Who Was Ayatollah Ali Khamenei? The Supreme Leader Who Ruled Iran For 36 Years

Last Updated:March 01, 2026, 08:34 IST

With Khamenei’s demise, a hugely consequential chapter in Iran’s modern history comes to an end, leaving uncertainty over what comes next and who may succeed him.

Iran has confirmed that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in recent strikes, with media reporting that he died in the early hours of Saturday. The government announced 40 days of national mourning following his death.

With Khamenei’s demise, a hugely consequential chapter in Iran’s modern history comes to an end, leaving uncertainty over what comes next and who may succeed him. 

Khamenei’s early life and revolutionary beginnings

Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei was born on April 19, 1939, in the holy city of Mashhad, Iran, into a modest religious family. At the age of 19, he moved to Qom, the centre of Shiite scholarship, where he studied under Ruhollah Khomeini.

During the 1960s, he joined the anti-Shah opposition movement against Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. He was repeatedly arrested and tortured and spent three years in internal exile for his political activities.

Khamenei emerged as a key religious figure during the upheavals that led to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which transformed Iran into an Islamic republic.

Rise through the new Islamic state

After the revolution, Khamenei quickly rose within the new political order. He held several senior roles, including deputy defence minister and Tehran’s Friday prayer leader.

In 1981, he survived an assassination attempt that paralysed his right arm. Within months, he became Iran’s president, serving two terms from 1981 to 1989 during the Iran-Iraq War and a period of internal consolidation.

Following Khomeini’s death in 1989, Iran amended its constitution to allow Khamenei’s appointment as the country’s second Supreme Leader, despite his initially lacking the required religious credentials.

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