Ali Khamenei

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‘Alî Hosaynî Khâmene’î
آیت‌الله سید علی حسینیخامنه ا
File:Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,.jpg
Supreme Leader of Iran
Assumed office
4 June 1989
PresidentAkbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Mohammad Khatami
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Preceded byRuhollah Khomeini
President of Iran
In office
2 October 1981 – 2 August 1989
LeaderRuhollah Khomeini
Preceded byMohammad Ali Rajai
Succeeded byAkbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Personal details
Born (1939-07-17) 17 July 1939 (age 84)
Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran
Political partyCCA
IRP

Grand Âyatollâh Seyyed ‘Alî Hosaynî Khâmene’î (Persian pronunciation)ⓘ (Persian: آیت‌الله سید علی حسینی خامنه‌ای, pronounced [ʔɒjatolɒh sejed ʔali hosejni xɒmeneʔi]) (born 17 July 1939), also known as Seyyed Ali Khamene'i,[1] has been Supreme Leader of Iran since 1989 and before that was president of Iran from 1981 to 1989.

Early life

Born to an Iranian Azeri[2] family in Mashhad,[3][1] Ali Khamenei began religious studies before completing elementary education. The son of a cleric,[4] he is second eldest of eight children, and two of his brothers are also clerics. His younger brother, Hadi Khamenei, is a notable newspaper editor and cleric.[5]

He attended the seminary classes at the rudimentary ("sat'h") and advanced ("kharej") levels in the hawza of Mashhad, under his mentors such as Haj Sheikh Hashem Qazvini, and Ayatollah Milani, and then went to Najaf in 1957.[6] After a short stay he left Najaf to Mashhad, and in 1958 he settled in Qom. Khamenei attended the classes of Ayatollahs Husain Borujerdi and Ruhollah Khomeini. Later, he was involved in the Islamic activities of 1963 which led to his arrest in the city of Birjand, in Southern Khorasan Province. Shortly thereafter, he was released and resumed teaching in Mashhad's religious schools and mosques, teaching the Nahj al-Balagheh.[6]

Political life and presidency

Mohammad-Ali Rajai visiting Khamenei in hospital after assassination attempt by the MKO on June 27 1981

Khamenei was a key figure in the Islamic revolution in Iran and a close confidant of Ayatollah Khomeini.

Like many other politically active clerics at the time, Khamenei was far more involved with politics than religious scholarship. At this time he was a leftist by temperament. He also translated into Persian the works of the Egyptian Islamist extremist theoretician Sayyid Qutb.

Khomeini appointed Khamenei to the post of Tehran's Friday Prayer Leader in the autumn of 1979, after the resignation of Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri from the post. He served briefly as the Deputy Minister for Defence and as a supervisor of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards. Also he went to battlefield as a representative of defense commission of the parliament. In June 1981, Khamenei narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when a bomb, concealed in a tape recorder at a press conference, exploded beside him. He was permanently injured, losing the use of his right arm,[4].

Candidate Votes %
Ali Khamenei 16,003,242 95.02%
Ali Akbar Parvaresh 342,600 2.03%
Hasan Ghafourifard 78,559 0.47%
Reza Zavare'i 62,133 0.37%
Blank or invalid votes 356,266 2.12%
Total 16,841,800

In 1981, after the assassination of Mohammad Ali Rajai, Khamenei was elected President of Iran by a landslide vote in the Iranian presidential election, October 1981 and became the first cleric to serve in the office. Ayatollah Khomeini had originally wanted to keep clerics out of the presidency, but this view was compromised.

In his presidential inaugural address Khamenei vowed to eliminate `deviation, liberalism, and American-influenced leftists.` [7] Violent political opposition to the regime, including nonviolent and violent protest, assassinations, guerrilla activity and insurrections, were answered by state repression and terror in the early 1980s, both before and during Khamenei's presidency. Thousands of rank-and-file members of insurgent groups were executed, often by revolutionary courts. By 1982, the government announced that the courts would be reined in, although various political groups were repressed by the government in the first half of the decade.[8]

Khamenei helped lead the country during the long, bloody Iraq-Iran War in the 1980s, and developed close ties with the now-powerful Revolutionary Guards. As president, he had a reputation as a policy wonk deeply interested in military matters, budgets and administrative details.[4]

He was re-elected to a second term in 1985, capturing 85.66% of total votes.[9]

Supreme Leader (Velāyat-e faqih)

