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Government Unitary state, Islamic republic
- Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
- First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi
- Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani
- Chief Justice Sadeq Larijani
Legislature Islamic Consultative Assembly
Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei (Persian: سید علی حسینی خامنه ای, Azerbaijani: سید علی حسینی خامنهای – Seyyid Əli Xameneyi, pronounced [ʔæˈliː hoseiˈniː xɒːmeneˈʔiː] ( listen); born 17 July 1939) is the Supreme Leader of Iran, and a Twelver Shi'a marja. He had also served as the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran from 1981 to 1989. In 2010, Forbes selected him 26th in the list of 'World's Most Powerful People'.
Holding absolute power in his country, he has been described as one of only three people having "important influence" during the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Khamenei was the victim of an attempted assassination in June 1981 that paralyzed his right arm, although so far the biggest challenge to his leadership has been the mass protests following the June 2009 presidential elections during which he strongly supported president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They have had a falling out since.
Khamenei holds the title of Sayyed, which means that he claims direct patrilineal descent from Ali ibn Abi Talib. Some of Khamenei's ancestors are from Tafresh in today's Markazi province, and had migrated from their original home in Tafresh to Tabriz. Born in Mashhad, he is second eldest of eight children, and two of his brothers are also clerics. His younger brother, Hadi Khamenei, is a renowned newspaper editor and cleric. Khamenei is Iranian Azeri on his father's side and his mother is a Yazd-native Persian.
Originally posted by cavalryscout
reply to post by luciddream
Wow! So you're saying the elections in Iran are equal and fair but for all other countries in the middle east the elections are fixed?
Again..... Wow!