Childhood and Education

Sayyed Ali Khamenei was born in Mashad, the holiest city, in the north-eastern province of Khorasan, in 1939. Both his parents belonged to clergy"s families and spent the year 1964, he achieved the highest degrees in his theological studies at the Theological Academy of Qum but continued his studies at the Theological Academy at Mashad up to the age of twenty-nine.

Political Activities before Victory of The Islamic Revolution

During the rule of the deposed shah, Ay. Khamenei was a favourite pupil of Imam Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic Revolution, he was also considered to be one of the most eminent and dependable leaders of the movement of the Iranian Muslims, this movement entered a new phase in 1962 after Imam Khomini`s pronouncements against the Shah regime.

Responsibilities After the Victory

In the course of these struggles, Ay. Khamenei was arrested many times and spent three years in prison between 1964 and 1978. He was also exiled to a place with worst climate condition for almost a year.

In 1978, upon return from exile and the height of the revolutionary of the Iranian Muslims, he, together with a few close associates led the struggle of the people in Khorasan.

Later, in the same year when Leader of the Revolution was temporarily in Paris, he was selected as a member of the government of the Islamic Republic of IRAN. He was entrusted with the responsibility of representing the Revolutionary Council in the Army as well as Deputy for Revolutionary Affairs at the National Ministry of Defence and some time later. He was appointed to the post of the Revolutionary guards.

At about this time, Imam Khomeini chose him to lead the Friday congregational Prayers in Tehran and in 1980 he was elected to Islamic Consultative Assembly by the people of Tehran. After the formation of the Supreme Council of Defence, Ay. Khamenei joined it as the representative of Imam Khomeini.

Ay. Khamenei was one of the founding members of the Islamic Republic Party in IRAN and held the post of the Secretary-General of the Party.

Ay. Khamenei was the victim of an assassination attempt on 27th June 1981. having delivered an important speech at the consultative assembly, which ended in the dismissal of Bani-Sader from the Presidency of IRAN, he was addressing the faithful at poor residential area in Tehran, after leading the congregational prayer, when a time-bomb exploded nearby which injured him in the hand, chest and face. He was immediately transferred to a hospital by the deboted people of Tehran and he miraculously survived; his right hand, however, is not still functioning properly.

Presidency

In the 1981, following the martyrdom of the second President of the Islamic republic of Iran, he becomes a candidate and, in September of the same year, he was elected the Third President of the Islamic Republic of Iran with %95 of the votes cast in his favour by the Iranian people (the total number of votes was 16,847,717). He was reelected as president in 1985 for a second four-year term.

Ay. Khamenei heads the Supreme Council of Defence and the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.

Since the beginning of the imposed war, he has often visited various war fronts and has often inspected the frontline in order to help remove any shortcoming or to advise on organizational matters.

Leadership

In 4th June 1989, One day after demise of Imam Khomeimi, Assembly of Experts closed Ayatollah Khamenei to lead the Islamic Revolution of IRAN.Since 1994, Ayatollah Khamenei has been introduced as the Religious authority in religious authority for Shi`ait people in the world by the Ulama from different countries.

Works & Books

He has a good command of the Arabic and Turkish and English language and, in addition to writing, he is a good judge of literary and poetic works. He has translated and written numerous books on Islam and history. His translations include " Future of the Islamic lands," " A Thdictment against the Western Civilization," and " Imam Hassan`s Peace Treaty." From among his writings, one may mention: " The Role of Muslims in the Independence struggle of India." General Pattern of Islamic Thought in the Quran," The Question of Patience," On the Inner Depth of prayers," "Understanding Islam properly," "Imam Al-Sadegh`s Life," and a collection of lectures on the question of Imamate. He was also a co-writer of the famous pamphlet " Our Positions," which helped the political, social and philosophical advancement of Islamic Republic Party. Other contributors were martyred Ayatollah Beheshti, martyred Hojjatol-Eslam Bahonar and Hojjatol-Eslam Hashemi Rafsanjani.