File:Khamenei1.jpg
Khamenei standing beside tomb of General Ali Sayyad Shirazi, Chief of the Armed Forces during Iran-Iraq war
Main article: Supreme Leader of Iran

Seyyed Ali Khamene'i was preceded by Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader of Islamic Revolution in Iran. When Khomeini died, Khamenei was elected as the new Supreme Leader by the Assembly of Experts on June 4, 1989. Initially, a council of three members, "Ali Meshkini, Mousavi Ardabili and Khamenei", was proposed for Leadership. After rejection of a Leadership Council by the assembly, and lack of votes for Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Golpaygani, Khamenei became the Supreme Leader by two third of the votes.[10] [11]

The concept of an Islamic ruler superior to all national political figures or governmental organs is called Velayat e Faqih (guardianship of the jurist). It was first developed by Ayatollah Naraqi[citation needed] and expanded and revised by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. In this kind of theocratic leadership, no political decision is lawful until it is approved by the supreme leader (Vali e Faqih, ولی فقیه in Persian). Even the taking of office by the democratically elected president is subject to the approval of the Supreme Leader.

Khamenei transformed the position of supreme leader, bringing many of the powers of the presidency with him into the office, turning it into an "omnipotent overseer of Iran's political scene", according to Vali Nasr, a scholar of Shiism. Officials under Khamenei influence the country's various powerful institutions, including the parliament, the presidency, the judiciary, the Revolutionary Guards, the military, the intelligence services, the police agencies, the clerical elite, the Friday prayer leaders and much of the media, as well as various nongovernmental foundations, organizations, councils, seminaries and business groups.[4]

Appointment as Supreme Leader

At the time of Khomeini's death Khamenei was not a marja or even an ayatollah, and the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran required the Supreme Leader to be a marja. However, the Ayatollah Khomeini had not been satisfied with the field of candidates to replace him and in April 1989, three months before his death, assigned a team to revise the constitution so that the Supreme Leader of Iran need only be an expert on Islamic jurisprudence and possess the "appropirate political and managerial skills." [7][12] This new amendment to the constitution had not been put to a referendum yet, so upon choosing Khamenei the Assembly of Experts internally titled him a temporary office holder until the new constitution became effective. The choice of Khamenei, is said to be a political one,[13] but the "political elite" of the Islamic Republic "rallied behind Khamenei" and his status was "elevated overnight" from Hojjat ol-Islam to Ayatollah.

His status as marja is controversial. In 1994, after the death of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Araki, the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom declared Khamenei a new marja. However, four of Iran's dissident grand ayatollahs declined to recognize Khamenei as a marja.[14] Nevertheless, according to narjes.org a cleric only needs acceptance of a few grand ayatollahs to be recognized as marja.[15] Khamenei refused the offer of marja'iyat for Iran, as he explained, due to other heavy responsibilities, but agreed to be the marja for the Shi'as outside of Iran. His acceptance of marja'iyat for Shi'as outside Iran does not have traditional precedence in Shi'ism. Marja'iyat can be, and in modern times it increasingly is, transitional.[13]

Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Shirazi, who was under house-arrest at the time for his opposition to Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, did not accept Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a marja. According to "Human Rights in Iran" (2001) by Pace University's Reza Afshari, Shirazi was "indignant" over recognition of Khamenei as the Supreme Leader and a marja. Shirazi (who died in late 2001) apparently favored a committee of Grand Ayatollahs to lead the country. Other marjas who questioned the legitimacy of Khamenei's marja'yat were dissident clerics: Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, Grand Ayatollah Hassan Tabatabai-Qomi and Grand Ayatollah Yasubedin Rastegari.[14]

Views and policies

In his speeches Khamenei consistantly dwells on familiary themes of the 1979 revolution: the professed importance of justice, independence, self-sufficiency, and Islam; the need for resolute opposition to the "Zionist entity" known as Israel; and the "global arrogance" known as the United States. [7] Dealing with the president's who have served during his reign, Khamenei has successfully scuttled President Rafansjani's attempts to find a modus vivendi with the United States, President Khatami's aspirations for a more democratic Islamic state, and so far at least, president Ahmadinejad's desire for confrontation. [7]

Domestic policy

Khamenei is widely regarded by some as the figurehead of the country's conservative establishment.[16]

Ali Khamenei has been supportive of scientific progress in Iran. He was among the first Islamic clerics to allow stem cell research and therapeutic cloning.[17] In 2004, Khamenei said that the country's progress is dependent on investment in the field of science and technology. He also said that attaching a high status to scholars and scientists in society would help talents to flourish and science and technology to become domesticated, thus ensuring the country's progress and development.[18]

