Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader Who Built a De Facto Military Dictatorship, Killed in U.S.-Israeli Strikes

The years did not mellow Ali Khamenei. Appointed Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran at age 50, he was the longest serving ruler in the Middle East at the time of his death at 86 on Feb. 28, 2026. The Islamic Republic had been founded by his mentor, Ruhollah Khomeini, the grand ayatollah who, after the 1979 revolution, replaced a monarchy with a theocracy. But it was Khamenei who ruled for three-quarters of the Republic’s existence, transforming it into a de facto military dictatorship.