From A Cleric's Son To Iran’s Most Powerful Man: Know All About Ayatollah Khamenei

In the first week of October 2024, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei led the Friday prayers for the first time in nearly five years. He urged the Muslim Community to forget the sectarian divide and unite to fight the oppressor-Israel. The address came amid heightened tensions in West Asia and was to honour slain Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah. Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on September 27, 2024, a significant setback to the Iran-backed militant organisation fighting with Israel in Lebanon.

"The resistance in the region will not back down even with the killing of its leaders," Khamenei had said. 

Khamenei's address was crucial as it had come just after a wave of missile attacks carried out by Iran on Israel on October 1, 2024. The Supreme Leader called it the "least punishment" for Israel and said, "The Israeli regime's crimes will lead to its eradication." 

On Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in a televised address to the nation following the escalating Iran-Israel conflict, Khamenei's speech had the same Narrative-Iran would not "surrender."

"Wise people who know Iran, its people, and its history never speak to this nation in the language of threats because Iranians are not those who surrender."

He issued a grave warning to America, telling the country it would suffer "irreparable damage" if it engaged in military action against Iran in support of Israel. 

Calling out the US President for his `unconditional surrender' remark, Iran's Supreme leader said `Iran would never surrender.' "The Americans should know that any U.S. military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage," Khamenei said in a televised address. "The US entering in this matter [war] is 100 percent to its own detriment. The damage it will suffer will be far greater than any harm Iran may encounter."

Following the threat, Israel's Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said `Khamenei can not be allowed to exist", declaring that his country's ultimate goal is to take down the 85-year-old leader of Iran. A similar threat came from Trump when he suggested the US knows the location of the leader and can take him down any time, 'as their patience is growing thin.'  

In power since 1989 and the final arbiter of all matters of state, Khamenei has, however, vowed Iran will show no mercy would be shown towards Israel since its offensive on the country. The war between Israel and Iran is an extension of Israel's Gaza offensive in which more than 50,000 Palestinian civilians, primarily women and children, have lost their lives. Israel started the offensive after the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, in which 1200 people were reportedly killed.

The current conflict, which started as an offensive by Israel `to finish Iran's nuclear capacity, has now begun a debate about regime change in Iran. 

The question, however, is whether that change is even possible.

Here is a look at the rise and politics of the leader at the helm of it all. 

Khamenei's role in Iran's power structure.

Iran is a theocratic state. Masoud Pezeshkian has been president since July 28, 2024, but the supreme leader is the most powerful figure, ranking above the president, parliament, and judiciary. Following the structure developed during his predecessor's time, Khamenei is titled Velayat-e-faqih, the guardian of jurists, making him the ultimate sovereign. He commands the armed forces, appoints judicial heads, and controls key security establishments. He can dismiss elected governments. 

"He is one of the crucial figures in West Asia, given his status as a theocratic leader and Supreme leader of Iran. The governance structure makes him the most important person for Iranians and the Shias worldwide. Especially in post-1979 identity politics, the Supreme leader caters to one sect of the Islamic Community and remains popular there," says Dr Alvite Ningthoujam, assistant professor at Pune's Symbiosis School of International Studies.

The Supreme Leader of Iran, holds significant religious and political influence, particularly among Twelver Shia Muslims. Shia's across the world see him as a religious authority and a political leader who guides the Islamic world. His pronouncements and actions carrying considerable weight within the Shia community. 

Early life and politics 

Ali Khamenei, the son of a local religious leader, was born in Mashhad, Iran, in 1939. Multiple sources say the family wasn't well off, and he grew up in relative poverty and attended a theological seminary school.

By the age of 18, he studied Shia jurisprudence. He was known for his oratory skills and had an interest in poetry and literature. He has called Les Miserables the `best novel written in the history of literature'.

An article on his life carried by The Conversation says he `often cites poems in his speeches and hosts poetry gatherings where pro-government poets gather to read their poems to receive his comments.'

Mansoureh Khojaste Bagherzadeh is Khamenei's wife whom he met in 1964. She was born in a Persian religious family in Massad.

They have 4 sons and 2 daughters. Their children, in order, are Mostafa, Mojtaba, Masoud, Meysam, Boshra, and Hoda: Mostafa has been touted as his successor. However in reports suggest Khamenei has named three senior clerics as his successors after Israel's attack intensified in Iran.

