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86 Members in the Assembly of Experts 49 votes needed to win | |||||||||||
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Voting on mandating a 'Leadership Council' | |||||||||||
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In the 1989 Iranian Supreme Leader election the Assembly of Experts members voted to choose the second Supreme Leader of Iran. The election was held on June 4, 1989, the morning after Ruhollah Khomeini's death and Ali Khamenei was elected as his successor with 60 votes out of 74. [1]
Because of a conflict of ideology between Ruhollah Khomeini and Hussein-Ali Montazeri, his accepted heir, Khomeini requested a revision of Article 109, which held that successors to Khomeini must be a "source of imitation" or having held the title of Marja'. [2] The change to the constitution would not officially come until 6 August 1989, wherein a vote would reduce the qualification to having the authority to issue a fatwa. [3] The debate within the Assembly of Experts on the constitutional change included whether the clerical qualification of Marjaʿiyyat present in Article 109 contributed to the quality of leadership Khomeini was seen as maintaining. [2] The Assembly of Experts, made up of many people who were integral to the revolution of 1979 [4] and in some cases knew Khomeini, concluded Khomeini's leadership was attributed in part to his religious qualifications, but mostly his political motivation and skill. [2]
The decision to hold the session was made on 3 June 1989, when Ahmad Khomeini phoned Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani at around 3:00 pm to inform him that his father was in critical condition. [5] When it became evident that choosing a successor would be necessary, Rafsanjani and Mohsen Rezaei called assembly members in the provinces to Tehran for an emergency meeting. The announcement of Ruhollah Khomeini's death was delayed until after the meeting. [5]
Rafsanjani led the meeting in the next morning, and brought the sealed testament that was held in a safe. President Ali Khamenei read the will, after Ahmad Khomeini refused to do so because of grief. Reading the 35 pages of the will took roughly over two hours. [5]
The first matter brought up for discussion was whether the assembly should mandate a 'Leadership Council' or a single person. [6] [5] Several names were proposed as members of the council by proponents of a leadership council, including:
| First group [5] | |||||||
 |  |  | |||||
| Ali Khamenei | Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardebili | Ali Meshkini | |||||
| President | Chief Justice | Assembly Chairman | |||||
| Second group [5] | |||||||
 | | ||||||
| Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani | Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardebili | ||||||
| Parliament Speaker | Chief Justice | ||||||
| Third group [5] | |||||||
| | | |  |  | |||
| Ali Khamenei | Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardebili | Ali Meshkini | Mohammad Fazel Lankarani | Abdollah Javadi-Amoli | |||
| President | Chief Justice | Assembly Chairman | Marja' | Marja' | |||
45 members voted in favor of a single person, and 23 against, who voted for a council leadership. [6] Ali Khamenei and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani were both among advocates of a council. [5]
After a single officeholder was voted over a council, Mohammad-Reza Golpaygani was proposed as the successor. He was considered a distinguished Marja', and after Hussein-Ali Montazeri was dismissed as the heir, he quickly emerged as the "leading candidate" in public discussions. [7] However, Golpaygani was "utterly unknown to the general public" and lacked political experience. [7] He finally received only 14 votes. [5]
After Golpaygani's vote did not meet the threshold, for the second attempt Ali Khamenei was considered and was chosen as the Supreme Leader. [6] The national press wrote that he was chosen with 60 votes in favor, and 14 votes against. [8] Ali Meshkini declared that he was chosen because of his close relations with Khomeini, and having played important roles both during the revolution and war, and due to his familiarity with social, economical and political issues; while Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani claimed that Khomeini had wished on his deathbed that Khamenei succeed him. [9]
The Imam said: Why [do you think] we don't have [anyone suitable]? Mr. Khamenei [is suitable].
The details of the discussions regarding his nomination was kept a secret for decades. [10]
In 2008, excerpts of never-before-seen footage of the session was aired by the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, showing that Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani played a key role in persuading the assembly members to vote for Khamenei. [10]
According to the testimony of Rafsanjani in the session, Ayatollah Khomeini had in a meeting in March 1989 pointed that Khamenei would be a suitable successor for him, responding to remarks that no other candidate exists for succession after the dismissal of Montazeri. [1] As a result, Rafsanjani was widely credited as a "kingmaker". [11]
Regardless of the fact that I do not truly deserve to occupy such a position, installing me as the caretaker has technical problems. [My] leadership would be formal [only on paper], not a real one. Well, based on the Constitution, I am not qualified for the job and, from a religious point of view, many of you [all clergy members of the Assembly of Experts] will not accept my words as those of a leader. What sort of leadership will this be?
Khamenei himself opposed the motion, stating "I support shuray-e rahbari [leadership council], according to the Constitution, and am opposed to rahbari-ye fardi [individual leadership]. How can I be a candidate?". He was responded to by Rafsanjani, "rahbari-ye fardi has become the law (qanun shode). There is no alternative." [5] The video shows Khamenei leaving the podium, after saying "on this issue ... well, I am against it anyway", then Rafsanjani announces "Those in favor, stand up!" and an overwhelming majority stand while shouting 'God is great'. [5]
The third part of the documentary Narrative of the Leadership which in February 2019 revealed that Khamenei had been temporarily elected to act as the Supreme Leader, until constitutional amendments were approved by the constitutional referendum. [12] The assembly later reconfirmed its decision in July 1989, appointing him as the Supreme Leader. [12]
Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei is an Iranian Twelver Shia marja' and politician who has served as the second supreme leader of Iran since 1989. He previously served as third president of Iran from 1981 to 1989. Khamenei is the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East, as well as the second-longest-serving Iranian leader of the last century, after Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri was an Iranian Shia Islamic theologian, Islamic democracy advocate, writer and human rights activist. He was one of the leaders of the Iranian Revolution and one of the highest-ranking authorities in Shīʿite Islam. He was once the designated successor to the revolution's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, but they had a falling-out in 1989 over government policies that Montazeri claimed infringed on people's freedom and denied them their rights, especially after the 1988 mass execution of political prisoners. Montazeri spent his later years in Qom and remained politically influential in Iran, but was placed in house arrest in 1997 for questioning "the unaccountable rule exercised by the supreme leader", Ali Khamenei, who succeeded Khomeini in his stead. He was known as the most knowledgeable senior Islamic scholar in Iran and a grand marja of Shia Islam. Ayatollah Montazeri was said to be one of Khamenei's teachers.
