Ali Khamenei
Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei (Persian: سید علی حسینی خامنه ای, Azerbaijani: سید علی حسینی خامنهای – Seyyid Əli Xameneyi, ; born 17 July 1939) is the Supreme Leader of Iran, and a Shia Marja'. He had also served as the President of Iran from 1981 to 1989. In 2010, Forbes selected him 26th in the list of 'World's Most Powerful People'.
Holding absolute power in his country, he has been described as one of only three people having "important influence" during the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Khamenei was the victim of an attempted assassination in June 1981 that paralyzed his right arm, although so far the biggest challenge to his leadership has been the 2009 Iranian election protests following the 2009 presidential elections during which he strongly supported president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They have had a falling out since.
Read more about Ali Khamenei: Early Life, Literary Scholarship, Political Life and Presidency, Supreme Leader, Domestic Policy, Foreign Policy, Personal Life and Health, Government Posts
Famous quotes containing the word ali:
“That was always the difference between Muhammad Ali and the rest of us. He came, he saw, and if he didn’t entirely conquer—he came as close as anybody we are likely to see in the lifetime of this doomed generation.”
—Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939)