Supreme Leadership Authority of the Islamic Republic of Iran | |
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Office of the Supreme Leader | |
Style | His Eminence |
Status | Head of State |
Reports to | Assembly of Experts |
Residence | House of Leadership |
Seat | Tehran |
Appointer | Assembly of Experts |
Term length | Life tenure [1] |
Constituting instrument | Constitution of Iran |
Precursor | Shah of Iran |
Formation | 3 December 1979 |
First holder | Ruhollah Khomeini |
Website | www.leader.ir |
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This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Iran |
Government of Islamic Republic of Iran |
The Supreme Leader of Iran (Persian : رهبر معظم ایران, romanized: rahbar-e mo'azzam-e irān), also referred to as Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution [2] (رهبر معظم انقلاب اسلامی, rahbar-e mo'azzam-e enqelāb-e eslāmi), but officially called the Supreme Leadership Authority, (مقام معظم رهبری, maqām mo'azzam rahbari) 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 are subject to the Supreme Leader. The current longtime officeholder, Ali Khamenei, has been issuing decrees and making the final decisions on economy, environment, foreign policy, education, national planning, and other aspects of governance in Iran. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] Khamenei also makes the final decisions on the amount of transparency in elections, [12] and has dismissed and reinstated presidential cabinet appointees. [13]
The Supreme Leader directly chooses the ministers of Defense, Intelligence and Foreign Affairs, as well as certain other ministers, such as the Science Minister. [14] Iran's regional policy is directly controlled by the office of the Supreme Leader with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' task limited to protocol and ceremonial occasions. All of Iran's ambassadors to Arab countries, for example, are chosen by the Quds Force, which directly report to the Supreme Leader. [11]
The office was established by the Constitution of Iran in 1979, pursuant to the concept of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist. [15] According to the Constitution, the powers of government in the Islamic Republic of Iran are vested in the legislature, the judiciary, and the executive powers, functioning under the supervision of the Supreme Leader. [16] The style "Supreme Leader" (Persian : رهبر معظم, romanized: rahbar-e mo'azzam) is commonly used as a sign of respect – although the Constitution simply designates them as "Leader" (رهبر, rahbar).
The Supreme Leader ranks above the President of Iran and personally appoints the heads of the military, the government, and the judiciary. [17] Originally the constitution required the Supreme Leader to be a Marja'-e taqlid, the highest-ranking cleric in the religious laws of Usuli Twelver Shia Islam. In 1989, however, the constitution was amended and simply asked for Islamic "scholarship", thus the Supreme Leader could be a lower-ranking cleric. [18] [19]
In its history, the Islamic Republic of Iran only has had two Supreme Leaders: Ruhollah Khomeini, who held the position from 1979 until his death in 1989, and Ali Khamenei, who has held the position since Khomeini's death.
In theory, the Supreme Leader is elected and overseen by the Assembly of Experts. However, all candidates for membership at the Assembly of Experts (including the President and the Majlis (parliament)) must have their candidacy approved by the Guardian Council, whose members in turn, are half appointed unilaterally by the Supreme Leader and half subject to confirmation by the Majlis after being appointed by the head of the Iranian judiciary, who is himself appointed by the Supreme Leader. [20] Thereby, the Assembly has never questioned the Supreme Leader. [21] There have been cases where incumbent Ali Khamenei publicly criticized members of the Assembly, resulting in their arrest and subsequent removal. There also have been cases where the Guardian Council repealed its ban on particular people after being directed to do so by Khamenei. [22] The Supreme Leader is legally considered "inviolable", with Iranians being routinely punished for questioning or insulting him. [23] [24] [25] [26]
The Supreme Leader of Iran is elected by the Assembly of Experts (Persian : مجلس خبرگان, Majles-e Khobregan), which is also the only government body in charge of overseeing, choosing and dismissing Supreme Leaders of Iran. [27]
The Supreme Leader is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the provisional[ citation needed ] head of the three branches of the state (the Judiciary, the Legislature, and the Executive).
He oversees, appoints (or inaugurates) and can dismiss the following offices:
The Supreme Leader does not receive a salary. [34]
In March 1979, shortly after Ruhollah Khomeini's return from exile and the overthrow of Iran's monarchy, a national referendum was held throughout Iran with the question "Islamic Republic, yes or no?". [35] Although some groups objected to the wording and choice and boycotted the referendum, 98% of those voting voted "yes". [35] Following this landslide victory, the constitution of Iran of 1906 was declared invalid and a new constitution for an Islamic state was created and ratified by referendum during the first week of December in 1979. According to Francis Fukuyama, the 1979 constitution is a "hybrid" of "theocratic and democratic elements" with much of it based on the ideas Khomeini presented in his work Islamic Government: Governance of the Jurist (Hukumat-e Islami). [36] In the work, Khomeini argued that government must be run in accordance with traditional Islamic sharia , and for this to happen a leading Islamic jurist ( faqih ) must provide political "guardianship" (wilayat or velayat) over the people. The leading jurist were known as Marja'.
