Khamenei’s characteristics and life explain his decisions
Knowing the past of people helps understand their personality, therefore, we will focus here on the important features of Khamenei’s life. Ali Khamenei was born on July 16, 1939, in the city of Mashhad, Iran. He had three brothers and one sister, and his family was not wealthy. All his brothers acquired positions at the top of the government’s hierarchy. Khamenei did not go to university but integrated a theological primary school and then an adult seminary where he became a cleric. He did not particularly excel among other students and never became a wise scholar. Growing up, he found his political beliefs in the fundamentalist ideas and rapidly opposed the monarchy of the Shah whose regime was backed by the U.S. He participated to the Islamic Revolution and today he says about it that “The Islamic Revolution changed the management of the country from a dictatorial monarchy run by one individual to a popular republic run by the people” (“About JCPOA, the Other Side’s Actions Matter, Not Their Promises”). This argument that the current regime of Iran has been chose by the people is often used by the Supreme Leader to emphasize the superiority of this regime over the former one. After the Revolution, he became one of the founders of the IRP party. In 1981, he was elected president and during his term (1981-1989) he had to face the Iran-Irak war (1980-1988). By going on the battlefield, he presented himself as a president personally involved in this destructing war.
In 1989, Khamenei was elected Supreme Leader after the first potential candidate in position for the title was eventually rejected from the list of possibility. Khamenei’s nomination was not obvious and he has been immensely helped by Rafsanjani who was close to ayatollah Khomeini. It was visible that Khamenei lacked the legitimacy of his predecessor. He was neither as pious nor as popular and charismatic as Khomeini. Nonetheless, he was one of his fervent followers and proved to be politically persuaded of the legitimacy of the new Iranian regime. He was also recognized as having had a decisive role in the Iran-Irak war. In order to gain in legitimacy, Khamenei worked on constructing a strong base of loyal people around him. To do so, he further empowered those already in power and reinforced the IRGC. In addition to that, he repetitively claimed his faith in the ideals of the Islamic Revolution and in the projects of Khomeini whose path, he said, he was going to follow. In order to build himself an indestructible position, Khamenei also made sure to narrow the possibilities for every Iranian inside or outside the political system to criticize him.
In this video: “Political, economic, and cultural independence is [part of the] ideal[s] of a nation.” (Khamenei)
Although this paper aims to explain the nuclear policy hold by the Supreme Leader, it is necessary to first know what his personal characteristics and general opinions are, and how he expresses them. In term of policies and broad positions, Khamenei is known to be neoconservative and fundamentalist. He has extreme positions on a lot of subjects but he has often surprised the political sphere by revealing his position only after a long period of time or by taking unexpected decisions. For example, although he has been close friend with Rafsanjani, he managed to remove the power he had within the government. Concerning international relations, Khamenei is firmly against the U.S. and Israel. He seems to be a true believer of Islam and of the Iranian regime. He continued building its legitimacy by promising the empowerment of the country and therefore the living possibilities for its inhabitants. In a nutshell, when Khamenei gives an order, executors do so.