In 2007, Khamenei requested that government officials speed up Iran's move towards economic privatization. Its last move towards such a goal was in 2004, when Article 44 of the constitution was overturned. Article 44 had decreed that Iran's core infrastructure should remain state-run. Khamenei also suggested that ownership rights should be protected in courts set up by the Justice Ministry; the hope was that this new protection would give a measure of security to and encourage private investment.[19]

Additionally, Khamenei has stated that he believes in the importance of nuclear technology for civilian purposes because "oil and gas reserves cannot last forever."[20]

Interpretation of Islamic law

Over the past four years, the rulers of Iran have undone the reforms that were emerging in the nation. The hardliners completed this reversal by winning the parliamentary elections in 2004 —after disqualifying 44% of the candidates—and with the presidential election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2005. Ultimately, however, Ayatollah Khamanei overseen the 12-man Guardian Council,which has the right to veto any law that the elected government passes. Khamane’i has shut down the free press, tortured journalists and ordered the execution of homosexual males.

In 2000, Ali Khamenei sent a letter to the Iranian parliament forbidding the legislature from debating a revision of the Iranian press law. He wrote: "The present press law has succeeded to a point in preventing this big plague. The draft bill is not legitimate and in the interests of the system and the revolution."[21] His use of "extra-legislative power" has been criticized widely by reformists and opposition groups. In reaction to the letter, some Parliament members voiced outrage and threatened to resign.[22] Kayhan and Jomhuri-ye Eslami are two newspapers published under the management of Khamenei.

In late 1996, following a fatwa by Khamenei stating that music education corrupts the minds of young children, many music schools were closed and music instruction to children under the age of 16 was banned by public establishments (although private instruction continued).[23] Khamenei stated: "The promotion of music [both traditional and Western] in schools is contrary to the goals and teachings of Islam, regardless of age and level of study".[24]

In July 2007, Khamenei criticized Iranian women's rights activists and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW): "In our country ... some activist women, and some men, have been trying to play with Islamic rules in order to match international conventions related to women," Khamenei said. "This is wrong."[25] However, he is positive on reinterpreting Islamic law in a way that it is more favorable to women - but not by following Western conventions.[26] Khamenei made these comments two days after Iranian women's rights activist Delaram Ali was sentenced to 34 months of jail and 10 lashes by Iran's judiciary.[27] Iran's judiciary works under the auspices of the supreme leader and is independent from the government.

With regard to women's dress, Khamenei believes in the need for compulsory hijab.[28]

Khamenei claims that "Today, homosexuality is a major problem in the western world. They [western nations] however ignore it. But the reality is that homosexuality has become a serious challenge, pain and unsolvable problem for the intellectuals in the west."[29] Khamenei did not name these western intellectuals.

In 2007, Iranian police which acts under the control of Supreme leader, launched a "Public Security Plan": The police arrested dozens of "thugs" to increase public security. The arrested "thugs" are sometimes beaten on camera in front of neighborhood inhabitants, or forced to wear hanging watering cans used for lavatory ablutions around their necks.[30] During the first three months of the campaign against women not adhering fully to the strict Islamic dress code, in Tehran alone 62,785 women were stopped by police, and of these 1,837 were arrested. In the first three months, police arrested in the capital more than 8,000 young "criminals" who have offended public morals.

The Islamic Republic has not yet allowed a single Sunni mosque to be built in Tehran; although President Mohammad Khatami promised during election time to build a Sunni mosque in Tehran. After he won the elections, he was reminded of his promise but he said that the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had not agreed to the proposal.[31]

Iran's elections

In February 2004 Parliament elections, the Council of Guardians, a council of twelve members, half of whom are appointed by Khamenei, disqualified thousands of candidates, including many of the reformist members of the parliament and all the candidates of the Islamic Iran Participation Front party from running. It did not allow 80 members of the 6th Iranian parliament (including the deputy speaker) to run in the election. The conservatives won about 70% of the seats. The parliamentary election held on February 20, 2004 in Iran was a key turning point in that country's political evolution. The election marked the conclusive end of the campaign for political and social reform initiated by Mohammad Khatami after he was elected president in a landslide vote in May 1997.[32]

Political power following reform era

According to Karim Sadjadpour of the American Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, several factors that have strengthened Khamemei in recent years:

