Faisal bin Musa (Tehran), a Malaysian writer and thinker, a professor at the National University of Malaysia, wrote in this note that: One of Iran's great successes in defeating Israel and the United States In the twelve-day war that ended on June 24, 2025, there is no doubt that the status of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will be raised to a higher level That is, it is a place close to a holy figure that seems difficult for anyone to compete with. After these twelve days, Ali Khamenei's name has been highly regarded in the West, especially among Generation Z. His old posts on Twitter, now called Platform X, have been republished and made visible to everyone. For example, his social media posts urging husbands to respect their wives, his interest in gardening, and his love of literary works have made Khamenei a complex figure. Contrary to the negative image that the western media has painted of him, Ayatollah Khamenei is now known as a revolutionary, brave, great leader of the Islamic world and oppressor of the Zionists. This is the same elderly man whom Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, wishes to remove. Tel Aviv is even strongly pursuing the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei. Donald Trump used to make fun of him at first. Erdoğan has long dreamed of having a position as big as him. Western media are also used to speculating about his successor. But who is Ali Khamenei? Who is this character whom Iranian people call «Supreme Leader? In the Imami Shia world, Ayatollah Khamenei is an authority of taqlid and at the same time, a jurist. What do these titles mean? Before discussing the mentioned concepts, it is better to first take a look at the biography of Ali Khamenei. He was born in 1939 and was the second child of a religious scholar in Mashhad, Javad Khamenei. At the age of 18, he went to Najaf in Iraq to learn religious sciences from Ayatollah Hossein Boroujerdi and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Under the education of these two prominent scholars, he grew rapidly. In the 1960s and 1970s, Ayatollah Khamenei participated in protests against the American-dominated Pahlavi regime, which led to his arrest. After the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, he was appointed as a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Council, a transitional institution during the revolution. After that, he was appointed as the deputy minister of defense and Friday imam of Tehran. In Iran, Friday imams have a lot of influence. After the assassination of President Mohammad Ali Rajaei, Ayatollah Khamenei was elected as the president in 1982 with a high vote. He himself was the target of an assassination attempt, which caused permanent damage to his right shoulder. During his political career, he actively commanded the military forces in the Iran-Iraq War (1988-1980) and was the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran's elite military force, which played an important role in the defeat of Iraq. After the death of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989, Ayatollah Khamenei was elected as the leader by the Assembly of Experts, an institution consisting of 88 religious scholars who are elected by the people. This assembly elects a leader or legal guardian who has the authority to determine the country's macro policies, declare war or peace, manage military forces, and even pardon convicts with the proposal of the head of the judiciary. The choice of the legal guardian is based on Ayatollah Khomeini's theory, which emphasizes the religious and political leadership of Iran and the Imami Shia community in the absence of Imam Mahdi, the Imam of the end of time, who will return according to Shia belief with God's will. It should be noted that the concept of religious authority is still debated and disputed among Shiites and is recognized as a progressive point of view in the political issues of Islam within the framework of the Shia religion. In addition to the role of leader or, but also jurist, Ayatollah Khamenei is also a taqlid authority or mujtahid in the Shia Imami faith, on par with other authorities such as Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who resides in Najaf, Iraq. As a reference, he is the religious leader of the Shia community. In other words, groups of Shiites outside of Iran also follow his jurisprudential opinions and fatwas. Coincidentally, Khamenei is both a political leader and a religious authority whose role extends beyond politics and religion (jurisprudence). This issue causes the Zionists' wish to assassinate him to have multiple and dangerous consequences. The assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei not only means the removal of the great leader of Iran, but also the killing of a mujtahid or a great Shiite scholar who has the power to issue a fatwa. Among his followers as a reference are the military forces of Lebanon's Hezbollah. The assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei also risks angering the Shiite community around the world, including in the West and the Middle East. Western media, obsessed with the issue of velayat-e-faqih, often compare this position to the Pope in Catholic society. Although this comparison is not completely accurate, it can be used as an analogy to explain his importance to the Shia community around the world. As it was said, the position of the leader is not hereditary and is determined by 88 great Shia scholars in the Assembly of Experts. The twelve-day war, which began on Eid al-Ghadir (the day of announcing the succession of Hazrat Ali as the caliph of the Prophet, according to the Imami Shia view) and continued until two days before Muharram, was a great and influential event in Shia history and world politics. 2025 is a historic year. So far, no country has defeated Israel and America at the same time. No Arab or Turkish leader has been able to compete with his greatness to date.