Personal Life and Health
Khamenei has six children. Khamenei says that he sometimes reads American magazines such as Time and Newsweek.
Although not nearly as elderly as some other senior clerics, Khamenei's health has been called into question. In January 2007, after he had not been seen in public for some weeks, and hadn't appeared (as he traditionally does) at celebrations for Eid al-Adha, rumours spread of his illness or death. Khamenei issued a statement declaring that "enemies of the Islamic system fabricated various rumors about death and health to demoralize the Iranian nation," but according to author Hooman Majd he appeared to be "visibly weak" in photos released with the statement.
An unidentified ally of former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani stated in autumn 2009 that Khamenei had terminal leukemia and was expected to die within months, and Rafsanjani's unwillingness to act after the disputed Presidential election in 2009 was coming from his wish to succeed Khamenei and annul Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election afterwards. Three years later, Khamenei is still alive, as shown in the intense political stand-off with former protégé Ahmadinejad in 2011.
Read more about this topic: Ali Khamenei
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