Seyyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei - 3rd President (1981-1989) and Supreme Leader (from 1989 to this day) of Iran. He is the closest associate of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) - Imam Ruhollah Khomeini. He was awarded the title of ayatollah, which allows him to independently make changes to Islamic law. Therefore, the statesman is often referred to simply as Ayatollah Khamenei. Today we will get acquainted with his biography and activities.
Preschool years
Ali Khamenei was born in the holy city of Mashhad on July 15, 1939. He was the second child in the family. He is Azerbaijani by origin. The clan of Khamenei refers to the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, the seids. His grandfather was considered in Azerbaijan, in particular in the cities of Khiabani and Tabriz, far from being the last clergyman. He later moved to Iraq, to the Shiite holy city of An-Najaf.
His father, Haj Seyyid Javad Hosseini Khamenei was a madrasah teacher. Like the families of other scientists and clergymen, their family lived rather poorly. Wife and children dutifully comprehended from Seyyid Javad the whole depthunderstanding of contentment with what is, and quickly got used to it. In his memoirs of childhood, Ali Khamenei said that his father was a famous theologian, but led a very ascetic life. Children often had to fall asleep without supper or be content with raisin bread. At the same time, a spiritual and pure atmosphere reigned in Ali Khamenei's family. At the age of 4, together with his older brother, the future statesman went to school to study the alphabet and the Koran. After that, the brothers completed a course of primary education at the Dar-at-Taalim diyanati school.
Scientific Theological Seminary in Mashhad
Having mastered reading, syntax and morphology in high school, the future leader of Iran, Khamenei, entered the scientific spiritual academy. There, with his father and other teachers, he studied literature and basic religious sciences. When asked why Khamenei chose the path of the clergy, he unequivocally answers that his father played a decisive role in this matter. At the same time, the mother also supported her son and inspired him.
Under the guidance of his father and teachers of the spiritual schools "Navvab" and "Sulefman-Khan", the future President of Iran comprehended such books: "Siyuti", "Mogni", "Jami-al-Muqaddamat", "Maalem", "Sharaye al-Islam", "Sharh-e Lome". He also attended the classes of Haj Sheikh Hashem Ghazvini to study treatises. Khamenei comprehended other subjects on Islamic principles and Fichta in the classes taught by his father.
Preparatory courses, as well as courses for elementary and intermediate levels (the Sath degree) were givenKhamenei is very easy. He successfully completed them in five and a half years, which was amazing and unprecedented. Seyid Javad played an important role at all stages of his son's education. The future revolutionary comprehended the book on philosophy and logic "Manzumee Sabzevar" under the guidance of Ayatollah Mirza Javad Agha Tehrani, who was later replaced by Sheikh Reza Eisi.
Scientific Theological Seminary of Holy Najaf
At the age of 18, Khamenei began to study fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and Islamic principles at the highest level. For this, he attended the classes of the supreme mujtahid Ayatollah Milani in Mashhad. In 1957, he traveled to the holy city of Najaf and made a pilgrimage to the tombs of the Imams. Having attended classes on Islamic principles and fiqh at the highest level, which were conducted by the great mujtahids of the Najaf Theological Seminary, Ali Khamenei was imbued with the content of the subjects and teaching methods in this educational institution. As a result, he told his father that he would like to continue his studies here, but he refused. Some time later, young Khamenei returned to his native Mashhad.
Quma Scientific Theological Seminary
From 1958 to 1964, Khamenei studied at the seminary of Qom. Here he comprehended Islamic principles, fiqh and philosophy at the highest level. In this educational institution, he was lucky to learn from many great personalities, including Ayatollah Borujerdi, Sheikh Mortaz and Imam Khomeini. In 1964, the future president learned that his father had lost sight in one eye due to cataracts. He was saddened by this news and turned out to bebefore a difficult choice - to continue his studies or return home to take care of his father and main mentor. As a result, the choice was made in favor of the last option.
