Ali Khamenei

Ali Khamenei (1939-2026) was Supreme Leader of Iran from 1989 until his death on 28 February 2026. During that office he directed Iran's broad security and foreign-policy line and promoted the Resistance economy (Iran) as a programme for enduring external pressure.

Economic role

Khamenei's February 2014 resistance-economy policies called for reduced vulnerability to oil revenue, domestic production, knowledge-based industry and diversified trade. These were declared state policies. Implementation belonged to Iranian ministries, firms, foundations and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, not to Khamenei personally in every transaction.

The United States designated Khamenei and his office under Executive Order 13876 on 24 June 2019. That was an administrative blocking action, not a criminal conviction. His government also pursued negotiation and sanctions adaptation during the United States maximum-pressure sanctions campaign against Iran (2018-2021). Survival of the state does not establish that the doctrine avoided substantial economic cost or achieved every stated objective.

Death and succession

Official Iranian media and international reporting recorded Khamenei's death on 28 February 2026. Iran's Assembly of Experts selected Mojtaba Khamenei as the next Supreme Leader on 8 March 2026. Acts after that succession belong to the successor and other Iranian institutions, not to Ali Khamenei. Strike details and legal characterisations remain attributed to their sources.

Attribution controls

This entry assigns to Khamenei only public doctrine, formal direction and conduct supported by evidence about his office. It does not assign every sanctions-evasion transaction, military decision or commercial arrangement to him personally. Measures against his office are recorded by issuing authority and date. Later Iranian policy requires a separate account of the successor, cabinet, security bodies and implementing institutions.

See also

Iran · Resistance economy (Iran) · Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps · United States maximum-pressure sanctions campaign against Iran (2018-2021)

Sources

• US Department of the Treasury, "Issuance of Executive Order of June 24, 2019, Imposing Sanctions With Respect to Iran" (24 June 2019).
• Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran, General Policies of the Resistance Economy (communicated 19 February 2014).
• Press TV, "Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei elected new Leader of the Islamic Revolution" (8 March 2026).
• Associated Press, "Iran names Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father as supreme leader and Saudi sharpens warning" (8 March 2026) (accessed 30 July 2026).