Who is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei? – World
US President Donald Trump says Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “is dead”.
His claim came hours after Israel and the US launched an attack on Iran and followed reports quoting Israeli officials as saying that Khamenei had been assassinated.
But, subsequent Iranian media reports said that Khamenei was “steadfast and firm in commanding the field”.
Khamenei, 86, became Iran’s highest authority in 1989, following the death of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
As supreme leader, he has held ultimate control over Iran’s political, military and religious institutions, shaping domestic policy and guiding foreign relations.
An article published in Al Jazeera says “critical to Khamenei’s power is the loyalty of two of Iran’s premier security institutions – the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Basij paramilitary forces, which have hundreds of thousands of volunteers”.
Khamenei upheld the conservative vision of his predecessor, Khomeini, quashing the ambitions of elected presidents who sought more open policies at home and abroad. Under his rule, authorities crushed repeated protests and sidelined reformists pushing for less confrontation with the West.
He backed the 2015 nuclear deal brokered with world powers and pragmatist former Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, which briefly eased Iran’s isolation. But tensions spiked after US President Donald Trump abandoned the accord in 2018 and reimposed sanctions.
Israel has long seen him as a destabilising force in the Middle East, citing his alleged backing for a network of militant allies.
When Israel and Iran fought a 12-day air war in June 2025, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened to assassinate him, saying the supreme leader “cannot continue to exist.”
