How Ayatollah Khamenei Kept an Iron Grip on Power for Almost 40 Years

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei maintained nearly four decades of unchallenged authority in Iran through strategic constitutional maneuvers, institutional dominance, ruthless suppression of dissent, and control over key power centers like the military and judiciary.[1][2] His rise from president to Supreme Leader in 1989, following Ayatollah Khomeini’s death, marked the beginning of a tenure that centralized power in the unelected leadership office, sidelining elected governments and reformist movements.[1][3]

From Crisis President to Reluctant Leader

Khamenei’s path to power began amid turmoil in post-revolutionary Iran. Elected president in October 1981 with over 95% of the vote after the assassination of Mohammad Rajai by the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), he served seven crisis-filled years marked by political infighting, opposition terrorism, and the Iran-Iraq War.[1] Tensions with Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, whom he viewed as imposed by Khomeini, highlighted early power struggles, yet Khamenei navigated them to build alliances within the Islamic Republic Party.[1]

The pivotal shift came in 1988. As Khomeini revised the constitution via a 20-member council chaired by Khamenei as vice chairman, key changes removed the requirement for the Supreme Leader to be a marja-e taqlid (source of emulation) and eliminated the Leadership Council concept.[1] These amendments cleared the path for Khamenei, who lacked senior clerical status at the time. Khomeini’s death on June 14, 1989, triggered a rapid transition: the Assembly of Experts appointed him interim leader that day with over 80% approval, despite his initial reluctance, and confirmed him permanently less than 10 days after a constitutional referendum.[1]

This swift process, just 63 days from interim to permanent leadership, entrenched Khamenei’s position amid legislative vacuums and disputes between parliament and the Guardian Council.[1]

Centralizing Power: Undermining Institutions

Over 37 years—nearing 40 by 2026—Khamenei transformed the Supreme Leader’s role into the regime’s unchallenged apex, upsetting institutional balances.[1][2] Elected bodies like governments and parliaments, even those winning high votes, were stripped of real executive power, with decisions shifting to a narrow, unelected circle loyal to him.[1]

He commanded the armed forces as commander-in-chief and empowered the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a paramilitary force designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. in 2019.[3] This military dominance allowed suppression of uprisings, including violent crackdowns on protests that demanded reform or fundamental change.[2] The 2009 Green Movement exemplified his hardline response: dealing harshly with demonstrators, limiting electoral competition, and marginalizing middle-class reformists signaled that peaceful change was impossible.[1] This bred declining participation, social discontent, and protest radicalization.[1]

Foreign policy reinforced his grip. Emphasizing “resistance” and confrontation with the U.S. and West invited crippling sanctions, eroding the economy but rallying hardliners around anti-Western ideology.[1][2] No exit strategy emerged, binding the regime’s survival to Khamenei’s defiant posture.[1]

Mechanisms of Control: Repression and Vetting

Khamenei’s iron grip relied on interlocking institutions he controlled. The Guardian Council, which vets electoral candidates, ensured only loyalists competed, blocking reformists.[1][3] The Assembly of Experts, an 88-member body of Shiite clerics elected every eight years (with Guardian Council approval), theoretically selects the leader but operated opaquely under his influence.[3]

Repression escalated during threats. Like Khomeini’s final months, when thousands of political prisoners were executed, Khamenei’s regime used mass violence against protests, arrests of reformists, and proxy escalations via IRGC-aligned forces.[2] Internal insecurity prompted ruthless lashes against opponents, from cyber operations to naval provocations in the Persian Gulf.[2]

Even potential successors were managed. Figures like Hassan Khomeini surfaced briefly, such as his February 2026 substitution at a revolutionary event, but arrests of reformists underscored the improbability of moderate transitions.[2]

Legacy of Entrenchment Amid Crises

By 2026, at age 86, Khamenei’s rule had weathered wars—like the 2025 Israel-Iran conflict—and uprisings, cementing the Supreme Leader’s “unique dominance.”[2][3] His ouster would trigger a constitutional council of the president, judiciary head, and a Guardian Council member for interim governance, followed by the Assembly of Experts selecting a successor—a process unchanged since 1989.[3]

Yet his methods left Iran vulnerable: governance failures fueled aspirations for democracy, but entrenched institutions and violence ensured regime survival.[2] Khamenei’s nearly 40-year grip demonstrated how one man, through constitutional engineering, military loyalty, and unyielding repression, could dominate a theocracy.[1][2][3]

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Original source: BBC News – How Ayatollah Khamenei kept an iron grip on power for almost 40 years