Supreme Leader of Iran

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, also referred to as the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, but officially called the supreme leadership authority, is the de facto head of state and the highest political and religious authority of Iran (above the president). The armed forces, judiciary, state radio and television, and other key government organizations such as the Guardian Council and Expediency Discernment Council are subject to the supreme leader. According to the constitution, the supreme leader delineates the general policies of the Islamic Republic (article 110), supervising the legislature, the judiciary, and the executive branches (article 57). The current lifetime officeholder, Ali Khamenei, has issued decrees and made the final decisions on the economy, the environment, foreign policy, education, national planning, and other aspects of governance in Iran. Khamenei also makes the final decisions on the amount of transparency in elections, and has dismissed and reinstated presidential cabinet appointees.

The office was established by the Constitution of Iran in 1979, pursuant to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's concept of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist, and is a lifetime appointment. Originally the constitution required the supreme leader to be 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" to allow the supreme leader to be a lower-ranking cleric. The style "Supreme Leader" (Persian: رهبر معظم, romanized: rahbar-e mo'azzam) is commonly used as a sign of respect although the Constitution designates them simply as "Leader" (رهبر, rahbar). According to the constitution (Article 111), the Assembly of Experts is tasked with electing (following Ayatollah Khomeini), supervising, and dismissing the supreme leader. In practice, the Assembly has never been known to challenge or otherwise publicly oversee any of the supreme leader's decisions (all of its meetings and notes are strictly confidential). Members of the Assembly are elected by people in elections, and are approved by bodies (the Guardian Council) whose members are appointed by the supreme leader or appointed by an individual (Chief Justice of Iran) appointed by the supreme leader. The United Nations list of Heads of State, Heads of Government, and Ministers for Foreign Affairs of all Member States lists the president as the official de jure head of state and government, rather than the supreme leader himself.

In its history, the Islamic Republic of Iran has had only two supreme leaders: Khomeini, who held the position from 1979 until his death in 1989 and Ali Khamenei, who has held the position for more than 35 years since Khomeini's death.

Mandate and status

The supreme leader of Iran is elected by the Assembly of Experts (Persian: مجلس خبرگان رهبری, romanized: majles-e xobregân-e rahbari), which is also the only government body in charge of choosing and dismissing supreme leaders of Iran.

The supreme leader is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the provisional 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:

Additional information:

• Inaugurates the President and may also together with a two-thirds majority of the Parliament impeach him.
• The 6 Faqih members of the 12 members of the Guardian Council, the other 6 are chosen by the Parliament out of jurist candidates nominated by the Chief Justice of Iran who is in turn appointed by the supreme leader.
• Can delegate representatives to all branches of government, which as of 2018 were around 2000 representatives.
• the Imams of the Friday Prayer of each Province Capital (with the advice of all the Marja') for life

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 reports to the supreme leader.

According to the constitution, all supreme leaders (following Ayatollah Khomeini) are to be elected by the Assembly of Experts who are elected by Iranian voters to eight-year terms. However, all candidates for membership at the Assembly of Experts (along with candidates for president and for the Majlis (parliament)) must have their candidacy approved by the Guardian Council (in 2016, 166 candidates were approved by the Guardians out of 801 who applied to run for the office), 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 (Chief Justice of Iran), who is himself appointed by the supreme leader of Iran. The Assembly has never questioned the supreme leader. There have been cases where the Guardian Council repealed its ban on particular people after being directed to do so by Khamenei.

The supreme leader is legally considered "inviolable", with Iranians being routinely punished for questioning or insulting him.

Incorporation in the constitution

1979

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?". Although some groups objected to the wording and choice and boycotted the referendum, 98% of those voting voted "yes". 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 published book Islamic Government (Hukumat-e Islami). 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.

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 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.

The supreme leader does not receive a salary.

1989

Shortly before Khomeini's death a change was made in the constitution of Iran allowing a lower ranking Shia cleric to become the supreme leader. Khomeini had a falling out with his would-be successor Hussein-Ali Montazeri who disapproved of human rights abuses by the Islamic Republic 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. "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."