions with Israel escalated to a 12-day armed conflict. Identified as a pragmatic hardliner, Khamenei has sidelined leftist factions, moderate clerics, and political dissidents, while occasionally easing restrictions when the regime's stability or legitimacy has been threatened. His leadership has been closely associated with the expansion of state militarization and the consolidation of power within the office of the Supreme Leader. Khamenei has also faced many protests, including 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, the Mahsa Amini protests, and the 2025–2026 Iranian protests. Journalists, bloggers and other individuals have been put on trial in Iran for the charges 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. He is also known by the title Ayatollah and is considered one of the leading Shia Muslim marja' in the world. Khamenei's critics view him as a repressive despot responsible for repression, mass murders and other acts of injustice.

Web Search Results

• Ali Khamenei - Wikipedia

  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. He previously served as the third president of Iran from 1981 to 1989. His tenure as supreme leader, spanning 36 years, makes him the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East and the longest-serving Iranian leader since Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. [...] Within Iran, Khamenei is the most powerful political authority. 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 (Parliament) are vetted by the Guardian Council, whose members are selected directly or indirectly by the Supreme Leader of Iran. There have also been instances when the Guardian Council reversed its ban on particular people after being ordered to [...] | | | Personal details | | Born | Ali Hosseini Khamenei (1939-04-19) 19 April 1939 (age 86) Mashhad, Khorasan, Iran | | Party | Independent (1989–present) | | Other political affiliations | Islamic Republican Party (1979–1987) Combatant Clergy Association (1977–1989) | | Spouse | Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh ​ ​ (m. 1964)​ | | Children | 6 (including Mostafa, Mojtaba, and Masoud) | | Parent | Javad Khamenei (father) | | Relatives | Mohammad Khamenei (brother) Hadi Khamenei (brother) Badri Khamenei (sister) | | Residence | House of Leadership | | Education | Khorasan Seminary Najaf Seminary Qom Seminary | | Signature | | Website | english.khamenei.ir | | Military service | | Branch/service | Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Irregular Warfare Headquarters |

• Ali Khamenei | Biography, Title, History, Successor, Son, & Facts

  Khamenei was born on April 19, 1939, in the city of Mashhad, an important religious center for the Twelver Shiʿah as the burial place of the eighth imam ʿAlī al-Riḍā. He later began his advanced religious studies at Qom under the most prominent Shiʿi scholars of the day, including Ruhollah Khomeini. From 1963 he was actively involved in protests against the monarchy, for which he was imprisoned several times by Iran’s security services. Khamenei remained closely associated with the exiled Khomeini during this time and immediately after the latter’s return to Iran in 1979 was appointed to the Revolutionary Council. After its dissolution he became deputy minister of defense and Khomeini’s personal representative on the Supreme Defense Council. For a brief period he commanded the Islamic [...] Ali Khamenei has stood at the heart of the Islamic Republic since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, playing a pivotal role in both the militarization of the state and the consolidation of near-absolute authority in the Office of the Supreme Leader. He is the architect of the rise of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), shaping it into an instrument of control and regional influence, and has made Iran’s nuclear capabilities central to its strategy for national security and deterrence. As a pragmatic hard-liner, he has sidelined leftists, moderate clerics, and dissidents, while occasionally loosening his grip when regime legitimacy or cohesion has been at stake. Through a steady centralization of power over four decades—beginning as a trusted confidant of Ruhollah Khomeini and member of [...] A cleric of high institutional rank among the Twelver Shiʿah, Khamenei is generally addressed with the honorific ayatollah, a title that is known to belong to more than 100 other living Shiʿi clerics. His formal title as Iran’s political head of state is rahbar, meaning “leader” or “supreme leader.” More From Britannica supreme leader of Iran: Leadership of Ali Khamenei (1989– ) ## Revolutionary role and presidency