The Islamic revolution

Khamenei's advent into politics was as a supporter of exiled leader Ayatollah Khomeini in the 1960s and 1970s. He was involved in protests against the US-backed monarchy of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, which led to his arrest several times. 

After the 1979 revolution overthrew the Shah, Iran became an Islamic republic with' an anti-West imperialist' foreign policy. Khamenei was appointed a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Council and served as deputy defence minister. He also led Friday prayers in Tehran, which was considered highly prestigious for any cleric.

In 1982, he was elected the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran after the previous president, Mohammad Ali Rajai, was killed in a bomb attack in Tehran. Just before the elections, two assassination attempts were made on Khamenei, which left him paralysed in his right arm. Khamenei had secured a thumping victory, winning 95 percent of the vote.

Like his predecessors, he sees the West as `materialist and Islamophobic.' However, Indian Express quoted him as saying that the "West is a combination of beautiful and ugly' and how people should add the good to their culture and leave out the bad." 

As Chairman of Supreme Council, Khamenei also managed Iran's defence during the war with neighbouring Iraq, led by Saddam Hussein. Resulting in about one million deaths across the two regions; the war lasted from 1980 to 1988 and is known in Iran as the "sacred defense." By the end of it, he called it `Iran's luminous victory.' 

Rise as Supreme Leader-Rehbar.

Khamenei became supreme leader after the death of Khomeini in 1989. A council of 88 clerics chose him as the supreme leader. Khamenei followed 

The Assembly of Experts, an 88-member body of Islamic clerics, designated him the new leader. Khamenei followed Khomeini's policy in the West and even in domestic affairs. 

Axis of Resistance 

 Khamenei had vowed to "end the Israeli occupation" of Palestine by 2040. Iran's Islamic Republic had, in partnership with Assad's Baathist Arab regime, built what they call an "axis of resistance" against Israel involving a coalition of West Asian paramilitary outfits such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthi (or Ansar Allah), a Zaydi Shiite organization that emerged in Yemen in the 1990s. Iran had hoped the "axis" would help the regime project its authority as far as the Mediterranean. 

With the fall of Assad, Iran lost a crucial geographical link that allowed it to move weapons and other supplies to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The militias in Iraq and Yemen are not strategically important in the offensive against Israel, with the Houthis posing a greater threat to Saudi Arabia than to Israel and the West. 

Domestic Problems

Against the backdrop of these foreign policy setbacks, the Khamenei regime was also facing people's resistance against proposed hikes in petrol prices, slow economic growth, and the growing number of judicial executions. The proposed hijab law could have exacerbated the situation. For the 85-year-old "supreme leader" ruling Iran since 1989, the conditions at home front had never been worse, and the discontent, even among the champions of the regime, is at its peak. President Pezeshkian was facing pressure to demonstrate what reforms he had introduced. Human rights groups believe the number of executions has not come down. In 2024 alone, 798 people were executed. 

Women's resistance against the moral dress code was growing.

On the economic front, the Iranian rial is officially one of the least-valued currencies in the world. Economic sanctions, unemployment, poverty, and malnutrition are huge issues. Most citizens were insisting that the government focus on fixing internal issues.

While the questions of change of power structure were raised during the grassroots uprising and pro-democracy protests around Iran in 2022 and 2023, the transition would have to take time. 

With an ailing Supreme Leader and a weak President, Iranians were moving towards the path of carving up a democratic system by domestic changes. 

Current Scenario

However, the current war situation might have a reverse effect. The Iranians have united against the common enemy, and any regime change by force would not be welcome.

Making killing of Khamenei as `the ultimate war goal' can further strengthen his position. ''I believe if Israel or the US had to take him down they would have, given the sophistication of the Israeli intelligence and their capabilities. By not doing it, they are raising the profile of this leader because they fear the repercussions in the Shia community,'' Dr Ningthoujam said.

''The duration of the conflict and resistance Iran offers will also impact domestically and internationally and impact his popularity. Important commanders have been killed in the last few days, which weakens the regime. However, Iran is also not like Iraq once Sadam Hussain has fallen, and there is nothing left there. The killing of the Supreme leader can also bring people together,'' he added.

Iran's support for Palestinians resonates well with the citizens of Arab-Sunni majority countries despite their past differences with Iran. Hence, no Arab country would be seen supporting Israel.

Khamenei has become the face of resistance against `Zionism' and did not succumb to external interference. For Iran, Israel's attacks on its soil strengthened the narrative of resistance against `Zionism and colonialism' across the region and again legitimised the leadership in the country.