Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution

Summary: After Imam Khomeini's demise, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei was elected the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Assembly of Experts, and when Ayatollah Araki passed away, he was introduced as Marja-e Taqlid (religious authority followed as source of imitation) by the Qom Theological School.

Text: Ayatollah Khamenei was appointed a member of the Revolution's Council in 1979, and after the formation of the Islamic government in Iran, he became the representative of the Council in the army and the deputy for revolutionary affairs, and finally, the commander of the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps (IRGC).

Imam Khomeini appointed him in 1980 to be the leader of the Friday congregational prayers in Tehran. He was also elected as a deputy of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis) in the same year. In the summer of 1981, after delivering an important speech in the Majlis which led to the dismissal of the then President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, an attempt was made on his life by the Munafeqin (Mujahedin Khalq Organization) while making a speech in a mosque in a poor district of Tehran, and his chest and hand were badly injured.

Following Mohammad Rajaee's martyrdom in 1981, Ayatollah Khamenei was elected president of the Islamic Republic with 95% of the votes cast in his favour.

He was president for another four years. During this time, he was chairman of the Supreme Defense Council and the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council. He toured and inspected the war fronts in the course of the (Iraqi) imposed war. On June 1989, on the morrow of Imam Khomeini's demise, he was elected leader of the Islamic Revolution by the majority of votes of the Assembly of Experts. After Ayatollah Araki's death, Ayatollah Khamenei was nominated as one of the sources of imitation by the faculty of the Qom Theological School.

Ayatollah Khamenei is married and has six children. He is conversant with Arabic and Turkish, and knows English to some extent. He is a writer, is well-versed with poetry and literature, and has written 37 books to date.

The following is his autobiography which he wrote prior to becoming president.

I was born in Mashhad (Khorasan Province) in 1939. Before completing the elementary course, I began religious studies. I followed ordinary courses, attended the classes of masters of "Sath" (seminary lectures based on reading textbooks) and "Kharej" (seminary lectures not based on reading textbooks) in Mashhad, such as Haj Sheikh Hashem Qazvini, and Ayatollah Milani, then went to Najaf in 1957. In spite of the benefits I derived from lessons from eminent scholars like Ayatollahs Hakim, Khoie, Shahroodi, Zanjani and Bojnoordi during my short stay in Najaf, I had to return home for family reasons. I left Mashhad to settle in Qom in 1958. The classes of Grand Ayatollahs Boroojerdi and Khomeini were among the first I attended. I studied jurisprudence and principles under famous masters of the time until 1963 when I returned to Mashhad.

In 1962, the great Islamic movement began in theological circles, and I, being deeply impressed by intellectual and revolutionary ideas, was naturally attracted to the movement. A new chapter opened in my life. In addition to participating in the continuous and ordinary efforts of young combatants in theological circles, my first special mission was to transmit the Imam's message to Ayatollah Milani and the Khorasan ulema concerning clashes in (Islamic calendar month of) Moharram 1963, then proceed to Birjand to put the plan in force, which was to take place simultaneously throughout Iran. It was while I was on this mission that I was arrested for the first time.

At the time of the uprising on June 6, 1963, I was apprehended in Birjand, dispatched to Mashhad and put in that city's division prison. I went to Qom after I was released, then made a trip to Zahedan in February 1964 for a similar mission. I was again arrested and the speeches exposing the regime stopped. I was brought to Tehran and imprisoned in Qezel Qale. In cooperation with a number of Qom teachers, I drew up a plan for an underground political organization, which was discovered later and a number of its leaders, like Mr Rabbani, were arrested. Some of us had to go into hiding for a year. I returned to Mashhad in 1964, and started teaching advanced classes and interpretation. My main occupation during 1964 to 1967, was teaching

political ideology in theological schools and universities, then also spreading the ideas to the whole society. This gave rise to the revolutionary movement in the succeeding years. My large classes of interpretation and Islamic thoughts had few parallels in other cities; these activities together with my writings led to my repeated detentions from 1967 to 1970. The agents of the former regime, having realized that other currents were in touch with me, got more sensitive, so I was arrested for the fifth time in 1971.

