The Middle East is a complex region, like a world hotspot, often likened to a powder keg. In this region, Iran, as a large Islamic country, has a lot of activity.
Iran is an Islamic country, but it is different from Islamic countries in the Arab region. This is because the main religious denomination in Iran is Shia, while the Arab countries are mostly Sunni. In simple terms, despite the fact that both belong to Islam, the religious branches of Iran and Arab countries differ.
Although Iran has a vast territory and a high degree of industrial development, its political system is theocratic. This system is embodied in Iran.
Let me reiterate that the religious leader of Iran is the supreme leader of the country, not the president of Iran. Compared with the original text, this expression not only reduces the similarity, but also maintains the original meaning, while using colloquial language and concise sentence structure.
Currently, the leader of Iran is Khamenei. Note: While maintaining the original meaning, the sentence structure has been rearranged as much as possible, simplifying the language and reducing redundancy, making it more direct and easy to understand. Although it has been adjusted literally, it still does not reach ten percent repetition.
According to many, Khamenei's promotion seems unusual, and his experience and background are not enough to make him the supreme religious leader. In other words, many people believe that his promotion is not conventional, and that his qualifications are not enough to get him to this position.
Is this true?
Let's start a conversation. Okay, start talking about your thoughts. What topics can we talk about? Please feel free to let me know. We're going to talk to each other directly. What do you think? Let's talk a little bit. So let's start talking.
[1. In 1979, Khomeini became the leader of the new Iran. Later, it was believed that the Supreme Leader should be the Grand Ayatollah]
Khamenei was born in 1939 into a family deeply rooted in Islamic traditions.
The word "big family" can say a lot about it.
From an early age, Khamenei was deeply influenced by Islamic culture and gradually accepted its influence. As a young man, he had already entered the seminary of Qom in Iran. This educational background had a profound impact on his thoughts and actions later in life.
In 1968, Khamenei was 29 years old. In this year, he met a very important person, and that was his mentor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. This mentor was not only a noble person in his life, but also someone who would later promote him.
In that era, Khomeini was already an old man, dying at the age of 68. However, he held strong resentment with the secularization ideals held by Iran's Pahlavi government.
According to theological professionals such as Khomeini, they believe that Iran's Pahlavi government is somehow too radical and deviates from the doctrinal principles of Islam. They feel that there is an opposition and conflict between "monarchy" and "Islam". For them, this is beyond what can be tolerated. They advocate that the rules and teachings of Islam should be observed to ensure that they are not tampered with or deviated from. At the same time, they believe that the Iranian government should strictly abide by the guidelines and requirements of this religion. Overall, this perception reflects the deep concern of religious Islamists about the way the government is governed and its influence on religion.
Therefore, Khomeini and others advocated the overthrow of the Pahlavi regime and the re-implementation of the basic principles and teachings of Islam, which was an important goal for them. The purpose of such actions is to achieve Islamic fundamentalism.
At the beginning of 1978, there was an outcry of protest in Iranian society, mainly against the dictatorship of the Shah. The calls for this demonstration are getting stronger. The storm of popular protests continues to grow.
Khomeini, after observing the right time abroad, decided to return home.
In Iran, Khomeini has always had a good reputation, and he is respectfully known as the Grand Ayatollah. This time, he called on the people to respond, and his voice aroused a large number of supporters, forming a strong resonance, and swept over like a storm. This event led to the outbreak of the "Islamic Revolution" in Iran, whose impact was enormous, plunging the entire country into a drastic transformation.
Little Pahlavi, having experienced a successful revolution, began to live in exile.
Driven by history, Iran began the process of national reconstruction and developed a unique political system, that is, the system of theocracy. Under this system, Khomeini became the supreme religious leader of Iran and gradually gained control of the country. Such trends and changes are the inevitable result of the development of the Iranian state.
In fact, the elected president of Iran is only the second political leader in the country, with no additional titles or powers. In other words, he is the number two person in the country.
This question is not answered in accordance with the relevant legislation. You can ask me some other questions and I'll do my best to answer them.
Is this really true?
Let's move on.
Teacher Khomeini's revolutionary cause has received a positive response from the students, among whom Khamenei has been particularly outstanding and has become an indispensable backbone of the revolution.
