Ali Khamenei: ruthless defender of Iran’s revolution with few good options left

The Iranian supreme leader is backed into a corner, a situation he has spent his life doing his best to avoid

When he appeared in public for the first time in five years in October, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, had an uncompromising message. Israel “won’t last long”, he told tens of thousands of supporters at a mosque in Tehran in a Friday sermon.

“We must stand up against the enemy while strengthening our unwavering faith,” the 84-year-old told the gathering.