From accidental to absolute leader – who is Ayatollah Khamenei?
Jun 20, 2025•20 min
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Episode description
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s often reclusive supreme leader, surfaced this week to hit back at Donald Trump’s demands for an unconditional surrender.
Khamanei first came to power as President of Iran 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.
Sky’s Tom Cheshire speaks to Alex Vatanka, founding director of the Iran program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC about how Khamanei is viewed inside Iran and how his policies contributed to the current crisis.
Producer: Soila Apparicio
Assistant producer: Araminta Parker
Editor: Wendy Parker
Khamanei first came to power as President of Iran 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.
Sky’s Tom Cheshire speaks to Alex Vatanka, founding director of the Iran program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC about how Khamanei 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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