(1) A vast network of commissars stationed in stratgic posts throughout government bureacracies, dedicated to enforcing his authority; (2)the weak, conservative-dominated parliament, headed by Khamenei loyalist Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel(whose daugher is married to the Leader's son); (3) the rapidly rising political and economic influence of the Islamic Revoutionary Guards, whose top leaders are directly appointed by Khamenei and have always been publicly deferential to him; (4) the political disengagement of Iran's young population ....; and (5) most significant[ly], the 2005 presidential election, which saw hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad trounce Khamenei's chief rival Hashemi Rafsanjani ...[7]</ref>

Human rights

Khamenei has said that human rights are a fundamental principle underlying Islamic teachings, including the rights to live, to be free, to benefit from justice and to welfare. He has criticised Western human rights advocates for hypocrisy by economically oppressing people in Third World countries and supporting despots and dictators.[33]

He usually states that the American administration has committed many crimes and is therefore not authorized to judge human rights in Iran.[34]

In a visit with Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, Khamenei praised Mesbah’s books and thoughts as being original, very useful, solid and correct. He also stated that the Islamic world needs these ideas today more than any time in the past.[35] Mesbah Yazdi advocates a return to the values of the 1979 Iranian revolution and is a prominent opponent of the Reformist movement in Iran.

Khamenei has shown support for the persecution of Bahá'ís and has signed documents recommending several organized methods of oppression and ways of decreasing the influence of Bahá'ís in Iran and abroad.[36] According to a letter from the Chairman of the Command Headquarters of the Armed Forces in Iran addressed to the Ministry of Information, the Revolutionary Guard and the Police Force, Khamenei has also ordered the Command Headquarters to identify people who adhere to the Bahá'í Faith and to monitor their activities and gather any and all information about the members of the Bahá'í Faith.[37][38]

People charged for criticizing Ali Khamenei

Insulting the Leader is a crime in Islamic Republic of Iran, and Khamenei, who has been called "notoriously thin-skinned," has not been hesitant in seeing this law enforced.[7] Journalists and writers avoid criticizing the leader openly in publications inside the country. Some writers, journalists and politicians who have been charged with "insulting Ali Khamenei" include:


Foreign policy

Khamenei's foreign policy is said to steer a course that avoids either confrontation or accomodation with the West.[7]

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Khamenei condemned the act and the attackers and called for a condemnation of terrorist activities all over the world, whether in the United States, Palestine, the Balkans, or elsewhere.[43] He is quoted as saying, "Mass killings of human beings are catastrophic acts which are condemned wherever they may happen and whoever the perpetrators and the victims may be".[44] Candlelight vigils in Iran for the victims of the 9/11 attacks were commonplace during the next several nights.

On June 4, 2006, Khamenei said that Iran would disrupt energy shipments from the Persian Gulf region should the country come under attack from the US, insisting that Tehran will not give up its right to produce nuclear fuel.

On September 14, 2007, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (on 1st Friday prayer of Ramadan) predicted that George Bush and American officials will one day be tried in an international criminal court to be held "accountable" for the U.S.-led invasion.[45]

Israel-Palestine

In 2001 Khamenei famously remarked that "this cancerous tumor of a state [Israel] should be removed from the region." On the same occasion he proposed that "Palestinian refugees should return and Muslims, Christians and Jews could choose a government for themselves, excluding immigrant Jews."[46]

In 2005 Khamenei responded to President Ahmadinejad's alleged remark that Israel should be "wiped off the map" by saying that "the Islamic Republic has never threatened and will never threaten any country."[47] Moreover Khamenei's main advisor in foreign policy, Ali Akbar Velayati, refused to take part in Holocaust conference. In contrast to Ahmadinejad's remarks, Velayati said that Holocaust was a genocide and a historical reality.[48]

Nuclear weapons

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued a fatwa saying the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons was forbidden under Islam. The fatwa was cited in an official statement by the Iranian government at an August 2005 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.[49]

Personal life

Khamenei has four sons and 3 daughters, Mojtaba, Mostafa, Massoud, Maysam, Boshra, and Hoda, and Alla. According to Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel he has an austere lifestyle.[4]

Government posts

File:Khamenei in battlefield.jpg
Khamenei in the battlefield of Iran-Iraq war

Since the founding of the Islamic Republic, Khamenei has held many government posts[1]

Representatives

Ayatollah Khamenei has numerous representatives in different organizations (army, judiciary system, universities etc.) and cities. Here are his most notable representatives:


