Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, is dead at 86
Posted by Sia on March 1, 2026, 12:37 am ADMIN
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, is dead at 86
He played a behind-the-scenes role in Iran’s Islamic revolution, served as president in the 1980s and dominated the country for more than three decades.
February 28, 2026 at 5:07 p.m
By William Branigin
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Shiite Muslim cleric who played a behind-the-scenes role in Iran’s Islamic revolution, served two terms as president in the 1980s and dominated the country for more than three decades as supreme leader, was killed Saturday as Israel and the United States launched a joint attack on Iran. He was 86.
President Donald Trump announced the death in a Truth Social post, calling the ayatollah “one of the most evil people in History.” Hours later, his death was confirmed by announcers on Iranian state television, who said Ayatollah Khamenei was killed at his office.
Black smoke billowed over the ayatollah’s compound in Tehran on Saturday, near the outset of a joint military operation aimed at decimating Iran’s nuclear program and military and fueling a change in government.
In announcing the attack, the second by Israeli and U.S. forces since June 2025, Trump publicly urged Iranians to “take over your government” once the operation ended. He had previously called on Iranians to rise up and pledged U.S. backing after widespread anti-government demonstrations broke out in December. Sparked by a severe economic crisis, the protests burgeoned into mass demonstrations against Iran’s entrenched theocratic system. Previously taboo chants of “Death to Khamenei!” were heard in street marches across the country.
Security forces responded by launching a bloody crackdown, killing more than 6,800 protesters and detaining tens of thousands. Ayatollah Khamenei blamed the carnage on Trump, denouncing him as a “criminal” who “openly encouraged” the protesters by promising U.S. military support.
An early follower of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the austere cleric who inspired the revolution against Iran’s U.S.-backed monarchy, Ayatollah Khamenei staunchly opposed the United States and Israel, rejected Western “liberalism,” and adhered strictly to fundamentalist social policies.
As supreme leader of Iran since 1989 — when he succeeded Khomeini — Ayatollah Khamenei wielded ultimate political and religious authority in the Islamic republic, outranking the elected president and overseeing the country’s armed forces, internal security apparatus, judiciary, state media and foreign policy.
He had the final say on a landmark July 2015 nuclear accord with six world powers, including the United States, that restricted Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the easing of crippling economic sanctions. Although deeply distrustful of U.S. motives, and despite the misgivings of fellow hard-liners, he ultimately endorsed the deal, and it was formally implemented in January 2016.
But he appeared to regret it after Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement in 2018 during his first term and reimposed harsh sanctions. (In retaliation, Iran began disregarding some provisions of the nuclear deal, notably limits on quantity and quality of its production of enriched uranium, but did not renounce its pledge never to acquire nuclear weapons.) Ayatollah Khamenei was especially incensed by the Trump-ordered killing of a top Iranian commander, Qasem Soleimani, in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq in January 2020. He called the killing “a cowardly act,” denounced Trump as a “clown” and rejected the U.S. president’s calls for new talks, which he said were intended only to boost Trump’s reelection bid.
After Trump lost the 2020 election, Ayatollah Khamenei said its chaotic aftermath, marked by Trump’s baseless fraud claims, illustrated “the ugly face of liberal democracy” in the United States and made clear the country’s “definite political, civil [and] moral decline.”
When Iran was convulsed by widespread protests after the September 2022 death in custody of a young woman who was arrested by Islamic “morality police” for a dress-code violation, the supreme leader publicly blamed the United States and Israel and backed a deadly crackdown. How, he wondered, could some people “not see the foreign hand” behind the “rioting.”
With his bushy white beard and easy smile, Ayatollah Khamenei cut a more avuncular figure in public than his perpetually scowling but much more revered mentor, and he was known to be fond of Persian poetry and classic Western novels, especially Victor Hugo’s “Les Misérables.” But like the uncompromising Khomeini, he opposed moderates’ efforts to promote political and social reforms domestically and to secure rapprochement with the United States.
Some Iranians who knew Ayatollah Khamenei before he became supreme leader described him as a “closet moderate,” Karim Sadjadpour, a leading researcher on Iran with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote in a 2008 study. Others, however, took him at face value, Sadjadpour said: “a deeply religious, ideologically rigid, anti-American cleric whose politics are stuck in the anti-imperialist euphoria of the 1979 revolution.”
In the third decade of his rule, Iran became increasingly repressive, especially after security forces crushed demonstrations against the disputed 2009 reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Ayatollah Khamenei’s image as “an impartial and magnanimous guide” unraveled, exposing him as “a petty, partisan autocrat” dependent far more on his intelligence, security and military apparatus than on the Muslim clergy, Sadjadpour wrote.
Ayatollah Khamenei first came to prominence as a strong supporter of the militants who seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in November 1979 and held 52 Americans hostage for more than 14 months. He was seriously injured in a 1981 assassination attempt but went on to win the first of two terms as Iran’s president less than four months later, becoming the first cleric to hold that post.
