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Podcast

From accidental to absolute leader - who is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?

Friday 20 June 2025 17:54, UK

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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's often reclusive Supreme Leader, surfaced this week to hit back at Donald Trump's demands for an unconditional surrender.

Khamenei first came to power as Iranian president in 1981, and he was a surprise choice for Supreme Leader eight years later. But since then, with the help of the Revolutionary Guard, he has had almost complete control of Iran and its anti-Israel and anti-American foreign policy agenda.

Tom Cheshire speaks to Alex Vatanka, founding director of the Iran programme at the Middle East Institute in Washington DC, about how Khamenei is viewed inside Iran and how his policies contributed to the current crisis

Producer: Soila Apparicio
Assistant producer: Araminta Parker
Editor: Wendy Parker

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