Profile: Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei

The killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Saturday’s joint US-Israeli strikes marks a watershed moment for the Islamic Republic, removing the figure who for more than three decades was the country’s ultimate political, military and ideological authority.

The 86-year-old cleric wielded power that extended across Iran’s armed forces, judiciary and foreign policy apparatus, with his decisions overriding those of presidents and parliament alike.

Since assuming leadership in 1989 following the death of the Islamic Republic’s founder Ruhollah Khomeini, Khamenei steered Iran through the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq war, crippling Western sanctions, diplomatic isolation, recurring domestic unrest and intensifying confrontation with Washington and Tel Aviv.

To supporters, he was the steadfast defender of Iran’s sovereignty against foreign pressure. To critics, he symbolised an uncompromising political system resistant to reform and dissent.

As supreme leader, he served as head of state and commander-in-chief, retaining final authority over the armed forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Childhood, faith and early politics

Khamenei was born on April 19, 1939, in Mashhad in eastern Iran to a modest religious family. After completing primary education, he pursued Islamic studies at seminary in Mashhad before continuing with advanced theological training in Qom. He was also known for his deep interest in poetry and literature.

In the early 1960s, he joined Khomeini’s movement against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Beginning in 1963, he was repeatedly arrested by SAVAK, the Shah’s intelligence service, for organizing protests and distributing anti-regime literature, and spent several periods in exile.

As mass protests swept Iran in 1978-1979, weakening the monarchy, political prisoners and exiles returned to public life. Khamenei re-emerged in Mashhad and other cities, helping organize demonstrations and mobilize support for Khomeini’s revolutionary agenda.

Ascent and role as supreme leader

Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Khamenei joined the Revolutionary Council and quickly rose within the new political order. He served as deputy defense minister, Tehran’s Friday prayer leader, and a member of parliament.

In 1981, after the assassination of President Mohammad Ali Rajai, Khamenei was elected president, serving two consecutive terms until 1989. That same year, he survived an assassination attempt when a bomb hidden in a tape recorder exploded during a mosque speech, leaving his right arm permanently impaired.

After Khomeini’s death in June 1989, Iran’s Assembly of Experts appointed Khamenei as supreme leader, with constitutional revisions later formalizing the position at the apex of the political system.

Though initially viewed as a compromise choice, he gradually consolidated authority, strengthening the power of the supreme leader’s office over both executive and legislative branches. Under his leadership, Iran pursued a foreign policy centered on resisting US influence, expanding regional alliances and maintaining strategic deterrence.

Domestically, Iran’s politics moved between reformist and conservative currents. Reformist President Mohammad Khatami’s 1997 victory generated public optimism, but Khamenei constrained efforts to open Iran to the West. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s presidency aligned more closely with conservative priorities, though the disputed 2009 election triggered mass protests.

Later administrations navigated a complex balance between pragmatism and ideological rigidity. President Hassan Rouhani pursued diplomatic engagement, including nuclear negotiations, while conservative President Ebrahim Raisi aligned closely with Khamenei’s policies.

Khamenei’s tenure also saw repeated waves of unrest. In 2022, the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody sparked nationwide protests that exposed deep social grievances.

Protests erupted again in late 2025, initially against economic hardships but later spiraling into mass anti-regime demonstrations. The protests saw violent clashes and a government crackdown, with Iranian authorities confirming over 3,100 deaths, including both civilians and security personnel.

Nuclear program and negotiations Iran’s nuclear program became one of the defining issues of Khamenei’s rule. As tensions escalated with Western powers, sweeping sanctions severely strained Iran’s economy.

In 2015, Tehran reached the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), curbing nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. Khamenei approved negotiations but remained deeply skeptical of Washington. The deal unraveled after the US under President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018 and reinstated sanctions, prompting Iran to scale back compliance.

Khamenei’s death comes as Washington and Tehran were engaged in indirect nuclear negotiations. US demands reportedly included permanent restrictions on Iran’s nuclear capabilities and limits on enriched uranium stockpiles, while Iranian officials insisted they would not relinquish enrichment rights or ship stockpiles abroad and demanded sanctions relief.

Khamenei consistently framed Iran’s nuclear ambitions as peaceful while portraying sanctions as economic coercion. In one of his last social media posts on Feb. 17, he said nuclear energy is an “undeniable right” recognized under international guidelines and assailed US interference.

Palestine, regional alliances and the ‘Axis of Resistance’

Support for Palestinian statehood remained central to Khamenei’s worldview. Following Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023, he intensified rhetoric against Israel and the US, urging countries to sever ties with Israel and calling for diplomatic isolation.

A key pillar of Iran’s strategy under Khamenei was backing regional allies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and armed groups across Iraq and Yemen, as part of what Iranian officials describe as the “Axis of Resistance” — a network aligned against Israeli and US influence.

Confrontation with US and Israel

Khamenei remained a long-standing critic of US and Israeli policies, frequently portraying them as Iran’s principal adversaries. Regional tensions escalated after Israeli air strikes on Iranian sites last year prompted retaliatory attacks by Tehran.

He repeatedly vowed that Iran would respond to Israeli actions and refused the prospect of negotiations with Tel Aviv, warning that Tehran would continue to resist its aggression.

At the same time, US and Israeli officials in recent weeks had renewed calls for political change in Iran, underscoring the intensity of the confrontation that framed the final period of Khamenei’s rule.

In a statement announcing Khamenei’s death, Trump said he “was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do.”

The US president also repeated his call for “the Iranian people to take back their Country.”

Khamenei’s death removes one of the most consequential figures in modern Middle Eastern politics — a leader who shaped Iran’s ideological identity, regional alliances and decades-long confrontation with the West.

The uncertainty now facing Tehran could prove as consequential as his rule, as Iran navigates leadership succession amid heightened regional tensions and fragile diplomatic efforts.