Later, commenting on his return to his homeland, Khamenei will say that, having begun to fulfill his duty and duties, he received a blessing from Allah Almighty. Moreover, he is convinced that many of his subsequent successes were directly related to the kindness he did for his parents.
Many teachers and students at Qom Seminary were upset by Khamenei's move. They were sure that if he had stayed and continued his studies, he would certainly have been able to achieve great heights. However, it soon became clear that Ali's choice was the right one, and the hand of divine providence prepared for him another fate, higher than the calculations of his comrades. It is unlikely that anyone could have imagined then that the 25-year-old gifted young man, who left Qom to help his parents, would lead the Muslim religious community in a few decades.
Returning to his hometown, Khamenei continued to study. Until 1968, he studied fiqh and Islamic principles under the guidance of teachers from the theological seminary of Mashhad, including Ayatollah Milani. Moreover, since 1964, Khamenei himself taught Islamic principles, fiqh and other religious sciences to young seminarians in his spare time from studying and caring for his sick father.
Political Struggle
Ali Khamenei said that in matters of religion, fiqh, politics and revolution, he isstudent of Imam Khomeini. Nevertheless, the first manifestations of his political activity, revolutionary spirit and hostility to the Shah's regime occurred after meeting with Seyyid Mojtaba Navvab Safavi. In 1952, when Safavi arrived in Mashhad with representatives of the Fadayane Eslam organization, he delivered a speech in the Suleiman Khan Madrasah, in which he spoke about the revival of Islam, the rule of divine laws, the deceit and deceit of the Shah and the British, as well as their dishonesty. towards the Iranian people. Khamenei, being one of the young students of Suleiman Khan Madrasah, was very impressed with Safavi's fiery performance. According to him, it was on that day that the sparks of inspiration for the revolution were lit in him.
Joining Imam Khomeini's movement
The hero of our conversation entered the arena of political struggle in 1962, when he was in Qom. During that period, Imam Khomeini's revolutionary movements and protest campaigns began against the anti-Islamic policy of Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, which was pleasing to the United States. Khamenei fought desperately for the interests of the revolutionaries for 16 years. Despite many ups and downs (ups, downs, imprisonments and exiles), he did not see any threats on his way. In 1959, Ayatollah Khamenei was sent on behalf of Imam Khomeini to the theologians of Khorasan and Ayatollah Milani with a message on how the clergy should conduct a propaganda program in moharamma, expose the policies of the Shah, and also explain the state of affairs in Iran and Qom. Having completed this task, Ali Khamenei went with propaganda activities to Birjand, where, after the call of Imam Khomeini, he beganexposing and propaganda activities against America and the Pokhlevi regime.
On June 2, 1963, the future president of Iran was captured by the law and spent one night under arrest. On the morning of the next day, he was released on condition that he stopped preaching and was under surveillance. After the bloody events of June 5, Ayatollah Khamenei was again imprisoned. There he spent ten days in the most difficult conditions. The future leader of the country was subjected to all sorts of tortures and tortures.
Second conclusion
Early next year, Khamenei and his associates went to Kerman. After several days of speaking and meeting with local seminarians, he went to Zahedan. Khamenei's fiery exposés were warmly received by the people, especially those delivered on the anniversary of the shah's rigged referendum. On Ramadan 15, when Iran celebrated the birthday of Imam Hassan, Khamenei's boldness and directness with which he denounced the Pahlavi's pro-American policies reached a climax. As a result, on the night of the same day, the revolutionary was arrested and taken by plane to Tehran. He spent the next two months in solitary confinement at the Kyzyl Kalye prison, whose employees indulged in the pleasure of mocking a well-known prisoner.
Third and fourth arrests
The interpretation of the Quran, classes on hadith and Islamic thinking, which the hero of our conversation conducted in Tehran and Mashhad, appealed to revolutionary-minded youth. SAVAK (Ministry of State Security of Iran) quickly responded to thisactivities and began to pursue the indefatigable revolutionary. Because of this, throughout 1966 he had to live a secret life without leaving Tehran. A year later, Ayatollah Khamenei was still captured and imprisoned.