• Early Life and Education - United Against Nuclear Iran | UANI

  Sayyed Ali Khamenei had a deeply religious upbringing and modest economic background before ascending to the highest levels of religious and political power in the Islamic Republic of Iran. He was born on July 16, 1939, in the northeastern Iranian holy city of Mashhad, which is the country’s second most populous city and home to the Imam Reza Shrine, a renowned site visited by millions of religious pilgrims each year. Khamenei was the second son among eight children born to a clerical father of Azeri descent. According to his official biography, Khamenei’s father, Javad Khamenei, was born and received religious education in Najaf, Iraq, historically the holiest city in Shi’a Islam and the main center of Shi’a scholarship. After completing his religious studies, Khamenei’s father settled [...] Join Us Donate Facebook LinkedIn X Youtube Instagram Join Us Donate Menu # Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Download Full Report # Early Life and Education

• Biography :: Leader.ir

  Ayatullah Haajj Sayyid Ali Khamenei is the son of the late Ayatullah Sayyid Jawad Husaini Khamenei. He was born in Mashhad on the 17th of July 1939, which coincides with the 28th of Safar 1358 Hijri Qamari (lunar year). He was the second son of his parents, born into the house of Sayyid Jawad who lived a very simple life, like many of the scholars of his time, and it was from him that the family learned to live in a humble manner. Remembering his life in his father’s home Ayatullah Khamenei says: [...] After the victory of the Islamic Revolution Ayatullah Khamenei continued to be very active in working for Islam and fulfilling the goals of the Islamic revolution. The tasks that he performed in those times and until now are unparalleled and without an equal, however though in this brief biography we can only mention the most important of these tasks. A chronological list of Ayatullah Khamenei’s services to the Islamic Republic of Iran after the victory of the Islamic revolution is as follows: February 1979 - One of the founders of the Islamic Republic party along with like-minded scholar such as Shaheed Beheshti, Shaheed Bahunar, Musawi Ardebili, and Hashemi Rafsanjani. 1980 - Secretary of Defense. 1980 - Supervisor of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards. [...] 1988 - President of the Expedience Council. 1990 - Chairman of the Constitution Revisal Comity. 1990 - Ayatullah Khamenei became the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran by choice of the Council of Experts, after the demise of Imam Khomeini.

• New biography of Ali Khamenei: The man pulling Iran's strings

  Link; "Copy link of content") Print;) For 36 years, Ali Khamenei has ruled Iran and, through a network of intelligence agencies, proxies, and propaganda organs, extended his influence far beyond its borders. He is the man who pulls Iran's strings. Though he often remains inconspicuous in the background, it is Khamenei—not the president or the parliament, which in any case is free of any real opposition—who has the final say on everything that happens domestically. No one had anticipated him becoming Supreme Leader when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini died in 1989. For one, Khamenei was not yet an Ayatollah but only a mullah, according to the Iranian constitution. The title of Ayatollah was awarded to him later, even though he had not completed the lengthy training normally required. [...] Direkt zum Inhalt springen Deutsch English عربي New biography of Ali Khamenei · # The man pulling Iran's strings Deutsch English عربي Ali Khamenei is one of the most powerful figures in world politics, with influence extending far beyond Iran. Who is the man who, since 1989, has steered the Islamic Republic with an iron grip? A new biography by Ali Sadrzadeh sheds some light on the mystery. By Gerrit Wustmann Link; "Copy link of content") Print;) [...] Another reason was that a different man, Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, was long considered Khomeini’s successor. But Montazeri had grown too critical in the preceding years and believed the Islamic Republic was on the wrong path. As a result, he was not only passed over but effectively removed. Although Khamenei is one of the most powerful and influential figures in recent world politics, remarkably little is known about him. Ali Sadrzadeh, a journalist born in Iran and who has lived in Germany since the 1960s, seeks to change that with his book"Ali Khamenei: Aufstieg und Herrschaft" ("Ali Khamenei: Rise and Rule") (Kohlhammer Verlag, 2025).

• Image

  

• Gender

  male

• Educated At

  Qom Seminary

• Instance Of

  Q5

• Occupation

  writer

• Citizenship

  Iran

• Date Of Birth

  4/19/1939

• Place Of Birth

  Mashhad