See also

References

  1. ^ a b c The Office of the Supreme Leader, Sayyid Ali Khamenei
  2. ^ http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53543
    http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HF08Ak02.html
    http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FI28Ak01.html
  3. ^ Eternal Iran, in 1721. Patrick Clawson, 2005, ISBN 1-4039-6276-6, p.5.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Meet 'The Decider' of Tehran. It's Not the Hothead You Expect", Nasr, Vali, commentary article, Outlook section, Washington Post, December 9, 2007, page B01, accessed same day
  5. ^ Robin Wright, The Last Great Revolution: Turmoil and Transformation in Iran, Alfred A. Knopf, 2000
  6. ^ a b Historic Personalities of Iran: Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Cite error: The named reference Sadjad was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ [1]Iran Chamber Society Web site, Web page titled "History of Iran: Iran after the victory of 1979's revolution/ page 4", accessed December 9, 2007
  9. ^ : KHATAMI Museum :
  10. ^ [2]
  11. ^ [3]
  12. ^ Analysis: Iran's Theological Community Contends With Changing World - RADIO FREE EUROPE / RADIO LIBERTY
  13. ^ a b Iranian.com | Archive Pages
  14. ^ a b Ayatollah Hojjat-ul-Islam Seyed Ali Khamenei
  15. ^ تکليف،تقليد و انتخاب مرجع تقليد براي بانوان
  16. ^ BBC NEWS | Middle East | Profile: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
  17. ^ [4]
    Science over ethics? Channel 4, 8 Mar 2006
  18. ^ [5]
  19. ^ [6]
    [7]
    [8]
  20. ^ [9]
    Iran says will not halt uranium enrichment, Reuters 18 February 2007
  21. ^ BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Punch-up over press law
  22. ^ Supreme Leader Backs Conservatives, Angering Parliament Refomers : Ayatollah Kills Effort To Remove Press Curbs - International Herald Tribune
  23. ^ Beyond the Veil: Persian Traditional Music
  24. ^ Great Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei
  25. ^ Iran's supreme leader signals limited flexibility on women's rights
  26. ^ Iran Leader Signals Flexibility on Women
  27. ^ [10]
  28. ^ http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200801/CUL20080114a.html
  29. ^ Official website of Iranian leader
  30. ^ Thug” Crackdown Operation under Way in Iran (ROOZ :: English)
  31. ^ Asia Times
  32. ^ Strategic Insights - Iranian Politics After the 2004 Parliamentary Election
  33. ^ Human Rights in Islam, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, 1997-01-31, accessed on 2007-01-08
  34. ^ BBC Mundo | Internacional | Irán: advertencia con petróleo
  35. ^ Khamenei visits Mesbah Yazdi (in Persian)
  36. ^ UN Doc. E/CN.4/1993/41, Commission on Human Rights, 49th session, 28 January 1993, Final report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Special Representative of the Commission on Human Rights, Mr. Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, paragraph 310.
  37. ^ Esfandiari, Golnaz (2006-03-30). "Iran: UN, U.S. Concerned Over Situation Of Bahá'ís". globalsecurity.com. Retrieved 2006-10-20.
  38. ^ Jahangir, Asma (2006-03-20). "Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion of Belief concerned about treatment of followers of Bahá'í Faith in Iran". Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved 2006-10-20.
  39. ^ Iranian Journalist Challenges Supreme Leader
  40. ^ Iran hardliners target Khatami ally
  41. ^ Iran Focus-Iran weblogger jailed for 'insulting' supreme leader - Human Rights - News
  42. ^ Iran Freedom Concert - Civil Rights Heroes
  43. ^ BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Iran condemns attacks on US
  44. ^ BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Iran condemns attacks on US
  45. ^ Yahoo.com, Iran leader: Bush will be tried
  46. ^ Reuters (2000-12-15). "Iran leader urges destruction of 'cancerous' Israel". CNN. Retrieved 2007-04-30. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  47. ^ Edalat, Abbas (2007-04-05). "The US can learn from this example of mutual respect". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-04-30. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  48. ^ Ali Akbar Velayati, Advisor To The Leader: “Everything is negotiable” (Iran Press Service)
  49. ^ Statement about a Fatwa Against the Production, Stockpiling and use of Nuclear Weapons
    Iran MPs oblige government to revise IAEA cooperation, Reuters, 27 Dec 2006

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Preceded by President of Iran
1981 – 1989 		Succeeded by
New title Chair of Expediency Council
1988 – 1989
Preceded by Supreme Leader of Iran
1989 – present 		Incumbent

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