&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Before becoming supreme leader, Ali Khamenei was arrested multiple times. Here's why")
Before he became Iran's Supreme Leader in 1989, Ali Khamenei spent years in prison and in internal exile in the country. He was imprisoned multiple times for opposing the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. If we refer to Khamenei's official biography and multiple historical accounts, the former supreme leader was arrested multiple times between 1963 and 1976.
Khamenei was first detained in June 1963 following nationwide demonstrations triggered by the arrest of Ayatollah Khomeini. At the time, the 24-year-old cleric had been openly criticising the Shah's modernisation policies, known as the White Revolution, which many conservative clerics viewed as undermining Islamic values and increasing Western influence in Iran.
Why was he arrested repeatedly?
Over the following decade, Khamenei continued preaching against the monarchy in mosques across Mashhad, Tehran and other cities. Authorities accused him of encouraging political dissent and promoting the teachings of the exiled Khomeini. Historians say his sermons often criticised the Shah's close ties with the United States, condemned government repression and called for an Islamic government. His speeches and underground religious study circles increasingly drew the attention of SAVAK.
Also read: Iran says no foreign intervention needed in Strait of Hormuz, rules out talks with US in Doha
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Return during the Islamic Revolution
As protests against the Shah intensified in 1978, Khamenei returned to Mashhad and became actively involved in revolutionary activities. Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, he quickly rose through the ranks of the newly established Islamic Republic, serving on the Revolutionary Council, becoming Tehran's Friday prayer leader, president of Iran from 1981 to 1989, and eventually succeeding Ayatollah Khomeini as Supreme Leader after the latter died in 1989.
