Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has weathered a series of challenges but Israel's unprecedented strikes mark his most serious crisis yet, threatening both the clerical system he leads and his own physical survival.
Khamenei, Iran's top leader since the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, has ruled in the face of sanctions, near constant international tensions as well as protests that were ruthlessly repressed, most recently the 2022-2023 women-led uprising.
