Supreme Leader of Iran

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, also referred to as the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, but officially called the supreme leadership authority, is the de facto head of state and the highest political and religious authority of Iran. The Armed Forces of the [Islamic Republic of Iran|armed forces], judiciary, Islamic [Republic of Iran Broadcasting|state radio and television], and other key government organizations such as the Guardian Council and Expediency Discernment Council are subject to the supreme leader. According to the constitution, the supreme leader delineates the general policies of the Islamic Republic, supervising the legislature, the judiciary, and the executive branches. The current lifetime officeholder, Ali Khamenei, has issued decrees and made the final decisions on the economy, the environment, foreign policy, education, national planning, and other aspects of governance in Iran. Khamenei also makes the final decisions on the amount of transparency in elections, and has dismissed and reinstated presidential cabinet appointees.
The office was established by the Constitution of Iran in 1979, pursuant to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's concept of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist, and is a lifetime appointment. Originally the constitution required the supreme leader to be Marja'-e taqlid, the highest-ranking cleric in the religious laws of Usuli Twelver Shia Islam. In 1989, however, the constitution was amended and simply asked for Islamic "scholarship" to allow the supreme leader to be a lower-ranking cleric. The style "Supreme Leader" is commonly used as a sign of respect although the Constitution designates them simply as "Leader". According to the constitution, the Assembly of Experts is tasked with electing, supervising, and dismissing the supreme leader. In practice, the Assembly has never been known to challenge or otherwise publicly oversee any of the supreme leader's decisions. Members of the Assembly are elected by people in elections, and are approved by bodies whose members are appointed by the supreme leader or appointed by an individual appointed by the supreme leader. The United Nations list of Heads of State, Heads of Government, and Ministers for Foreign Affairs of all Member States lists the president as the official de jure head of state and government, rather than the supreme leader himself.
In its history, the Islamic Republic of Iran has had only two supreme leaders: Khomeini, who held the position from 1979 until his death in 1989 and Ali Khamenei, who has held the position for more than 35 years since Khomeini's death.

Mandate and status

The supreme leader of Iran is elected by the Assembly of Experts, which is also the only government body in charge of choosing and dismissing supreme leaders of Iran.
The supreme leader is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the head of the three branches of the state.
He oversees, appoints and can dismiss the following offices:

Organization	Branches	Activity	Ref
Supreme National Security Council		Two personal representative. Body for national security and foreign policy discussions, including nuclear policy.
Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces	the Chief of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran">Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran">Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran the Commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army the Commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy the Commander of the Islamic Republic of [Iran Air Force] the Commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Defense Force the Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps the Commander of the Ground Forces of the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] the Commander of the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps the Commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps the Commander of the IRGC Quds Force the Commander of the Basij Organization the Commander of the Law Enforcement Command	Iran's conventional military, also known as Artesh, is primarily focused on defending the country from foreign threats. The IRGC was established to protect the revolution and is geared towards asymmetric warfare and less traditional duties of the armed forces. The Law Enforcement Command is the uniformed police force in Iran.
Chief Justice of Iran		Head of the Judiciary Branch for a term of 8 years
Director of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting		Irans national news broadcaster
Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution		Body that works "to ensure that the education and culture of Iran remains Islamic.
Expediency Discernment Council		Set up to resolve conflicts between the Guardian Council and the Parliament. Also advises the Supreme Leader
Head of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs		Nominated by the President and approved by the Leader.

Additional information:

Inaugurates the President and may also together with a two-thirds majority of the Parliament impeach him.
The 6 Faqih members of the 12 members of the Guardian Council, the other 6 are chosen by the Parliament out of jurist candidates nominated by the Chief Justice of Iran who is in turn appointed by the supreme leader.
Can delegate representatives to all branches of government, which as of 2018 were around 2000 representatives.
the Imams of the Friday Prayer of each Province Capital for life

Iran's regional policy is directly controlled by the office of the supreme leader with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' task limited to protocol and ceremonial occasions. All of Iran's ambassadors to Arab countries, for example, are chosen by the Quds Force, which directly reports to the supreme leader.
According to the constitution, all supreme leaders are to be elected by the Assembly of Experts who are elected by Iranian voters to eight-year terms.
However, all candidates for membership at the Assembly of Experts must have their candidacy approved by the Guardian Council, whose members in turn, are half appointed unilaterally by the supreme leader and half subject to confirmation by the Majlis after being appointed by the head of the Iranian judiciary, who is himself appointed by the supreme leader of Iran. The Assembly has never questioned the supreme leader. There have been cases where the Guardian Council repealed its ban on particular people after being directed to do so by Khamenei.
The supreme leader is legally considered "inviolable", with Iranians being routinely punished for questioning or insulting him.

Incorporation in the constitution

1979

In March 1979, shortly after Ruhollah Khomeini's return from exile and the overthrow of Iran's monarchy, a national referendum was held throughout Iran with the question "Islamic Republic, yes or no?". Although some groups objected to the wording and choice and boycotted the referendum, 98% of those voting voted "yes". Following this landslide victory, the constitution of Iran of 1906 was declared invalid and a new constitution for an Islamic state was created and ratified by referendum during the first week of December in 1979. According to Francis Fukuyama, the 1979 constitution is a "hybrid" of "theocratic and democratic elements" with much of it based on the ideas Khomeini presented in his published book Islamic Government. In the work, Khomeini argued that government must be run in accordance with traditional Islamic sharia, and for this to happen a leading Islamic jurist must provide political "guardianship" over the people. The leading jurist were known as Marja'.
The Constitution stresses the importance of the clergy in government, with Article 4 stating that

all civil, criminal, financial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political, and all other statutes and regulations be keeping with Islamic measures;…the Islamic legal scholars of the watch council will keep watch over this.

and the importance of the supreme leader. Article 5 states

during the absence of the removed Twelfth Imam government and leadership of the community in the Islamic Republic of Iran belong to the rightful God fearing legal scholar who is recognized and acknowledged as the Islamic leader by the majority of the population.