Ayatollah Khamenei embraced nuclear energy while insisting that Iran would not seek nuclear weapons, which he declared to be forbidden by Islam. But he adamantly refused to give up Iran’s uranium-enrichment program, which he regarded as a hallmark of scientific prowess, independence and national pride.
The July 2015 nuclear accord allowed Iran to continue enriching uranium, but at a sharply reduced level. Arrests, torture under the shah
Ali Khamenei was born July 17, 1939, in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad, where his father was a Shiite cleric of humble means. He was the second of eight children, and he and his family “had a difficult life,” sometimes with little to eat but bread and raisins, he said in a biography published on his website.
He was sent to Islamic schools from an early age, and in his late teens, he briefly studied in Najaf, a Shiite shrine city and center of learning in neighboring Iraq. He then went to the Shiite holy city of Qom, about 90 miles south of Tehran, where he studied for six years under Khomeini. But he had to cut short his training at Qom’s renowned Islamic seminary in 1964 to return to Mashhad to care for his ailing father, a decision he later said accounted for his failure to attain the highest credentials of Islamic scholarship.
He did, however, learn Arabic, becoming proficient enough to translate several Arabic books into Farsi over the years. They included works of the Egyptian Islamist Sayyid Qutb, an intensely anti-American theorist of Islamic holy war whose writings have also influenced leaders of al-Qaeda.
In the spring of 1963, Khomeini ignited protests against Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the U.S.-backed shah, that were violently put down by security forces. Ayatollah Khamenei was arrested by the shah’s secret police, known as SAVAK, and “spent 10 days under severe torture,” according to his official biography. In late 1964, his mentor Khomeini was expelled from Iran and spent more than 14 years in exile, most of it in Najaf.
Between 1963 and 1976, Ayatollah Khamenei was arrested seven times and spent a total of three years in prison before being sentenced to a sort of internal exile in Iranshahr in the far southeastern corner of the country. Future ayatollah Khamenei, center, with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, right, in 1981 in Tehran. (AFP/Getty Images)
With the Islamic revolution underway, he returned to Mashhad and took part in street battles that preceded the shah’s departure into exile on Jan. 16, 1979, and Khomeini’s triumphant return to Tehran on Feb. 1. Khomeini named Ayatollah Khamenei to a newly formed Islamic Revolutionary Council, a shadowy group that was instrumental in running the country after the last vestiges of the shah’s regime collapsed on Feb. 11, 1979.
Then a mid-level Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Khamenei won a seat in the Iranian parliament in 1980 as a member of the Islamic Republican Party, which he helped found, and was appointed by Khomeini to the key post of Friday prayers leader in the capital.
He delivered weekly sermons before large crowds, usually with a rifle in his hands, and built a following as he used his oratorical skills to rail against the Islamic revolution’s perceived enemies, notably the United States, “the Great Satan.”
During this period, he also served briefly as a deputy defense minister and supervisor of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a military force fiercely loyal to the supreme leader.
Ayatollah Khamenei narrowly escaped death in June 1981 when a bomb concealed in a tape recorder exploded next to him as he addressed a crowd at a Tehran mosque.
Sia: There's a ton more if anyone is really interested, but this article is just too damn long. If you truly are interested i will gift the article so you can read it. It is almost endless, though.
But just as if Iran had blown Trump to smithereens without provocation, you can’t do that stuff. Of course, it’s not like the majority of Israel’s wars weren’t acts of unprovoked aggression, however (they liked the term ‘preemptive’ better).. RESIST!
Yeah, it was absolutely STUPID to do what he did! Wag the Dog anyone?
There is NO WAY that crudely armed Iranians are going to defeat well armed palace guards or their military.
Iran has lost its leader MANY times since it became a brutal theocracy in the late 70s. Whatever is left will just put a new one in place. They've certainly already considered who that might be given the newly dead one was 86.
So trump and NetanYahoo just caused an unnecessary war that will unlikely result in a new. Improved Iran. They don't have a new Shah or Presudent standing at the ready to lead the troops to a new beginning.
in the felon's lying face. Many FBI interviews of victims were not released according to the law, and victims are questioning where they are, since the trump DoJ continues to hold them.
One victim was interviewed by the FBI four times, which indicates her testimony was taken seriously. She claims trump raped her as a teen in the 1980s, when trump was pageanting with both Epstein and John Casablancas.
Felon repeatedly wrote Obama would start a war with Iran just to be re elected and to bolster his sagging popularity in the polls.
In classic projection trump did exactly that for HIS sagging popularity and to lay groundwork to Federalize and secure the 2026 election by any means possible to prevent impeachment and this time removal from office, and consequences of real criminal prosecution.
From here forward we should hold MAGAs accountable too. They are too stupid to know either Donald Trump or Jesus Christ, whom they can't seem to tell apart. You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony
While some may be beginning to open their eyes, IMO, too many have invested too much emotionally to admit they could have been wrong to back trump, even if some may say they don't like him as a person. They may still say they like his policies, and will likely 'double down' again and again as they have been taught to do, because they think they are "winning" that way... against the "radical left lunatics."
I have to wonder how any decent person can ignore, justify or just wave off those FBI interviews in the Epstein files regarding the rape of a 13 year old?
