[253], During the 2019–2020 Iranian protests, Khamenei met with various officials and cabinet members, saying "he would hold the assembled officials responsible for the consequences of the protests if they didn’t immediately stop them." "Ayatollah Khamenei says Iran will back 'any nations, any groups' fighting Israel", "Iran leader urges destruction of 'cancerous' Israel", "Khamenei: Israel will no longer exist in 25 years", "Iran's Supreme Leader Says Israel Won't Exist in 25 Years", "Israel's Netanyahu Returns Fire After Iran Supreme Leader's Death Threat", "The best 2015 year sentence of Iranian leader in view of Iranian people was selected", "Iranian leader backs Palestinian liberation from Israel 'tumor, "6th International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada", "Iran's Khamenei: UAE 'disgraced forever' by Israel deal", "Iran's Khamenei questions 'certainty' of Holocaust", "Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei Says Reality of Holocaust is 'Uncertain, "Oops, He Did It Again: Iran's Supreme Leader Questions the Holocaust", "Ayatollah Khamenei During His National Address", "Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei Posts Holocaust Denial Video on Remembrance Day", "Supreme leader of Iran marks Holocaust Memorial Day by publishing Holocaust denying video", "Iranian Leader Khamenei Praises French Holocaust Denier on Twitter", "BBC Mundo | Irán: advertencia con petróleo", "Leader outlines elections guidelines, calls for transparency", "Iran finally admits it shot and killed 'rioters.' Additionally he commented that "No one in European countries dares to speak about [the] Holocaust" (because of the potential legal consequences in some countries), and said that in the West, "speaking about [the] Holocaust and expressing doubts about it is considered to be a great sin. [165] In 2016, Khamenei advised Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his former ally with whom his relationship was strained after Ahmadinejad accused his son Mojtaba Khamenei of embezzling from the state treasury,[166] to not run for president again. In an interview in October 2014 with Islamic Republic News Agency, Muhammad Mukhber, the head of Setad, stated that over 90% of profits from Setad business activities are spent on improving infrastructure in the poor regions of the country, creating jobs and improving the well-being of people in these regions reflecting the top concerns of Iran's Supreme Leader, Khamenei for the Iranian society. In 2000, Ali Khamenei sent a letter to the Iranian parliament forbidding the legislature from debating a revision of the Iranian press law. [173][174] In 2007, Iranian police under the direction of Khamenei launched a "Public Security Plan", arresting dozens of "thugs" to increase public security. He has attacked Western powers who have criticized the rights record of the Islamic Republic for hypocrisy saying that these countries economically oppress people in Third World countries and support despots and dictators. [18] All candidates for the Assembly of Experts, the Presidency and the Majlis (Parliament) are vetted by the Guardian Council, whose members are selected directly or indirectly by the Supreme Leader of Iran. He also advised people and the government to be content and avoid waste in order to solve economic problems. [11], His education began at the age of four, by learning Quran at Maktab;[11] he spent his basic and advanced levels of seminary studies at the hawza of Mashhad, under mentors such as Sheikh Hashem Qazvini and Ayatollah Milani. According to an official, Khamenei "made clear the demonstrations required a forceful response" and that "rioters should be crushed. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei welcomed the Iranian New Year as one of "production, support and removal of barriers" in a live televised speech on Saturday. [57] His eldest son, Mostafa, is married to a daughter of Azizollah Khoshvaght. The Assembly of Experts elected Khamenei as the next Supreme Leader on 4 June 1989, at the age of 49. Khamenei ordered a review of the sentence against Aghajari and it was later commuted to a prison sentence. E/CN.4/1993/41, Commission on Human Rights, 49th session, 28 January 1993, Final report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Special Representative of the Commission on Human Rights, Mr. Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, paragraph 310. [41][42][43] Two of his brothers are also clerics; his younger brother, Hadi Khamenei, is a newspaper editor and cleric. After a minute the loud speaker's sound become like whistle and suddenly the tape recorder exploded. "[235], On 10 September 2015, in a speech about Israel after agreement on the nuclear program of Iran, Khamenei made a remark "Israel will not exist in 25 years". [142], Khamenei developed a cult of personality; with supporters describing him as a "divine gift to mankind" and in which Khamenei critics are persecuted.[143][144][145][146][147]. [33] There have been also instances when the Guardian Council reversed its ban on particular people after being ordered to do so by Khamenei.