Article 107 in the constitution mentions Khomeini by name and praises him as the most learned and talented leader for emulation. The responsibilities of the supreme leader are vaguely stated in the constitution, thus any 'violation' by the supreme leader would be dismissed almost immediately. As the rest of the clergy governed affairs on a daily basis, the supreme leader is capable of mandating a new decision as per the concept of Vilayat-e Faqih.
The supreme leader does not receive a salary.

1989

Shortly before Khomeini's death a change was made in the constitution of Iran allowing a lower ranking Shia cleric to become the supreme leader. Khomeini had a falling out with his would-be successor Hussein-Ali Montazeri who disapproved of human rights abuses by the Islamic Republic such as the mass execution of political prisoners in late summer and early autumn 1988. Montazeri was demoted as a marja and Khomeini chose a new successor, a relatively low-ranking member of the clergy, Ali Khamene'i. However Article 109 stipulated that the leader be "a source of imitation". Khomeini wrote a letter to the president of the Assembly for Revising the Constitution, which was in session at the time, making the necessary arrangements to designate Khamene'i as his successor, and Article 109 was revised accordingly. "Khomeini is supposed to have written a letter to the Chairman of the assembly of Leadership Experts on 29.4.89 in which he emphasised that he had always been of the opinion that the marja'iyat was not a requirement for the office of leader."

Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist (Velayat-e faqih)

The constitution of Iran combines concepts of both democracy and theocracy, theocracy in the form of Khomeini's concept of vilayat-e faqih, as expressed in the Islamic Republic. According to Ayatollah Khomeini, the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist was not restricted to orphans or mental incompetents, but applied to everyone in absence of the twelfth Imam. Jurists were the only rightful political/governmental leaders because "God had commanded Islamic government" and "no one knew religion better than the ulama". They alone would preserve "Islamic order" and keep everyone from deviating from "the just path of Islam". Prior to the revolution, observant Shia Muslims selected their own leading faqih to emulate according to their own decision making. The "congregation rather than the hierarchy decided how prominent the ayatollah was" thus allowing the public to possibly limit the influence of the Faqih.
After the revolution Shia Muslims were commanded to show allegiance to the current vali-e faghih, Guardian Jurist or Supreme Leader. In this new system, the jurist oversaw all governmental affairs. The complete control exercised by the Faqih was not to be limited to the Iranian Revolution because the revolution and its Leader had international aspirations. As the constitution of the Islamic Republic states, it

intends to establish an ideal and model society on the basis of Islamic norms.... the Constitution provides the necessary basis for ensuring the continuation of the Revolution at home and abroad. In particular, in the development of international relations, the Constitution will strive with other Islamic and popular movements to prepare the way for the formation of a single world community, and to assure the continuation of the struggle for the liberation of all deprived and oppressed peoples in the world.

According to author Seyyed Vali Nasr, Khomeini appealed to the masses, during the pre-1979 period, by referring to them as the oppressed and with charisma and political ability was tremendously successful. He became a very popular role model for Shiites and hoped for the Iranian Revolution to be the first step to a much larger Islamic revolution, transcending Shia Islam, in the same way that Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky had wanted their revolution to be a world revolution, not just a Russian one.

Functions, powers, and duties of the supreme leader

Duties and Powers given to the supreme leader by the Constitution, decrees and other laws are:

Delineation of the general policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran in consultation with the Nation's Expediency Discernment Council.
Supervision over the proper execution of the general policies of the systems.
Resolving conflicts between the three branches of the government
Issuing decrees for national referendums.
Supreme command over the Armed Forces.
Declaration of war and peace, and the mobilization of the armed forces.
Ability to veto laws passed by the parliament.
Appointment, dismissal, and acceptance of resignation of:
# the members of Expediency Discernment Council.
# the members of Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.
#two personal representatives to the Supreme National Security Council.
# Can delegate representatives to all branches of government. Ali Khamenei has currently around 2000 representatives.
# the six fuqaha' of the Guardian Council.
# the supreme judicial authority of the country.
# ministers of defense, intelligence, foreign affairs, and science.
# the head of the radio and television network of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
# the chief of the joint staff.
# the chief commander of the armed forces of the country
# the highest commanders of the armed forces.
Can dismiss and reinstate ministers.
Resolving differences between the three wings of the armed forces and regulation of their relations.
Resolving the problems, which cannot be solved by conventional methods, through the Nation's Expediency Discernment Council.
Signing the decree formalizing the elections in Iran for the President of the Republic by the people.
Dismissal of the President of the Republic, with due regard for the interests of the country, after the Supreme Court holds him guilty of the violation of his constitutional duties, or after an impeachment vote of the Islamic Consultative Assembly testifying to his incompetence on the basis of Article 89 of the Constitution.
Pardoning or reducing the sentences of convicts, within the framework of Islamic criteria, on a recommendation from the head of the Judiciary. The supreme leader may delegate part of his duties and powers to another person.
Confirms decisions of the Supreme National Security Council.
Control over Special Clerical Court.

Vice Supreme Leader

The role of the Iranian vice supreme leader was eventually incorporated into the authority of the supreme leader.

Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri

During the presidency of Hassan Rouhani and amid longstanding rumors of Khamenei's declining health, it was recommended to Khamenei to reestablish the office of deputy supreme leader to better facilitate the transition to new leadership.