In 1970, the revolutionary was again imprisoned. The reason was the same scientific, educational and reformist activities that he conducted in Tehran after the second arrest.
Fifth arrest
As the Grand Ayatollah himself recalls, in 1969, the prerequisites for an armed uprising began to appear in Iran, and the sensitivity of the authorities to people like him began to increase. As a result, in 1971, the revolutionary was again behind bars. Based on the brutal attitude of SAVAK during his imprisonment, Khamenei concluded that the ruling apparatus openly fears that adherents of Islamic thought will take up arms, and cannot believe that the ayatollah's propaganda activities are isolated from this movement. Upon his release, the revolutionary further expanded the range of his public activities in the interpretation of the Koran and hidden ideological activities.
Sixth arrest
From 1971 to 1974, in the mosques of Keramat, Imm Hasan and Mirha Jafar, located in Mashhad, Khamenei conducted classes on the interpretation of the Koran and ideology. These three Islamic centers attracted thousands of people, among whom were revolutionaries, seminarians and enlightened youth. At the lessons of Nahj-ul-Balaga, the enthusiastic listeners experienced a special delight. Lesson materials in the form of copiedtexts quickly spread among interested people.
Moreover, young seminarians, inspired by the lessons of the struggle for the truth, went to different cities of the country to look for like-minded people there and create the preconditions for a revolution. Due to the fact that Khamenei's activities again reached an impressive scale, in 1974 SAVAK agents broke into his house. They took the revolutionary to prison and destroyed many of his records. In the biography of Ayatollah Khamenei, this arrest was the most difficult. He spent over a year behind bars. All this time the revolutionary was kept in the most severe conditions. According to him, the horror that he experienced while in this prison can only be understood by those who saw those conditions.
After his return to freedom, Ayatollah Khamenei did not abandon his scientific, research and revolutionary program, despite the fact that he was deprived of the opportunity to organize classes on the same scale.
Link and victory
At the end of 1977, the Pahlavi regime once again arrested the Grand Ayatollah. This time it was not limited to the conclusion - the revolutionary was exiled for three years to Iranshahr. Already in the middle of the next year, at the height of the struggle of the Iranian people, he was released. Returning to sacred Mashhad, Khamenei got into the front ranks of the people's militia against the Pahlavi regime. After 15 years of desperate struggle for the faith, worthy of resistance, a lot of suffering and difficulties, the ayatollah saw the fruits of his work and the work of his associates for the first time. As a result, the vicious and despotic power of the Pahlavi fell, and an Islamic system was established in the country. In anticipationVictory Imam Khomeini convened in Tehran the Council of the Islamic Revolution, which included bright revolutionary personalities. By order of Khomeini, Ayatollah Khamenei also entered the council.
After victory
Immediately after the victory, Ali Khamenei's career began to develop dramatically. He continued to actively promote Islamic interests, which at that time was extremely necessary. In the spring of 1979, together with like-minded people, he founded the Islamic Republic Party. In the same year, Khamenei was appointed deputy minister of defense, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, deputy of the Assembly of the Islamic Council, and also the imam (spiritual head) of the Friday prayer in the city of Tehran.
In 1980, an Iranian statesman became Imam Khomeini's representative on the Defense Council. With the outbreak of hostilities imposed by Iraq, and the invasion of Saddam's army, Khamenei was actively present on the fronts. On June 27, 1981, members of the Munafikin group assassinated him in the Abuzar mosque in Tehran.
Presidentship
When in October 1981, after a long torment, the second president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammed Ali Rajai Ayatollah Khamenei, died, gaining sixteen million votes and receiving the approval of Imam Khomeini, he became president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 1985 he will be re-elected for a second term.
