Ali Khamenei dead: The cleric who shaped Iran for over three decades

Iranian state television on Sunday confirmed that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead, hours after US President Donald Trump announced his death in a post on Truth Social.

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“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Trump wrote, describing the development as “Justice for the people of Iran” and saying US intelligence and military coordination with Israel had ensured that “there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do.”

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State broadcaster IRIB later reported, “The Supreme Leader of Iran Has Reached Martyrdom.” The state-affiliated Mehr news outlet said, “This great scholar and mujahid (fighter) sacrificed his life to lift Iran… and he is in the grand presence of martyrs above.”

Iran also announced 40 days of national mourning following his death.

Who was Ali Khamenei

Ali Khamenei, the son of a religious scholar, was born in 1939 in Mashhad. In 1962, he joined Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s opposition movement against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, he served as deputy defence minister and helped organise the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which became a central pillar of the country’s security apparatus.

Following Khomeini’s death in June 1989, the Assembly of Experts selected Khamenei as Supreme Leader. At the time, he had not attained the constitutional clerical rank of marja-e taqlid, or grand ayatollah. The constitution was later amended to require “Islamic scholarship”, allowing his elevation to ayatollah and confirmation as leader.

During more than three decades in office, Khamenei exercised authority over Iran’s political system and armed forces. He oversaw the tenure of seven presidents. He adopted firm positions on foreign policy matters, remained critical of relations with the West – particularly the United States – and repeatedly called for the elimination of the State of Israel. He also publicly questioned whether the Holocaust occurred.

Khamenei had six children.