As the conflict between Israel and Iran has intensified, one central character has remained out of the public eye: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s reclusive supreme leader.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not ruled out targeting Ayatollah Khamenei, who has led Iran for more than three decades. Mr. Netanyahu told ABC News on Monday that any strike on Iran’s supreme leader would not kindle a wider war but could instead prove decisive. “It’s not going to escalate the conflict, it’s going to end the conflict,” he said.
And President Trump on Tuesday threatened the ayatollah in a social media post, saying “we know exactly where” he is. But he added that “we are not going to take him out (kill!), at least for now.” Killing foreign leaders is against the law in the United States.
He added, “Our patience is growing thin.”
Here is a closer look at Ayatollah Khamenei, his rise to power and his role in the deepening confrontation with Israel.
From revolutionary aide to supreme leader
Born in 1939 into a religious family of modest means in Mashhad, a pilgrimage city in eastern Iran, Mr. Khamenei came of age in the years leading up to the 1979 revolution that overthrew the shah.
He was imprisoned repeatedly by the security services of the U.S.-backed autocrat Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, and he rose through the ranks of the religious opposition as a close ally of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the revolution and founded the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Mr. Khamenei quickly emerged as one of the most trusted lieutenants in the new Iranian regime, and he was president for much of the 1980s.
When Ayatollah Khomeini died in 1989, Mr. Khamenei, by that time an ayatollah himself, was elevated to Iran’s supreme leader. He set about consolidating control of the country’s political, military and security apparatus, and cracking down on dissent to shore up his position as the ultimate decision maker.
Absolute power under Iran’s theocratic system
As Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei sits above all other branches of government. He appoints the heads of the judiciary, state media and key security agencies, and he holds final authority over who can run for president.
Ayatollah Khamenei also controls foreign and military policy, overseeing the Revolutionary Guards Corps, which defends Iran’s Islamic system and sits apart from the rest of the military, and the powerful Quds Force, which directs Iran’s foreign operations across the Middle East.
His authority extends to the nuclear program, placing him at the center of Iran’s escalating confrontation with Israel.
An architect of Iran’s regional strategy
For decades, Ayatollah Khamenei has been at the heart of Iran’s hard-line foreign policy, positioning the country as a counterweight to American, Israeli and Saudi influence across the Middle East. Under his leadership, Iran has trained, armed and funded a network of proxy forces stretching from Lebanon to Yemen, allowing Tehran to project power and confront its rivals without provoking a war on Iranian soil.
But that strategy unraveled on Friday, when Israel launched its largest-ever attack against Iran, targeting military and nuclear sites and killing an array of senior officials.
Israel said the military campaign was an effort to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iranian officials have publicly said that their country’s nuclear program is intended for civilian uses only and have denied that it is building a bomb; Ayatollah Khamenei issued a religious ruling, or fatwa, in 2003 declaring nuclear weapons forbidden under Islam. But Israel and Western governments have long accused Tehran of seeking the capability to build a bomb if it so chooses.
Under guard, and under threat
Ayatollah Khamenei’s movements are tightly controlled and his whereabouts rarely disclosed. His personal security is overseen by an elite Revolutionary Guards unit that reports directly to his office, according to analysts.
He was reportedly moved last week to a secret location where he could remain in contact with the military. That follows similar reports last year, when the ayatollah was also moved to a safe location a day after the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, who led the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and was a longtime ally.
In recent days, Israel has killed a number of senior officials in Iran, including the country’s top military commanders and nuclear scientists.
But a direct attack on Ayatollah Khamenei himself would represent an extraordinary escalation of the current conflict. Such a move could have unpredictable and far-reaching consequences across the Middle East.
Euan Ward is a reporter contributing to The Times from Beirut.
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