Modest life and poetry: What is known about Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei?

Modest life and poetry: What is known about Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei? Although Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is considered a private figure, he has been making headlines in recent days. Against the backdrop of the escalating Iran–Israel conflict, both Israel and U.S. leaders have made no secret of their plans to eliminate Khamenei. They claim that killing him would allow Iran to “breathe freely.” But this raises the question: why are the traditional enemies of the Islamic Republic so afraid of Ali Khamenei and willing to put a bounty on his head? So, who is Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei?

In a recent interview with ABC News, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized that eliminating Khamenei could bring the military conflict closer to an end. He noted that former President Trump did not allow Tel Aviv to carry out this plan because of the risk of escalating the conflict. However, this does not mean that the United States does not share the same intention.

"We know exactly where the Supreme Leader is hiding. He is an easy target, but we are not going to kill him yet — he is not here,” Trump said on the matter.

Given the U.S. history of removing foreign leaders it dislikes, even the phrase “not here” is seen as a significant signal.

Formation of revolutionary views

Ali Khamenei was born in 1939 into the modest household of local religious scholar Javad Khamenei in the Iranian city of Mashhad. He received a religious education from an early age and learned to read the Quran. At 18, he traveled to Najaf, Iraq, to study Shiite jurisprudence but returned home due to his father’s declining health.

Little is known about Khamenei’s private family life, except that he is married and has six children. His passion for poetry is widely recognized and is part of his public image. He often recites poems in his speeches and hosts poetry gatherings with poets supportive of the government. His love of literature is considered rare among high-ranking clerics.

Khamenei was arrested multiple times for his anti-government activities and was exiled in 1975. After returning, in the 1960s and 1970s, Khamenei joined the supporters of the anti-Shah revolution, led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who opposed the U.S.-backed monarchy.

Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who ruled Iran until 1979, enjoyed support from Western countries like the U.S. and the United Kingdom. However, economic growth fueled by oil revenues failed to improve the living standards of ordinary Iranians, prompting students, intellectuals, and clerics to rally behind the revolution.

Following the revolution, Iran was declared an Islamic Republic, and Khamenei was appointed a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), served as deputy defense minister, and led Friday prayers in Tehran.

The new government adopted an anti-imperialist foreign policy stance toward the West. Abolhassan Banisadr was elected Iran’s first president in 1980, but amid the Iran–Iraq War, Ruhollah Khomeini accused Banisadr of incompetence in managing the military and removed him from command. In July 1981, the parliament impeached Banisadr and later officially removed him from office. Banisadr and several other politicians eventually fled the country.

His successor, Mohammad Ali Rajai, was assassinated in a bombing in Tehran in 1982. After that, Khamenei, the main figure of this story, was elected president of Iran with 95 percent of the vote. Prior to the election, he survived an assassination attempt that left one of his hands severely injured.

The eight-year Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), which began with Iraq’s invasion of Iranian territory, claimed nearly a million lives in both countries. This period became one of the defining stages of Khamenei’s life. During what Iranians call the “Holy Defense,” he led Iran’s war effort as chairman of the Supreme Defense Council, which oversaw the country’s total wartime mobilization.

Since 1981, he has also headed the IRGC, the elite branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. He has often praised Ruhollah Khomeini’s wartime strategy, noting that Khomeini understood the conflict was more than a simple clash between two neighbors:

“He recognized the main enemy that was not visible on the battlefield and realized that Saddam was just a tool.”

Khamenei maintains that the United States was the real power behind the war and that Saddam Hussein received American backing.

Path to Iran’s supreme leadership

After the death of Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, Ali Khamenei was elected as his successor. His power base was the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has served as the operational heart of the new regime and as a powerful military, economic, and social force.

In the 1990s, Khamenei consolidated his authority, sidelining opponents and rewarding loyalists. He consistently pursued a pragmatic approach to implementing the core principles inherited from his mentor, Khomeini.

When reformist Mohammad Khatami won the presidency by a wide margin in 1997, Khamenei allowed him some space for reforms but ensured that the ideological foundation of the system remained untouched.

Khamenei did not block Khatami’s efforts to engage with the United States after the September 11 attacks. Following Khomeini’s precedent, he maintained Iran’s official rejection of weapons of mass destruction.

He supported the IRGC’s strategy to weaken U.S. forces following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. This marked a new phase in Iran’s efforts to expand its regional influence and counter Israel. Since 1979, Iranian revolutionaries have labeled Israel the “lesser devil” and the United States the “greater devil.”

As supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei stands above all branches of government. He appoints the heads of the judiciary, state media, and security services, and decides who can run for president.

Khamenei’s security

A figure with such influence and history is naturally a top target for Iran’s enemies. As a result, Khamenei’s security is rigorously maintained, and his precise whereabouts are rarely disclosed. Analysts believe that his personal safety is overseen by a special IRGC unit that reports directly to him.

Since the escalation of the Iran–Israel conflict, Western media have reported that Khamenei has been moved to a secure, undisclosed location to remain in contact with military leadership. A direct strike on Ayatollah Khamenei would represent a dramatic escalation of the conflict, with unpredictable and far-reaching consequences for the entire Middle East. This is likely why, apart from Israel, most international actors speak about the topic with caution. Nonetheless, his high position ensures there is always concern for his life.

According to "The Telegraph", Iran’s Supreme Leader has entrusted his protection to a top-secret security unit so covert that even the IRGC itself is unaware of its details.

"“Khamenei believes that Israeli intelligence has deeply infiltrated the regime. That is why this unit is kept so secret that even high-ranking IRGC officials do not know of its existence,” the report stated.

A source quoted by "The Telegraph" added:

“He is not hiding from death, nor sitting in an underground bunker. But his life is in danger, and there is a unit responsible for his security that no one should know about.”

Previously, Khamenei lived and worked at the “Leadership House” compound in Tehran’s 11th district. However, recent videos suggest he has relocated. In his latest addresses, he is often seen in front of a brown curtain with a portrait of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini hanging behind him — a notable change from his earlier settings.

Analysis of these recordings suggests that the speeches are now filmed at the IRGC’s media center in central Tehran, implying that Khamenei resides nearby, or possibly beneath the facility itself.

Before the recent conflict, reports indicated that the 86-year-old Supreme Leader, along with his wife and children, led a relatively modest life among ordinary citizens in Tehran. This simpler lifestyle, uncommon among Middle Eastern leaders, has helped defuse some public discontent over the years.