[34]. The Supreme Leader of Iran, better known in Iran as the Supreme Leadership Authority, is the highest ranking religious and political leader in the country, and the Head of State of Iran. "[114], In 1994, after the death of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Araki, the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom declared Khamenei a new marja. "[161], In 2012, Khamenei ordered a halt to a parliamentary inquiry into Ahmadinejad's mishandling of the Iranian economy. In January 2007, after he had not been seen in public for some weeks, and had not appeared as he traditionally does at celebrations for Eid al-Adha, rumours spread of his illness or death. Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei is a Twelver Shia Marja' and the second and current supreme leader of Iran, in office since 1989. Dispute regarding status as Grand Ayatollah, Challenges following 2009 election protest, Relations with former President Ahmadinejad, Presidential, parliamentary, and Assembly of Experts elections, Comments about United States and its foreign policy, Human rights, freedoms, protests, Islamic law. Spotlight on Press Tyrants: CPJ Names Ten Worst Enemies of the Press. [189], In response to reformist gains in the 2015–2016 election cycle, Khamenei lamented the loss of conservative clerics from the Assembly of Experts and suggested changes to the law by which the Guardian Council vets candidates may be needed because it is currently too difficult for the Guardian Council to vet so large a number of candidates. Their sentences have included lashing and jail time, and some of them have died in custody. (Reuters) – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei named the Iranian new year that of “production, support and removal of barriers” in a live televised speech broadcast on Saturday. Years ago, we freed ourselves from these things. A pious mujtahid (jurist-intellectual), who is approved by the esteemed Assembly of Experts (Majlis-i Khobregan), will suffice. [61] Hamid Vaezi, Setad's head of public relations, said the information "was far from realities and is not correct". [19] After the Iranian revolution overthrowing the shah, he was the target of an attempted assassination in June 1981 that paralysed his right arm. A Twitter account believed to be linked to Khamenei was permanently banned Friday after posting a … "[W]e have no problem with Jews and Christians ... we have problem with the usurpers of Palestine land," he added. [196], U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized Khamenei for his refusal to condemn the Xinjiang re-education camps and human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim minority in China. [202] Khamenei stated that he support sending mediators rather than bombing the country. If you were to look at the magazines, which are published in the West, you would see that they advertise a commodity for sale next to the naked picture of a woman. He also paralleled these events with Islamic revolution in Iran during his Nowruz oration in 2011. [16][17] He was previously President of Iran from 1981 to 1989. [44] His elder sister Fatemeh Hosseini Khamenei died in 2015, aged 89. That wiped out the American Indians? [259] Opposition journalists Ahmad Zeidabadi, Mohsen Sazegara, Mohammad Nourizad and Akbar Ganji were arrested and investigated[260][261][262][263] for spreading critical articles containing unproven charges against Khamenei's policies as the leader and some organizations. In April 2011, another Intelligence minister, Heydar Moslehi, resigned after being asked to by Ahmadinejad, but was reinstated by the supreme leader within hours. He has, however, continued Khomeini's policy of "balancing one group against another, making sure that no single side gains too much power. [224] In 2014, a tweet from an account attributed to Khamenei, claimed that there was no cure for Israel but its annihilation. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meets with organizers of events to mark the first anniversary of the killing of Iran's top commander Qassem Soleimani, in Tehran, Iran December 16, 2020. [182][183] The Constitution also establishes that the Council approves or disqualifies candidates for office while the Chief Justice presents the other half of the members of the Council to be selected by Parliament. "[252], During the 2018–2019 Iranian general strikes and protests, Khameini demanded punishment for those “who disrupt economic security”. (updated monthly) Islamic Law … [65] In an interview with a women's magazine, his wife declared that "we do not have decorations, in the usual sense. [187] In particular, he singled out Britain, perceiving the country as the "most evil" of its enemies. [160] Conservative opponents in parliament launched an "impeachment drive" against him,[161] four websites with ties to Ahmadinejad reportedly were "filtered and blocked",[156] and several people "said to be close" to the president and Mashaei (such as Abbas Amirifar and Mohammed Sharif Malekzadeh) were arrested on charges of being "magicians" and invoking djinns. Tehran has zero trust in any promises from Washington, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said, signaling that he does not actually believe the US will lift its sanctions. By 1982, the government announced that the courts would be reined in, although various political groups continued to be repressed by the government in the first half of the 1980s. Khamenei also suggested that ownership rights should be protected in courts set up by the Justice Ministry; the hope was that this new protection would give a measure of security to and encourage private investment. [188] He said that the Iranian people will respond with an "iron fist" if Western powers meddle in Iran's internal affairs.