The Constitution stresses the importance of the clergy in government, with Article 4 stating that
all civil, criminal, financial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political, and all other statutes and regulations (must) be keeping with Islamic measures;…the Islamic legal scholars of the watch council (Shura yi Nigahban) will keep watch over this. [37]
and the importance of the Supreme Leader. Article 5 states
during the absence of the removed Twelfth Imam (may God hasten his reappearance) government and leadership of the community in the Islamic Republic of Iran belong to the rightful God fearing… legal scholar (Faqih) who is recognized and acknowledged as the Islamic leader by the majority of the population.
Article 107 in the constitution mentions Imam Khomeini by name and praises him as the most learned and talented leader for emulation (marja-i taqlid). The responsibilities of the Supreme Leader are vaguely stated in the constitution, thus any 'violation' by the Supreme Leader would be dismissed almost immediately. As the rest of the clergy governed affairs on a daily basis, the Supreme Leader is capable of mandating a new decision as per the concept of Vilayat-e Faqih. (Halm, 120-121)
Shortly before Imam Khomeini's death a change was made in the constitution allowing a lower ranking Shia cleric to become Supreme Leader. Khomeini had a falling out with his successor Hussein-Ali Montazeri who disapproved of human rights abuses by the Islamic Republic [38] such as the mass execution of political prisoners in late summer and early autumn 1988. Montazeri was demoted as a marja and Khomeini chose a new successor, a relatively low-ranking member of the clergy, Ali Khamene'i. However Article 109 stipulated that the leader be `a source of imitation` (Marja-e taqlid). Khomeini wrote a letter to the president of the Assembly for Revising the Constitution, which was in session at the time, making the necessary arrangements to designate Khamene'i as his successor, and Article 109 was revised accordingly. [39] "Khomeini is supposed to have written a letter to the Chairman of the assembly of Leadership Experts on 29.4.89 in which he emphasised that he had always been of the opinion that the marja'iyat was not a requirement for the office of leader. [39]
The constitution of Iran combines concepts of both democracy and theocracy, theocracy in the form of Khomeini's concept of vilayat-e faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist), as expressed in the Islamic Republic. According to Ayatollah Khomeini, the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist was not restricted to orphans or mental incompetents, but applied to everyone in absence of the twelfth Imam. Jurists were the only rightful political/governmental leaders because "God had commanded Islamic government" and "no one knew religion better than the ulama" (Islamic clergy). [40] They alone would preserve "Islamic order" and keep everyone from deviating from "the just path of Islam". [41] Prior to the revolution observant Shia Muslims selected their own leading faqih to emulate (known as a Marja'-i taqlid) according to their own decision making. The "congregation rather than the hierarchy decided how prominent the ayatollah was" thus allowing the public to possibly limit the influence of the Faqih. [40]
After the revolution Shia Muslims (or at least Iranian Shia) were commanded to show allegiance to the current vali-e faghih , Guardian Jurist or Supreme Leader. In this new system, the jurist oversaw all governmental affairs. The complete control exercised by the Faqih was not to be limited to the Iranian Revolution because the revolution and its Leader had international aspirations. As the constitution of the Islamic Republic states, it
intends to establish an ideal and model society on the basis of Islamic norms. ... the Constitution provides the necessary basis for ensuring the continuation of the Revolution at home and abroad. In particular, in the development of international relations, the Constitution will strive with other Islamic and popular movements to prepare the way for the formation of a single world community (in accordance with the Koranic verse `This your community is a single community, and I am your Lord, so worship Me` [21:92]), and to assure the continuation of the struggle for the liberation of all deprived and oppressed peoples in the world. [37]
According to author Seyyed Vali Nasr, Khomeini appealed to the masses, during the pre-1979 period, by referring to them as the oppressed and with charisma and political ability was tremendously successful. He became a very popular role model for Shiites and hoped for the Iranian Revolution to be the first step to a much larger Islamic revolution, transcending Shia Islam, in the same way that Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky wanted their revolution to be a world revolution, not just a Russian one. [42]
Duties and Powers given to the Supreme Leader by the Constitution, decrees and other laws are:
No. | Supreme Rule | Portrait | Name English · Persian · Signature | Lifespan | Place of birth | Notes |
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1 | 3 December 1979 – 3 June 1989 (9 years, 182 days) | ![]() | Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ruhollah Khomeini سیدروحالله خمینی ![]() | 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989 (aged 89) [49] | Khomeyn, Markazi Province | Leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, [50] and founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. [51] |
2 | 4 June 1989 – present (31 years, 269 days) | ![]() | Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei سیدعلی خامنهای ![]() | 19 April 1939 [52] | Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan Province | Previously served as President of Iran from 1981 until Khomeini's death. [53] |
Sayyid Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini, also known in the Western world as Ayatollah Khomeini, was an Iranian politician, revolutionary, and cleric. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which saw the overthrow of the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and the end of the 2,500-year-old Persian monarchy. Following the revolution, Khomeini became the country's Supreme Leader, a position created in the constitution of the Islamic Republic as the highest-ranking political and religious authority of the nation, which he held until his death. Most of his reign was taken up by the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988. He was succeeded by Ali Khamenei on 4 June 1989.