Post of the Supreme Leader
June 3, 1989, the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini, died. The next day, the Council of Experts elected Ali Khamenei as Supreme Leader. InitiallyAyatollah Abdul-Karim Mousavi, Ayatollah Ali Meshkikini and Ayatollah Golpaygani wanted to share the sole post of leader among themselves, renaming it the Supreme Council. However, the council of experts turned them down. Then Ayatollah Golpaygani put forward his candidacy, but lost to Khamenei, who received more than 60% of the vote.
At the basis of the state structure of Iran is the principle of the leadership of the Shiite clergy, which is called Velayat-e Faqih, which means "The Board of the Lawyer." According to this principle, no important decision can take effect until it is approved by the Supreme Leader.
The 3rd President of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, was able to significantly expand the sphere of influence of the Supreme Leader. He transferred to him a number of presidential powers related to the control of the administration, parliament, council of ministers, the judiciary, the media, the armed forces, the police, intelligence, as well as non-state foundations and business communities.
On the same day, June 4, 1989, the Majlis of Sharia experts, overseeing the activities of the revolutionaries, appointed Ali Khamenei as the Leader of the Islamic Revolution. Previously, this honorary post was held by Imam Khomeini.
Domestic policy
The President and top leader of Iran actively supported scientific progress. Among the Islamic clergy, he was among the first to endorse research into therapeutic cloning and stem cells. Due to the fact that "oil and gas reserves are not unlimited," the President paid much attention to the development of nuclear energy. In 2004 spiritual leaderIran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei advocated accelerating the process of privatization of the economy.
Nuclear weapons
Speaking of Ali Khamenei's domestic policy, it is worth noting his attitude towards nuclear weapons separately. The Iranian leader issued a fatwa (legal position) according to which the production and stockpiling of nuclear weapons is prohibited by Islam. In the summer of 2005, he voiced it at a meeting of the IAEA as the official position of the Iranian government. However, several former Iranian diplomats claim that in a conversation with representatives of the Iranian special services, Khamenei did not reject the use of nuclear weapons by Muslims in Iran. Another reason why the influence and execution of this position has been called into question is that the ruler can celebrate it in the future if it is beneficial to his country. There has already been a similar case in history. So, during the Iran-Iraq conflict, Supreme Leader Khomeini issued a fatwa against indiscriminate weapons, and then canceled it and ordered the resumption of the production of such weapons.
Foreign policy
America. An integral part of the Grand Ayatollah's public speeches has always been criticism of the United States. Basically, it was connected with the imperialist policy of the American leadership in the countries of the Middle East, support for Israel, aggression against Iraq, and so on. In the context of recent events, Khamenei said that "the Americans are not only against the Iranian nation, but are also its main enemies." He also added that "Iran's retreat in the face of America will give her strength and make her more brazen."
Palestine. Khamenei is watchingagainst Israel as an illegal occupation regime. In this regard, he supports the Palestinians in their unwillingness to recognize Israel. The political leader is sure that if someone from the Islamic world officially recognizes the "oppressive regime of Israel", he will not only incur contempt, but will also commit a futile action, since this regime will not live long.
According to Ayatollah Khamenei, whose biography is set out in our article, the Palestinian issue must be resolved through a referendum. Everyone who was expelled from Palestine, and everyone who lived in it before 1948, no matter if they are Christians or Jews, should take part in it.
In one of his last speeches, Khamenei said that Israel will not exist for more than 25 years if the Palestinians and other Muslims do not continue their fight against the Zionist regime. In this struggle, he sees the only way out of the situation, and considers all other methods fruitless.
Private life
Ali Khamenei and his wife Khojaste Khamenei have four sons and three daughters. According to Khamenei's son-in-law, he lives a very ascetic life. The former president is fluent in Arabic, Persian and Azerbaijani and understands some English. He is fond of Persian poetry and enjoys hiking. In his youth, Khamenei loved to play football. The statesman published 18 books and 6 translations. The books of Ayatollah Khamenei are mainly devoted to the Islamic religion.