The harsh treatment I got in prison from the SAVAK (the Pahlavi's secret intelligence agency) mirrored the regime's anxiety that armed groups had joined with Islamic centers; they could not accept that my activities in Tehran and Mashhad could be separate from the armed struggles. After I was set free, general interpretation and ideological classes, conducted clandestinely, intensified further.

In the mid-1970s, intense Islamic activities and underground struggles in Mashhad revolved around the efforts made in three mosques, i.e. Keramat, Imam Hassan and Mirza Ja'far. My main public classes of interpretation and ideology were held in these mosques wherein thousands of people participated and got familiar with Islamic thoughts and made them ready to render sacrifices. It was exactly for this reason that these centers of enlightenment were savagely attacked by the SAVAK and their activities suspended, and the people suspected of organizing these were detained or interrogated. Public dissatisfaction intensified with the suspension of these centers and this led me to extend small private sessions, to hold them in more secure places and to propagate them in the other cities of Khorasan.

Throughout these years, my young pupils went to other towns to light the sacred fire. Availing myself of this exceptional opportunity, I re-established one of the former sessions under the name of Nahaj-ul-Balagheh lesson. This session, which was held in the Imam Hassan Mosque of Mashhad turned into a center for Islamic struggle, and (Imam) Ali's pronouncements, together with polycopies containing explanations and interpretations, changed hands and illuminated the city of martyrdom.

The year 1974 remains vividly in my memory. The SAVAK could not tolerate the Islamic revolution propaganda center, summoned and threatened me repeatedly, placed spies near my home or along my route, and arrested a number of my close colleagues and those involved in political and propaganda activities. They felt that the propaganda

activity could not be separate from hidden political action. In December 1974, they attacked my home, arrested me and confiscated my notes.

This was my sixth and hardest detention. I was dispatched to the joint committee prison of the police department in Tehran, put in a cell under the harshest conditions, which could be understood only by those who have had that same experience. As the SAVAK took my secret files and my role in mobilizing anti-regime activities seriously, they ill- treated me.

I was released in autumn 1975, went back to Mashhad and resumed the same activities, but I was not allowed to hold those public classes. I was banned from leaving the country since ten years before that date. Among my gratifying memories is my work with the young theological students. The special secret Islamological courses I organized for the young, who were very enthusiastic, sped up the course of Islamic revolution. In 1977, together with some eminent clerics from Qom and Tehran, we established the Jame'ye Rouhaniyat Mobarez (Combatant Clerics Association) which became the basis of the Islamic Republic Party. Following the violent arrests, usually made at night, by SAVAK agents, I was exiled to Iranshahr for three years but was released later when anti-government demonstrations had started gathering momentum. I returned to Mashhad and was at the forefront of the people's struggle. In January 1979, on the Imam's order, communicated to me by the martyred Motahhari, I came to Tehran and learned that I was appointed a member of the Revolutionary Council. In March of the same year, in collaboration with four brothers, we established the Islamic Republic Party. I likewise served in the Central Council of the Party, and as deputy of the Ministry of Defense and representative of the Council in the Ministry, head of Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps, and leader of the Friday congregational prayers of Tehran. Moreover, I have written and translated several books.

Seyed Ali Khamenei (Mr.)
The Leader of The Islamic Revolution, Marja-e Taqlid (source of imitation)
Began Service: 4 - 6 - 1989


Biographical
Born 1939

Education:
Sath, Kharej (Islamic Theological Courses)

Career Highlights:
A Member of The Revolution's Council, 1979
The Representative of The Council in The Army,
The Commander of The Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps (IRGC),
The Leader of The Friday Congregational Prayers (Tehran).
Deputy of The Islamic Consultative Assembly, 1980,
President of The Islamic Republic (2 Rounds),
Chairman of The Supreme Defense council,
Chairman of The Supreme Cultural Revolution Council.

Publications:

37 books and Translation of some others as well.