Iran’s most powerful man and religious leader Khamenei is dead

Head of State

Iran’s most powerful man and religious leader Khamenei is dead

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has shaped Iranian politics for more than 30 years. Israel and the USA were his arch-enemies. Now he is dead. The country is heading into an uncertain future.

The black turban as a sign of descent from the Prophet Mohammed, the white beard and fine-framed glasses were his trademarks. His photo was emblazoned in all Iranian government offices next to the picture of the late revolutionary leader Ruhollah Khomeini. Until his death, Ali Khamenei, Iran’s religious leader, was the most powerful man in the Islamic Republic.

As the supreme spiritual leader and secular head of state, he was considered untouchable. Under his leadership, Iran developed into an influential regional power with its strong security apparatus both internally and externally, although it has been massively weakened in recent years.

Years before the Iranian revolution in 1979, the then young student joined the Islamic movement around the still unknown Khomeini, which ultimately led to the overthrow of the Shah dynasty. Khamenei, who was born in the Shiite pilgrim city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran, was imprisoned in 1963 for his beliefs.

The Ayatollah later often romanticized his childhood as “poor but pious.” With the birth of the Islamic Republic in 1980, the initially moderate Khamenei also found his way into politics. The following year he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by the opposition People’s Mujahideen, and his arm has remained paralyzed ever since.

At the beginning of the devastating Gulf War with neighboring Iraq and a fatal attack on President Mohammed Ali Rajai, an opportunity arose for the then 42-year-old Khamenei. The Islamic legal scholar was elected president in 1981 and held this office until Khomeini’s death in June 1989. A so-called council of experts then chose him as his successor.

Under Khamenei’s leadership, the Revolutionary Guards in particular developed into the country’s leading armed force and became far more militarily influential than the regular army. As loyal supporters of the religious leader, the Revolutionary Guards, which were classified as a terrorist group by the USA in the nuclear dispute under then US President Donald Trump, also took on other tasks at the same time. Over the past two decades, they have become a major player in the economy, occupying sectors such as tourism and technology. The secret service also gradually moved into the sphere of influence of the Revolutionary Guard.

The Revolutionary Guards’ foreign unit has also been expanding its influence in the region since the 1990s. With the so-called “Resistance Axis,” Tehran relied on allied militias in Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Palestinian areas. In a sense, it was a military deterrent against the arch-enemy Israel.

Since the Gaza war broke out in autumn 2023, the Islamic Republic has been increasingly weakened. Israel’s military dealt severe blows to Iran and its non-state allies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The fall of the Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, who was allied with Tehran, also weakened Iran’s position. The Twelve-Day War in the summer of 2025 revealed major weaknesses in the Iranian armed forces. At protests, crowds openly called for Khamenei’s overthrow.