Ali Khamenei, Killed in Israeli-US Airstrike: Who Was Iran's Supreme Leader?
Ali Khamenei, Killed in Israeli-US Airstrike: Who Was Iran's Supreme Leader?
He died on Saturday at the age of 86.
🟠Born on July 17, 1939, in Mashhad into a family of Shiite religious scholars, Khamenei became close at an early age to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and joined the religious opposition to the pro-US rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. His activism led to repeated arrests, prison terms, and exile.
🟠During the 1978–1979 Islamic Revolution, he emerged as a key figure in the new political order. He served as Tehran’s Friday prayer leader, a member of parliament, a member of the Supreme Defense Council, and co-founder of the Islamic Republic Party.
🟠In 1981, amid the Iran-Iraq War, he was elected the third president of Iran, a post he held until 1989.
🟠Following Khomeini’s death on June 4, 1989, the Assembly of Experts appointed him Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, placing him at the helm of Iran’s political, military, and religious establishment.
🟠A polyglot, author, and translator, Khamenei remained the central figure of Iran’s system for more than three decades, cultivating an image of austerity and discipline.
🟠Married and the father of six, he leaves behind the country shaken by his assassination but vowing retaliation. The Revolutionary Guards have announced a major offensive, and the state has declared forty days of national mourning.
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