Ali Hosseini Khamenei is an Iranian cleric and politician who has served as the second supreme leader of Iran since 1989. He previously served as the third president of Iran from 1981 to 1989. His tenure as supreme leader, spanning 36 years, makes him the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East and the longest-serving Iranian leader since Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Born into the Khamenei family, he studied at a hawza in his hometown Mashhad, later settling in Qom in 1958, where he attended the classes of Ruhollah Khomeini. Khamenei became involved in opposition to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the shah of Iran, and was arrested six times before being exiled for three years by the Shah's regime.