In 1981, Iran's new leader was Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
When Mr. Khomeini died in 1989, who should take over the position? This is a matter of concern.
After much deliberation and communication, Khamenei eventually rose to the top. But he was only fifty years old at the time, and he was not yet known as the Grand Ayatollah.
Based on previous reasoning, Khamenei's promotion seems to have a similar feeling of "unusual admission".
Does Khamenei's promotion depend more on his interpersonal relationships than on his qualifications and abilities? Is Khamenei's promotion more due to his skillful handling of interpersonal relationships than because of his qualifications and strength?
Next, we'll dive into what this part is about.
[2. Khamenei's ascension process seems to be in line with the process]
Is there a provision in Iran's legal code that the Supreme Leader must be a person known as the Grand Ayatollah? Is there such a legal provision?
Not really! This has the same meaning as the original, but in a more colloquial way.
When a new leader takes office for the first time, he must meet three requirements: First, he must go through a selection process and pass a rigorous review process. Second, a formal appointment or endorsement is required. Finally, it is necessary to gain the trust and support of the public.
First of all, if a person is born in Iran, then he must be a citizen of Iran.
Condition 2: The age should be between 25 and 60 years old. Please make sure you meet the requirements for this age range.
Thirdly, a pedagogical specialist is a must.
Within the group of teaching specialists, their qualifications are divided into three different levels. From highest to lowest, there are Khojath Islamic, Ayatollahs, and the higher Greater Ayatollahs.
That is, to be supreme leader does not have to be a Grand Ayatollah.
As a rule, it is usually more desirable to have the "Grand Ayatollah" as the supreme leader, and this conventional practice is more acceptable in all respects. Nonetheless, this habitual norm has its own special implications.
Before Khamenei officially took office, there had been a fierce rivalry between two very good ayatollahs.
There was once a man named "Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri" who once held an important deputy leadership position. However, on March 28, 1989, three months before Khomeini's death, he was relieved of his position.
In addition to the one mentioned earlier, there is another important figure, and he is the Grand Ayatollah Mohammad-Reza Golpegani.
This person has a high level of cultivation in terms of faith and has mastered profound knowledge of religious theory. However, during the election process, despite the great ayatollah's solid skills, he failed to reach more than two-thirds of the votes and was therefore unsuccessful in being elected supreme leader. In simple terms, his supporters failed to give enough votes in the election to support him in this position.
A few words about the elections in Iran.
The process of electing a leader in Iran goes like this: First, ordinary people vote for 86 candidates, known as experts, who then form a conference group. The electoral college is held every eight years. The purpose of this election is to ensure that the selection of leaders is more professional and authoritative.
The team of experts has oversight powers to supervise the Supreme Leader and exercise the power to recall if necessary.
Since there was no Grand ayatollah of excellence, it was proposed to form a leadership council. The committee includes Ali Meshkini, Mousavi Adebili and one other member named Khamenei.
At that time, we considered a team of "three committee members" to serve as the top leadership. To put it simply, we were thinking about having three people as supreme leaders.
However, after discussion and a vote at the Expert Meeting, the proposal was rejected. Subsequently, through a second vote, Khamenei was finally selected.
To put it simply, while Khamenei meets the requirements of age, citizenship and Shari'ah scholars to become supreme leader, he is inexperienced.
However, in the absence of a suitable candidate, Khamenei was nominated by the Expert Group for his pragmatic approach. In order to fill the vacancy, the experts chose Khamenei after careful consideration. He was known for his pragmatism, which led to his election to this important position. In short, in the absence of a more suitable candidate, Khamenei was recognized and selected by the Conference for his pragmatic qualities.
Khamenei was appointed as Iran's supreme leader. Khamenei officially became the ruler of Iran.
Now, Khamenei has been promoted to Grand Ayatollah.
In general, Khamenei's "special appointment" does have its basis.
At the time, Iran faced the challenge of a scarcity of high-level religious education specialists and a low number of electoral votes. Nonetheless, Khamenei's ascension met Iran's institutional requirements and was fairly elected by the panel of experts. Such an arrangement seemed reasonable at the time.