Full Name: Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei
Profession: 2nd Supreme Leader of Iran
Why Famous: The second and current Supreme Leader of Iran and the commander-in-chief of Iran's armed forces.
Khamenei was arrested six times before being going into exile during Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's reign. He also suffered an attempted assassination in June 1981, paralyzing his right arm.
An important leader during the Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s, Khamenei developed close ties with the Revolutionary Guards, whose commanders are now elected and dismissed by him and used to suppress opposition to his rule.
Born: April 19, 1939
Birthplace: Mashhad, Khorasan, Iran
Age: 81 years old
Generation: Silent Generation
Chinese Zodiac: Rabbit
Star Sign: Aries
Historical Events
- 1981-06-27 Ali Khamenei narrowly escapes an assassination attempt by the Mujaheddin-e Khalq, when a bomb concealed in a tape recorder, explodes on a desk in front of him
- 2014-09-09 Ali Hosseini Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran, undergoes prostate surgery
- 2019-06-24 US President Donald Trump imposes sanctions on Iran, targeted at Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in response to the shooting down of a US drone
- 2019-11-17 Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei labels protesters "thugs" after unrest over higher gasoline prices brought Tehran to a standstill day before
- 2020-03-22 Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei refuses American COVID-19 help, refers to conspiracy theory that it was manufactured by the US
Biographies and Sources
- The Supreme Leader - United States Institute of Peace
Ayatollah Khomeini
Hassan Rouhani
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mohammad Mosaddegh
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Shirin Ebadi