Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cast himself as the Islamic Republic’s ultimate authority and often spoke as if the state and his person were one. In appearances since 2021 he increasingly framed decisions in divine terms; in late 2023 he told Revolutionary Guard officers that “the almighty God has spoken,” saying the words came through his mouth and carried a “significant impact.”
Born in 1939 in the Shiite pilgrimage city of Mashhad, Khamenei rose from a background as a poet and literary critic to become an active opponent of the Shah, enduring multiple imprisonments before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. After the monarchy fell he emerged as a prominent Tehran Friday preacher and, following a 1981 assassination attempt by the People’s Mujahideen that left his right hand paralyzed, adapted by learning to write with his left hand and entering the senior ranks of the new clerical leadership.
He served as Iran’s president from 1981 to 1989, a period dominated by the Iran–Iraq War, and in 1989 succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as supreme leader, a lifetime position that gave him the final say on state affairs. He kept a low public profile, shunning interviews and resisting public questioning — an atmosphere underscored in 2018 when a student was jailed after asking on camera whether the supreme leader could be questioned.
Khamenei’s power rested heavily on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), founded to defend the revolution. Under his rule the IRGC grew into a multifaceted force with land, naval and aerial branches, its own intelligence services, foreign units and extensive economic interests, including the Khatam al-Anbiya construction conglomerate. That network allowed the supreme leader to operate alongside, and often above, the formal institutions of presidency and parliament.
Although Khamenei lived modestly, many close to him benefited from access and influence amid persistent allegations of corruption. His handling of the COVID-19 pandemic attracted criticism: advisers backed a domestic vaccine project that spent roughly $1 billion without delivering broadly, while his public claims that the virus was a U.S. biological weapon and a ban on some foreign vaccines have been blamed by many for worsening Iran’s outbreak.
Ideologically, Khamenei presented the Islamic Republic as a bulwark against “imperialist” Western powers and repeatedly identified the United States as the principal enemy. He supported Iran’s nuclear and missile programs; despite issuing a religious edict against nuclear weapons, international observers questioned how constraining that ruling was. Tehran entered negotiations only after developing substantial technical know-how that could be revived quickly if needed.
His uncompromising stance brought international isolation and heavy sanctions. At home, demands for political and social freedoms were often met with force: protesters were suppressed, restrictions on women tightened, and many young professionals and academics emigrated. As he aged, Khamenei grew more insular, surrounded by a narrowing circle and showing little inclination for broad dialogue with a restive population.
Originally written in German.