Ayatollah Ali (Seyyed) Khamenei (19 April 1939 – 28 February 2026) was a Shia cleric and Iranian politician who served as the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader from 1989 until his death. Born in Mashhad, he studied in Iran’s seminaries and became active in opposition to the Shah, enduring repeated arrests. After the 1979 revolution he held key posts and, during the Iran–Iraq War, rose as a prominent figure allied with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He became Iran’s president in 1981, surviving an earlier assassination attempt that left his right arm impaired.
Following Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s death, the Assembly of Experts selected Khamenei as Supreme Leader in 1989. Over nearly four decades he consolidated the leader’s authority over elected institutions, tightened social controls, and oversaw harsh crackdowns on protests. In foreign policy he defined Iran’s posture toward the United States and Israel, backed regional partners and militias, and presided over the long-running dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, endorsing the 2015 nuclear deal but remaining deeply skeptical of the West. His rule shaped Iran’s politics and regional reach.
Khamenei was killed on 28 February 2026 amid US–Israeli strikes on Iran.
