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The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader of Iran (UCLA Center for Middle East Development
Ayatollah ʿAli Hosseini Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is one of the most controversial and influential Muslim leaders in the world today. As Iran’s main decision-maker, his theocratic ideology and decisions carry global consequences. The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei is the first book to identify and analyze the development and evolution of the theocratic ideology of the Supreme Leader from 1962 to 2014, using his own writings, speeches, and biographies, as well as literature published in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This work provides new insights into Khamenei’s political thought and behavior and their impact on Iran’s domestic, regional, and international policies. Correlating the development of Khamenei’s personality, character, and political behavior with Iran’s internal and external challenges, this study explores key issues of the Middle East region, in particular Iran’s political posture toward Israel, the United States, and the Muslim world, and the diplomatic crises unfolding over Iran’s nuclear development program. This work provides a comprehensive chronological and thematic survey of Khamenei’s life. This book will be of interest to students, scholars, researchers, diplomats, and policymakers focusing on Middle Eastern politics, Iranian affairs, Islamic studies, and international relations; and could serve as an essential resource for those striving to understand Iran’s policies toward Israel, the United States, and the Muslim world, as shaped by its supreme autocrat.
382 pages, Hardcover
First published November 12, 2014
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January 24, 2026
The book offers, for those who don't know Iran's political history, a good overview of the country in the decades before the islamic revolution, the first signs of the revolution, the country during the revolution (the overthrow of the monarchy and Khomeini's return from exile), incluind what a young Khamenei was doing during this moment
Later on, the author gives a great explanation of how the Iranian government works, its many councils, some made by clerics and others by civilians., and, most interesting, it's explained where the power of the supreme leader comes from (vali-i faqih). It's shown how Iran has different political parties, how, since the revolution, some presidents were hardline conservatives and others (Khatami, for instance) more in the progressive side.
Furthermore, the author exposes how, even among the clerics themselves, the concept and the extension of vali-i faqih was interpreted in different ways since the revolution.
The book talks too about iranian foreign policy, its nuclear program, relations with America and Israel etc. There's a great emphasis in speeches made by Ayatollah Khamenei himself. Thus, a considerable part of the book is just reading public speeches made by the supreme leader. At least for me, in a certain point, reading the book became boring, since there's a lot of common themes between all speeches. It seemed sometimes that I was reading the same speech again and again. Perhaps the book could be 30% shorter.
In a nuthsell, I'd say that you should first read some wikipedia articles (Iran, iranian politics, iranian revolution, ayatollah khamenei), and then read this book if you're really interested in this subject, and be prepared to read a lot, really a lot, of speeches from the supreme leader
Later on, the author gives a great explanation of how the Iranian government works, its many councils, some made by clerics and others by civilians., and, most interesting, it's explained where the power of the supreme leader comes from (vali-i faqih). It's shown how Iran has different political parties, how, since the revolution, some presidents were hardline conservatives and others (Khatami, for instance) more in the progressive side.
Furthermore, the author exposes how, even among the clerics themselves, the concept and the extension of vali-i faqih was interpreted in different ways since the revolution.
The book talks too about iranian foreign policy, its nuclear program, relations with America and Israel etc. There's a great emphasis in speeches made by Ayatollah Khamenei himself. Thus, a considerable part of the book is just reading public speeches made by the supreme leader. At least for me, in a certain point, reading the book became boring, since there's a lot of common themes between all speeches. It seemed sometimes that I was reading the same speech again and again. Perhaps the book could be 30% shorter.
In a nuthsell, I'd say that you should first read some wikipedia articles (Iran, iranian politics, iranian revolution, ayatollah khamenei), and then read this book if you're really interested in this subject, and be prepared to read a lot, really a lot, of speeches from the supreme leader
Displaying 1 of 1 review