The Expediency Discernment Council of the System is an administrative assembly of Iran appointed by the Supreme Leader and was created upon the revision to the Constitution on 6 February 1988. It was originally set up to resolve differences or conflicts between the Majlis and the Guardian Council, but "its true power lies more in its advisory role to the Supreme Leader." According to Hooman Majd, the Leader "delegated some of his own authority to the council—granting it supervisory powers over all branches of the government" following President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election in 2005.
The Assembly of Experts, also translated as the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership or as the Council of Experts, is the deliberative body empowered to appoint the Supreme Leader of Iran. All directly elected members must first be vetted by the Guardian Council.
Presidential elections were held in Iran on 28 July 1989, after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the selection of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the previous President of Iran, as the new Supreme Leader of Iran. Out of the seventy-nine candidates registered to run, only two were approved by the Council of Guardians, which resulted in a very predictable win by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the previous Speaker of Majlis.
A constitutional referendum was held in Iran on 28 July 1989, alongside presidential elections. Approved by 97.6% of voters, it was the first and so far only time the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been amended. It made several changes to articles 5, 107, 109, 111, and added article 176. It eliminated the need for the Supreme Leader (rahbar) of the country to be a marja or chosen by popular acclaim, it eliminated the post of prime minister, and it created a Supreme National Security Council.
Grand Ayatollah Mohammad-Reza Golpaygani was an Iranian Shia Muslim and marja' scholar. He was born in 1899 in Gogad village near the city of Golpaygan, Iran. He was taught preliminary studies by his father, Mohammad Bagher. At the age of 9, his father died and later on moved to Golpaygan to continue his studies. He was one of the highest-ranking Islamic clergies to participate in the Iranian Revolution, and a one-time serious contender to succeed Ruhollah Khomeini in the 1989 Iranian Supreme Leader election. However, his candidacy was voted down by the Assembly of Experts, in favor of the eventual successor, Ali Khamenei.
Sayyid Ahmad Khomeini was the younger son of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and father of Hassan Khomeini. He was the "right-hand" of his father before, during and after the Iranian Revolution. He was a link between Ruhollah Khomeini and officials and people. He had several decision-making positions.
Sayyida Zahra Mostafavi Khomeini is an Iranian politician and educator. The daughter of Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Iranian Revolution and subsequent Supreme Leader of Iran, Mostafavi was awarded a PhD in philosophy from the University of Tehran, where she subsequently taught. Mostafavi has been called the "most prominent" of Khomeini's three daughters, and has become a prominent supporter of women's rights in Iran in addition to Palestinian causes.
Premiership of Mir-Hossein Mousavi were the third and fourth government of Iran after the Iranian Revolution. At that time, Ali Khamenei was the president.
In August 1981, President Mohammad-Ali Rajai and Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar were assassinated in an explosion. Ali Khamenei was then elected as the third president of Iran in the October 1981 Iranian presidential election. He put forward Ali Akbar Velayati as his prime minister, but the Iranian parliament did not give him the vote of confidence, and he was defeated with a vote of 80 to 74. Subsequently, Ali Khamenei, though he had strong disagreements with Mousavi, as a compromise with the left-leaning parliament, agreed to offer him, Mousavi, for the post of premier. On 28 October, the parliament approved Mousavi with a vote of 115 to 39. Mousavi became the 79th Prime Minister of Iran on 31 October 1981, and remained the prime minister of Iran until 3 August 1989, for eight years.
The supreme leader of Iran ), also referred to as supreme leader of the Islamic Revolution, but officially called the Supreme Leadership Authority, is the head of state and the highest political and religious authority of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The armed forces, judiciary, state television, and other key government organizations such as the Guardian Council and Expediency Discernment Council are subject to the Supreme Leader. According to the constitution, the Supreme Leader delineates the general policies of the Islamic Republic, supervising the legislature, the judiciary, and the executive branches. The current lifetime officeholder, Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khameneh known as Ali Khamenei, has issued decrees and made the final decisions on the economy, the environment, foreign policy, education, national planning, and other aspects of governance in Iran. Khamenei also makes the final decisions on the amount of transparency in elections, and has dismissed and reinstated presidential cabinet appointees. The Supreme Leader is legally considered "inviolable", with Iranians being routinely punished severely for questioning or insulting him.
Events from the year 1989 in Iran.
On 8 January 2017, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the fourth President of Iran and the country's Chairman of Expediency Discernment Council, died at the age of 82 after suffering a heart attack. He was transferred unconscious to a hospital in Tajrish, north Tehran. Attempts at cardiopulmonary resuscitation for more than an hour trying to revive him were unsuccessful and he died at 19:30 local time (UTC+3:30).
An election for the third Supreme Leader of Iran is scheduled to be held following the end of the current tenure of Ali Khamenei. As of January 2024, no person has been officially declared as the heir to the current leader nor as a nominee, though various sources have written on potential candidates.
