Ali Khamenei, Ayatollah: He created the Iran of today.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed in a joint Israeli-US attack on his home in Tehran. He was 86 years old.
Iran's state media reported the death of Ali Khamenei early Sunday morning. Earlier, US President Donald Trump had said that Ali Khamenei had been killed in a US-Israeli missile attack on Iran on Saturday.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei became Iran's supreme leader in 1989. He had previously participated in the Islamic Revolution in Iran under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was deputy defense minister in the government formed in 1979 under the leadership of Ruhollah Khomeini. After Ruhollah Khomeini's death in 1989, Iran's Assembly of Experts (a council of religious leaders) elected Ali Khamenei as the country's supreme religious leader; although it was necessary to amend the constitution to allow him to take office.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was the ideological force that led the revolution that overthrew the Pahlavi monarchy in Iran. And Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was the leader who built Iran's military and paramilitary system into a powerful one. This system did not stop at ensuring Iran's defense against enemies but also extended its influence beyond the country's borders. It was he who built Iran's defense capabilities today.
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Before becoming Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was the president of Iran during the country's bloody war with Iraq in the 1980s.
The long war, along with Western countries' support for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, created a sense of isolation among Iranians. Analysts believe that this deepened Ali Khamenei's distrust of Western countries, especially the United States.
And this attitude formed the basis of his decade-long rule. It reinforced his idea that Iran must always be on the defensive against external and internal threats.
With this attitude, he transformed the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from a paramilitary force into a powerful defense, political, and economic institution that later assumed a central role in expanding Iran's influence throughout the region.
Khamenei also promoted the development of Iran's "defense economy" to increase self-reliance in the face of severe Western sanctions. He was deeply skeptical of engaging with Western countries.
He reacted strongly to accusations that Ali Khamenei's protectionist policies were hindering necessary reforms.
Not only that, but over time, his rule also faced serious tests at home. Of these, 2009 was particularly notable. Many people took to the streets to protest, claiming that the results of the presidential election were "fraudulent." Ali Khamenei cracked down on the protests with a heavy hand.
Then, in 2022, intense protests spread across Iran over the death of a Kurdish woman named Masa Amen in police torture in Tehran. The protests lasted for several months. Ali Khamenei also cracked down on the protests with a heavy hand.
However, in his 37-year reign, he faced perhaps the biggest challenge in January this year. Protests began in Tehran on December 28 last year by businessmen and shopkeepers over the sharp decline in the value of the Iranian rial, Iran's currency, against the dollar. From there, protests spread throughout the country, with demonstrators calling for the fall of the Islamic Republic.
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