The myth of Ali Khamenei: How a weak ayatollah made Iran a rogue state | Iran: the Latest

By The Telegraph

Community Score: 50% | 964 views | 4d

0 community ratings: null thumbs up, null thumbs down

Four months after he was assassinated by Israeli and US airstrikes on the first day of the Iran war, former Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei's weeklong funeral is over. But who was he behind all the mythology and pomp? How did he shape modern Iran into the impoverished, rogue nation it is today? And what does his life tell us about what his son Mojtaba Khamenei will be like as Iran’s new leader? Venetia Rainey speaks to Ali Ansari, professor of Iranian History and director of the Institute for Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews, about Khamenei’s legacy and backstory. Ali lays out how this fake ayatollah was corrupted by absolute power, how he allied with the IRGC to steal the state's wealth, and why his "princeling" son Mojtaba is even weaker. CONTRIBUTORS: Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey Ali Ansari, professor University of St Andrews @aa51_ansari Producer: Peter Shevlin Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh Studio Operator:

Tags: News, News Publisher, Newspaper, Telegraph, The Telegraph, UK News, World News, Iran news, Iran war, Iran conflict, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khamenei dead, Khamenei funeral, Trump Iran, US strikes Iran, Iran regime collapse, Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran succession crisis, IRGC power grab, Revolutionary Guard