How Ali Khamenei used numbers, narratives and conspiracy to shape reality in Iran
Looking back at nearly a decade of Khamenei’s false and misleading claims.
On the morning of Feb. 28, 2026, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in an airstrike on his Tehran compound. He was one of the central figures of the system from the earliest days of the 1979 revolution. In the 1980s, he served as Iran’s president, and after the death of Ayatollah Khomeini, he became the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic.
For nearly four decades, Khamenei was the most influential figure in Iranian politics. He was not only the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and responsible for appointing and dismissing the head of the judiciary, but he also openly and covertly intervened in matters related to cabinet ministers and members of parliament. At the same time, Khamenei played a key role in shaping social and cultural policies, as well as determining the Islamic Republic’s major domestic, regional and international strategies.
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