It is because they don't know about them.
Posted by Sia on March 2, 2026, 5:15 am, in reply to "Good luck...." ADMIN
Oftentimes, it is because they don't believe it because their mis-leaders and news outlets either lie or fail to report it.
It is every voter’s duty and responsibility to know what is in the news, and to look for the truth, even if they have to go beyond the “misleaders” to do so. Willful ignorance is not a defense. Decent people want answers and truth in this case. They can no longer pretend that they don’t know, or don’t want to know, about what is in the Epstein files. And it’s time for ‘decent’ friends and family to speak up and HELP them know about them.
I agree. The approach taken makes the difference. (my 2 cents)
Unfortunately they believe the blinders and ear plugs of right wing media are actually corrective lenses and hearing aids. Even the free OTA broadcast channels are moving to more right wing content in the program lineups.
Instead of direct confrontation an inquisitive approach can lessen the inherent tension. Ask them to consider reading an article or watching a program etc. together. Ask them to explain their positions and sometimes they will start to notice the dissonance. Aggressive persuasion creates an automatic barrier.
It's difficult for sure and no guarantee.
Extreme left wingers are just as difficult. A Jack of all trades is master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.
... And many thanks for the masters in skill for setting our standard of work to instill.
It is no projection, if we don't fight like hell, we're not going to have our country anymore. You cannot reconcile or justify the man trump from who he is or what he does. This is no overnight fix. You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony
Iran westernized greatly under Shah Reza Pahlavi. But the Shah was ruthless and brutal to Islamic extremists who wanted distance from the sordid west, and rule under strict Islamic law that among many things, stripped women of rights Islam gave men.
The Shah made powerful enemies, and when Iranians revolted- including the hostage crisis that plagued the Carter presidency and empowered Reagan. ABC followed the story every evening with a new news magazine story called Nightline, and then Dateline, with Ted Koppel.
When the Shah fled to Mexico for cancer treatement, Ruhollah Khomeini returned and led the Iranian "students" to establish sharia law and the strict Islamic government. Because the US backed the Shah, and our western lifestyle was declared sinful by the Ayatollah, we were automatic enemies of that Ayatollah, and his replacement, Khameini.
That Islamic government, which persisted far too long, had to go. But when the recent revolt in Iran led to violent response, our felon and Israel's acted.
Trump, for all the wrong reasons, may have done the right thing IF the Iranian people can organize and act quickly enough to establish a new government and end rule of sharia law.
This is something about which we must be very concerned. It could greatly boost and popularize felon trump in ways to permanently sever and quash all concern about the Epstein files. In that case, he will dodge accountability again and empower the MAGA base of American Christian Nationalists who see this Biblically rather than historically.
We could be stuck with him and them right through the Midterms, where the GOP could INCREASE their grip on the legislature. You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony
One can only hope…
Posted by Skye on March 1, 2026, 10:45 am, in reply to "Iran's great swing" Valued Poster
that something good can come from this. If so, it will be a long process fraught with many problems, and will likely be very costly in lives, infrastructure and livelihoods. And what will change, really? What changed in Afghanistan after all those years of our investment and involvement there? Nothing changed really.
Trump texted why he did this
Posted by Pikes Peak 14115 on March 1, 2026, 11:21 am, in reply to "One can only hope…" ADMIN
It appears trump wrote many times on social media, Twitter and TS, Obama would start a war with Iran to save his diminishing popularity and be re-elected. He warned Iran to watch Obama and not make any deals with him!
Trump did what he accused Obama of plotting.
Trump also implicated Iran in the election cheating of 2020, said they were planning more for 2026. This regime change was also to save our 2026 election. Felon may have opened the door to justify federalization of the 2026 election under claims of Iranian intent to interfere.
Why Iran and why now?
It appears the FBI is covering up many Epstein Files interviews of victims including one woman who was interviewed four times, with allegations she had sex with felon trump when she was a minor. This allegation surfaced and quickly grew legs a few days before the Iran attack.
Trump gave himself an out from the attack. Said the Iranian people must move soon and quickly if they are to oust the Islamic leadership and form a new government.
Same thing as with Venezuela, which isn't happening.
You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony
Whatever he accuses others of is almost always something he has done or wants to do, only ten times worse... "like you've never seen before!"
From what I've read, he didn't just 'have sex' with a minor, he allegedly raped and physically abused at least one 13 year old girl... this from those 50 or 60 missing pages that they tried to hide. I've seen other accounts, too, even if not substantiated. One was from a man who said he was physically and sexually abused by Trump about 45 years ago when he was around 10 years old... at one of the farms Epstein and Trump had their wild parties at, where they had about a dozen young girls and boys who were servicing the rich and powerful monsters in their circle. I wonder how many bodies are buried at those farms?
After all, we are dealing with a sick sociopathic, pathological liar, criminal, and bully who takes pleasure in seeing his victims and targets suffer and be humiliated, especially if they do not bow to or praise him.
Someone without any conscience or empathy who would think nothing of
on March 1, 2026, 12:37 am
