Ayatollah Khamenei

Ali Hosseini Khameneyi,Ali Khamenei

آیت الله خامنه ای ، علی حسینی خامنه ای

Religious leader of Iran since 1989.
Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei born 17 July 1939 is the Supreme Leader of Iran and the figurative head of the Muslim conservative establishment in Iran and Twelver Shia Marja. In 2010, Forbes selected him 26th in the list of 'World's Most Powerful People'.
He was President of Iran from 1981 to 1989, and has been Supreme Leader of Iran since June 1989 when the Assembly of Experts appointed him to succeed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. He has been described as one of only three people having "important influence" on the Islamic Republic of Iran (the other two being the founder of the republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and the president of Iran for much of the 1990s, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani). So far, the biggest challenge to his leadership has been the mass protests following the June 2009 presidential elections. Khamenei, however, continued to strongly support Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his policies and re-election. Khamenei was the victim of an attack aimed to assassinate him in June 1981 that paralyzed his right arm.

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