The Iranian Revolution ; locally known as the Islamic Revolution was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and the replacement of his government with an Islamic republic under the Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a leader of one of the factions in the revolt. The revolution was supported by various Islamist and leftist organizations and student movements.
Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei is a Twelver Shia Marja' and the second and current supreme leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously 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 the highest-ranking authorities in Shīʿite Islam. In 1979, he became a former designated successor to the revolution's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, with whom he had a falling-out in 1989 over government policies that Montazeri claimed infringed on people's freedom and denied them their rights. 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." He was known as the most knowledgeable senior Islamic scholar in Iran and a grand marja of Shia Islam.
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 and dismiss the Supreme Leader of Iran. All directly elected members must first be vetted by the Guardian Council and approved by the Supreme Leader before gaining membership.
Special Clerical Court, or Special Court for Clerics is a special Iranian court system for prosecuting Islamic clergymen and scholars accused of improper activity and conduct unbecoming of a cleric. The court functions independently of the regular Iranian judicial framework, and is accountable only to the Supreme Leader. The most prominent prosecution to have occurred was that of Abdollah Noori who became the most senior Islamic politician to be sentenced to prison since the Iranian Revolution when he was sentenced to five years in prison for political and religious dissent in 1999.
Ayatollah Taqi Mesbah, commonly known as Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi was an Iranian Shi'i cleric, philosopher and conservative political theorist who served as the spiritual leader of the Front of Islamic Revolution Stability.
Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad al-Husayni al-Shirazi, commonly known as Imam Shirazi, was an Iranian-Iraqi Shia marja' and political theorist.
Velayat-e faqih, also known as Islamic Government, is a book by the Iranian Muslim cleric, faqīh, and revolutionary Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, first published in 1970, and probably the most influential document written in modern times in support of theocratic rule.
The Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist, also called the Governance of the Jurist, is a post-Occultation theory in Shia Islam which holds that Islam gives a faqīh custodianship over people. Ulama supporting the theory disagree over how encompassing custodianship should be. One interpretation – Limited Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist – holds that guardianship should be limited to non-litigious matters including religious endowments (Waqf) judicial matters and the property for which no specific person is responsible. Another – Absolute Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist – maintains that Guardianship should include all issues for which ruler in the absence of Imams have responsibility, including governance of the country. The idea of guardianship as rule was advanced by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in a series of lectures in 1970 and now forms the basis of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The constitution of Iran calls for a faqih, or Vali-ye faqih, to serve as the Supreme Leader of the government. In the context of Iran, Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist is often referred to as "rule by the jurisprudent", or "rule of the Islamic jurist".
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.
Khomeinism is the founding ideology of the Islamic Republic of Iran and refers to the religious and political ideas of the leader of the Iranian Revolution, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ruhollah Mustafavi Khomeini. Under his leadership, Iran replaced its millennia-old monarchy with theocracy. Khomeini brought about a major paradigm shift in Shia religion. He declared Islamic jurists the true holders of not only religious authority but political authority, who must be obeyed as "an expression of obedience to God", and whose rule has "precedence over all secondary ordinances [in Islam] such as prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage ."
Assembly of Experts for Constitution, also translated the Assembly for the Final Review of the Constitution (AFRC), was a constituent assembly in Iran, elected in the summer of 1979 to write a new constitution for the Islamic Republic Government. It convened on August 18 to consider the draft constitution written earlier, completed its deliberations rewriting the constitution on November 15, and claimed the constitution it had written approved by referendum on December 2 and 3, 1979, by a majority of the voters who participated, but there is no reliable document for that.
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.
A 250 Years Old Person is a book by Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is a collection of his lectures on the political combats and struggles of Shia Imams. This book consists of 17 chapters.
The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the ruling state and current political system in Iran, in power since the Islamic revolution and fall of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979.
Mustafa Al-Moosavi Al-Safvi widely known as Aga Sahab was a Kashmiri Shia Muslim cleric, Islamic Jurist, Islamic scholar, philanthropist and former President of Anjuman-e-Sharie Shiyaan Jammu and Kashmir. Protagonist of Wilayat-e Faqih in Jammu & Kashmir. Former chairman of Madras E Babul Ilm. He was father of Aga Syed Hassan Al-Moosavi, Aga Syed Hussain Al-Moosavi, Aga Syed Abdullah Kashmiri, Aga Syed Mohsin, Aga Syed Mehdi.
Ruhollah Khomeini's life in exile was the period that Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini spent from 1964 to 1979 in Turkey, Iraq and France, after Mohamed Reza Shah Pahlavi had arrested him twice for dissent from his “White Revolution” announced in 1963. Ayatollah Khomeini was invited back to Iran by the government, and returned to Tehran from exile on 1979.
Seyed Kazem Noor Mofidi is a Supreme Leader's representative in Golestan Province, The leader of congregational Friday prayers of Gorgan, and is a member of the Assembly of Experts in Iran. He is considered the oldest Friday prayer leader in the country and the only representative of the reformist Supreme Leader in Iran.
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Head of state of Iran | ||
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Preceded by Shah | Supreme Leader 1979–present | Incumbent |