Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was the Supreme Leader of Iran from 1989 until his death in February 2026.

Khamenei’s 36-year rule of Iran was characterized by extreme political repression, violent crackdowns on protests, systemic human rights abuses, and the funding of terrorist organizations. His regime was responsible for torturing, raping, and executing dissidents— particularly in 2009, 2022, and 2026. Mahsa “Jina” Amini, a 22 year old girl, was killed in 2022 for not wearing a hijab on a train. Just one of the victims of Khamenei’s radical Islamist ideologies, her death led to the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in 2022. These protests were crushed with a “disproportionate use of lethal force” by Khomeini (per the UN), with ~500 deaths and thousands of arrests. His regime had the highest per capita execution rate in 2024. In early 2026, his regime massacred 36,000+ Iranians. The defining chants of his ideology: “Death to America. Death to Israel.”

I am hopeful for the people of Iran for a far better tomorrow— a day of Woman, Life, Freedom.