Home > Ali Khamenei

He studied Islamic philosophy and became a teacher in it. He was a key figure in the Islamic revolution and a close confidant of leader Ayatollah Khomeini. In 1981 he was elected President of Iran, and became the first cleric to serve in the office. Khomeini had originally wanted to keep clerics out of the presidency, but this view was compromised. Many saw Khamenei's presidency as a sign that Iran was abandoning any hopes for secularism, and becoming even more theocratic. Shortly after he assumed the presidency, Khamenei narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when a bomb, concealed in a tape recorder at a press conference, exploded just beside him. Khamenei was not seriously injured and only lost some functions of his right hand, but the event helped affirm his reputation as a "living martyr" among his followers.

He was re-elected to a second term in 19851985 is a common year starting on Tuesday. Events January events January 1 Creation of the Internet's Domain Name System. January 17 British Telecom annouces they are going to abolish the famous red telephone boxes. January 23 A debate in the House of Lor. As a close ally of Khomeini, his term in office had few clashes with the Supreme Leader that would characterize many of Iran's later presidents. When Khomeini died, Khamenei was elected as the new Supreme Leader by the Assembly of ExpertsThe Assembly of Experts of Iran ( in Persian), is a congress-like body for selecting the Supreme Leader and supervising his activities. It is called so, because all members are required to be experts in Fiqh, to be able to judge activities of Supreme Lead on June 4June 4 is the 155th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (156th in leap years), with 210 days remaining. Events 780 BC The first historic solar eclipse is recorded in China. 1039 Henry II becomes King of Germany. 1615 Forces under the shogun Tokugawa, 19891989 is a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). Events January January 7 Akihito becomes Emperor of Japan following the death of Hirohito. The Heisei period begins January 8 the Kegworth Air Disaster A British Midland Boeing 737 cra. Since Khamenei was originally not considered to be as high-ranking a cleric needed to assume the office, and the new amendment to the constitution that allowed a cleric of his then status to be elected as the Supreme Leader were not put to the referendum yet, the Assembly internally titled him a temporary office holder until the new constitution became effective.

Khamenei's term as ruler has been marked by numerous clashes with reform-minded members of the Iranian parliament, who have contested many of his decrees and decisions. Many reform bills have been vetoThe word veto comes from Latin and literally means I forbid''. It is used to denote that a certain party has the right to unilaterally stop a certain piece of legislation. A veto thus gives unlimited power to stop changes, but not to adopt them. The vetoed and many reformers has been barred from running for office by the Council of Guardians whose members are chosen directly or indirectly by Khamenei. In case of Law of The Press bill, prepared by reformist members of the parliament to ease pressure on the press, he directly ordered the speaker of parliament, Mahdi Karrubi, to remove the case from agenda. This has led some radical elements to question his divine right to rule, a previously unthinkable notion. Khamenei has also maintained an aggressive stance towards Israel and the United States (and possibly other countries, which he calls by the general term the enemy), and in recent years there have been allegations that he has been supporting a covert nuclear weapons development project in Iran.