Ali Hosseini Khamenei (19 April 1939 – 28 February 2026) was an Iranian cleric and politician who served as the supreme leader of Iran since 1989, the second person to hold the position. He had previously served as the president of Iran from 1981 to 1989. His tenure as supreme leader, spanning 36 years, made him the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East and the longest-serving Iranian leader since Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.