Ali Khamenei

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Ali Khamenei
Other names	علی خامنه‌ای
Born	19 April 1939 Mashhad, Khorasan, Imperial State of Iran
Died	28 February 2026[1][2] Tehran, Iran
Occupation	Politician
Predecessor	Ruhollah Khomeini

Ali Hosseini Khamenei is the 2nd supreme leader of Iran and dictator.^[3][4][5]

Controversy[edit]

Violation of human rights[edit]

Khamenei reportedly responsible for closure of universities and the violent suppression of students’ dissidence, when The Council announced a cultural revolution. During the national Friday Prayer on 18 April 1980. Khamenei also threatened university students in his speech.

As a member of the Council of the Islamic Revolution, Khamenei was also responsible for enacting laws that legalized the violent oppression of political dissidents.

Have we abolished the death penalty? No! In the Islamic Republic, we have the death penalty for those who deserve to be executed… Do you think we will treat them—the people who are in prison and still have contact with the munafiqin (Mujahedin-e Khalq,) who have attacked our state—to sweets and candies? If their connection to that organization is determined, what should be done about it? They are condemned to death, and we will execute them! We are not joking about this matter. — Ali Khamenei, 1988

On 1988 Massacre, during Khamenei's presidency, thousands of political prisoners were executed under Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa (religious order), pursuant to the intelligence and judiciary authorities’ decisions. Khamenei defended mass executions.

On 2009 Post-election Protests, Ali Khamenei called for the suppression of protesters. He also threatened protesters with punishment during a speech and urged them to reject any claims of fraud regarding the election results.

Khamenei issued a fatwa (religious order) against Baha'i (a religion) citizens and has described them as najis (unclean).^[6]

Cult of personality[edit]

Khamenei's cult of personality is promoted by IRGC propaganda, he is portrayed as quasi‑infallible, even compared to Imam Ali. The idea was rebuffed by most Shia scholars as blasphemous.^[7]

Setad[edit]

Setad (Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order), created after the 1979 revolution, have confiscated assets from religious minorities, political dissidents, and ordinary Iranians without due process. As of 2013, Reuters investigation estimated Setad's assets total about $95 billion.

Setad also claims in court, sometimes falsely, that the properties had been abandoned.^[8]

Setad is reportedly under Khamenei's control.^[9][10]

Trials of people for insulting Khamenei[edit]

Several journalists, bloggers, and other individuals were put on trial in Iran for insulting the Supreme Leader, often in conjunction with blasphemy charges.^[11][12] In 1996, Abbas Maroufi was sentenced to 35 lashes and six months imprisonment for spreading lies and insulting Khamenei. Maroufi was also banned from working as a journalist and his literary monthly Gardoon was closed. Maroufi had compared Khamenei to former Shah of Iran Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.^[13]

In 2005, an Iranian was jailed for two years for insulting Khamenei and Imam Khomeini while being cleared of insulting the prophet.^[14] In 2009, Iranian blogger Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, who was arrested for insulting Khamenei in an internet post, died while in custody in Evin Prison.^[15] In 2010, opposition activist Ahmad Gabel was sentenced to 20 months in jail for insulting Khamenei, as well as 3 additional years for possessing a satellite receiver, a 3-year exile and a fine.^[16] In 2014, eight men, including a Briton, were sentenced to 19 to 20 years for insulting Khamenei and other charges relating to Facebook comments.^[17] In 2017, Sina Dehghan was sentenced to death for insulting the prophet, with an additional 16-month sentence for insulting Khamenei in a messaging application.^[18]

Women's and LGBTQ rights[edit]

In July 2007, Khamenei criticized Iranian women's rights activists and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). He said: "In our country ... some activist women, and some men, have been trying to play with Islamic rules to match international conventions related to women. This is wrong." Khamenei made these comments two days after Iranian women's rights activist Delaram Ali was sentenced to 34 months of jail and ten lashes by Iran's judiciary.^[19]

Khamenei believes in gender segregation.^[20] Khamenei also believes that gender equality is a Zionist plot with the purpose to "corrupt the role of women in society".^[21]

Khamenei advocates the Islamic practice of hijab, believing that hijab is aimed at honoring women. To the Western objections regarding compulsory hijab in Iran, he responds by pointing out the compulsory unveiling in certain Western countries and obstacles created for veiled Muslim women who want to enter universities. He further argues that women in the West have lost their honor by pointing out a perceived high rate of sexual violence in the West as well as the widespread exploitation of female sexual appeal for commercial purposes.^[22]

Khamenei believes homosexuality is a "moral deprivation" present in the West,^[23][24] but supports Khomeini's 1985 fatwa permitting sex reassignment surgery for gender dysphoria.^[25][26][27]

Remarks on Muslims in India[edit]

In September 2024, Khamenei raised the issue of the "suffering" of Muslims in India; his comments were subsequently condemned by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, which called on Iran to "look at [its] own record" on minority rights.^[28]

See Also[edit]

• Ruhollah Khomeini

Footnotes[edit]