In the early 1980s, Iran was navigating an era of profound uncertainty. The monarchy had fallen, replaced by clerical rule under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the nation’s first Supreme Leader. The devastating war with Iraq had begun, and internal opposition to the new regime persisted. During this critical juncture, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who survived a 1981 assassination attempt and would serve as Supreme Leader from Khomeini’s death in 1989 until his own death following an Israel-US air strike in February 2026, granted an interview to writer, freelance journalist, and researcher Nasera Sharma.
Working as a journalist, Nasera interviewed both Iranian leaders: “Khomeini in Qom and Khamenei in Tehran.” Securing the conversation with Khomeini required assistance from Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, then chairman of the Iranian parliament. “Before the interview, Khomeini asked one of his aides if I knew Persian and whether I was a Shia. When I replied in the affirmative, it created a connection,” she recalls.
