Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

On April 19, 1939, Ali Khamenei was born in Mashhad, Iran to Khadija Mirdamadi and Javad Khamenei. He pursued religious education at the Najaf Seminary in Iraq and later at the Qom Seminary in Iran, which shaped his future political and clerical career.

Khamenei became the third president of Iran on October 13, 1981, serving until August 3, 1989. He then assumed the role of supreme leader on June 4, 1989, following the death of Ayatollah Khomeini. His leadership lasted until his death in February 2026. He also appeared in documentaries such as Dispatches 1987 and PBS News Hour 1975.

Khamenei married Mansoureh Khojaste Bagherzadeh. They had six children: Mojtaba, Mostafa, Masoud, Meysam, Boshra, and Hoda. His father Javad Khamenei was a religious scholar, and his mother Khadija Mirdamadi came from a clerical family. He had three siblings: Hadi, Mohammad, and Badri Khamenei.

Khamenei was Iran’s supreme leader for 37 years, from 1989 until his death in 2026. He was killed by U.S. and Israeli air strikes on February 28, 2026, in Tehran. His 37-year rule as supreme leader and his death by air strikes define his legacy.