Khamenei family

Khamenei family
From left to right: Javad Khamenei, Ali Khamenei, and Mojtaba Khamenei
Parent family
Husaynids (claimed)
Country
Current region
West Asia
OriginKhameneh, Qajar Iran
Founded1895; 131 years ago (1895)
FounderJavad Khamenei
Current headMojtaba Khamenei
TitlesHonorific title:
Imam
Hujjat al-Islam
Sayyid
Ayatollah
Grand Ayatollah
Political titles:
Supreme Leader of Iran
President of Iran
Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces
Member of Assembly of Experts for the Constitution
Member of Islamic Consultative Assembly
Deputy Chief of Staff for Political and Security Affairs
Wakil of the Office of the Supreme Leader
Head of the Supreme Defense Council
MembersJavad Khamenei
Mohammad Khamenei
Hadi Khamenei
Badri Khamenei
Ali Tehrani
Farideh Moradkhani
Ali Khamenei
Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh
Mostafa Khamenei
Mojtaba Khamenei
Zahra Haddad-Adel
Masoud Khamenei
Meysam Khamenei
Connected members
Mohsen Kharazi
Kamal Kharrazi
Sadegh Kharazi
Mohammad Bagher Kharazi
Kamal Kharazi
Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel
Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani
Azizollah Khoshvaght
DistinctionsHusayn ibn Ali and Ali al-Sajjad (claimed)
TraditionsShia Islam (Twelver)
Ali Khamenei (left) with his father Javad
Mojtaba Khamenei (right) with his father Ali

The Khamenei family is an Iranian religious and political family that has ruled Iran as the state's supreme leader since Ali Khamenei was elected to the position as its second holder in 1989. After his assassination in February 2026, he was succeeded by his son, Mojtaba Khamenei. Their predecessors as the family of the supreme leader were the Khomeini family headed by Ruhollah Khomeini from 1979 to 1989.

The Khamenei family has played a prominent role in Iranian politics since the 1980s after Ali Khamenei became president of Iran in 1981. The family is of Iranian Azerbaijani origin and claim to be sayyids, descended from Ali al-Sajjad, the fourth Shia Imam. Ali Khamenei was the most powerful member of the family until his assassination.

Ancestry

Ali Khamenei's father was the cleric Javad Khamenei, and his paternal grandfather was Hussein, who was buried in Najaf, Iraq (in the Wadi-us-Salaam cemetery). Hussein's father was Mohammad Hosseini Tafresshi, who was considered a Sayyid of Aftasi, whose family tree was connected to Sultan-al-Ulama Ahmad (also known as Seyyed Ahmad).

Mohammad Hosseini Tafreshi Khamenei Tabrizi was the son of Mohamad Taghi, who was the son of Mirza Ali-Akbar, who was the son of Fakhr-al-Din Tafreshi. The descendants of Fakhr-al-Din (also known as Mir-Fakhra) are called Mir-Fakhrayi.

The family's descent, known as "Sadat-e Hosseini", is likewise connected to the third Shia Imam, Husayn ibn Ali.

Name

The name Khamenei is of Azerbaijani origin and derives from the city of Khamaneh in Iranian Azerbaijan.

Pronunciation

The name is pronounced [xɒːmeneˈʔiː] in Persian[more detail needed] and [xɑmɯneˈji] in Iranian Azerbaijani,[citation needed] but English-language speakers vary in their pronunciation of the name. A news report by The New York Times during the 1989 Iranian supreme leader election stated the name was pronounced "kha-meh-neh-ee". Other English-language sources give the following pronunciations of the name:

Family tree

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Iranian Persian: خاندان خامنه‌ای, romanized: xândân-e Xâmene'i;
    South Azerbaijani: خامنئی عایلسی, romanized: Xamenei ailəsi.

References

  1. ↑ "یکی از خامنه‎ای ها؛ نگاهی به خاطرات محمد خامنه‎ای برادر بزرگتر رهبر ایران". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). 3 June 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  2. ↑ "Xamenei ailəsi ilə birlikdə sığınacaqdadır". Milli.Az (in Azerbaijani). 16 June 2025. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  3. ↑ "Who is Mojtaba Khamenei, son and successor to Iran's supreme leader?". France 24. Associated Press; Reuters. 8 March 2026. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  4. ↑ "After Khamenei: Planning for Iran's Leadership Transition | Council on Foreign Relations". www.cfr.org. 24 February 2026. Retrieved 10 May 2026.
  5. ↑ "IRAN | Ayatollah Khomeini's family mostly absent from Iran politics". Macau Daily Times. Associated Press. 4 February 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
  6. ↑ Ganjineh-Daneshmandan (scientists' treasures). Vol. 127. Sharif-Razi. p. 7.
  7. ↑ Biography of Ayatollah Khamenei radiofarda.com Retrieved 21 September 2019
  8. ↑ MarkazeAsnade EnqelanEslami --Arshiv (Document Center Archive), No. 1225
  9. ↑ Khamenei Family -- Ayatollah Khamenei ghadeer.org Retrieved 2 October 2019
  10. 1 2 "Descent and parents of Ayatollah Khamenei". basirat.ir. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  11. ↑ "Family of Khamenei -- Biography of Ayatollah Khamenei". leader.ir. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  12. ↑ "Family tree of Iran's supreme leader - Seyyed Ali Khamenei". nafee.ir. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  13. ↑ "Checking family-tree of the Supreme leader of Iran (Khamenei) -- Ma'aref Radio". rasanews.ir. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  14. ↑ "Family tree of Iran's supreme leader, Seyyed Ali Khamenei". aparat.com. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  15. ↑ Pure tree (al-Shajarah al-Tayebbah), Seyyed Fazel al-Mousavi al-Safavi (Khalkhali-Zadeh)
  16. 1 2 "Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei Fast Facts". cnn.com. 30 December 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  17. ↑ "Ali Khamenei -- RAHBAR OF IRAN". britannica.com. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  18. ↑ "Khamenei -- Azeris media". yjc.ir. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  19. ↑ "Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead, state media says". BBC News. 1 March 2026. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  20. ↑ Who are Ayatollah Khamenei's relatives? bbc.com Retrieved 3 October 2019
  21. ↑ Knowing dynasty of Seyyed Ali Khamenei (Iran's supreme leader) Archived 21 September 2019 at the Wayback Machine shabestan.ir Retrieved 21 September 2019
  22. ↑ "About The Author -- Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei". al-islam.org. 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  23. ↑ "Ancestors of Ayatollah Khamenei". hawzahnews.com. 5 July 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  24. ↑ Aqa Buzurg Tihrani, al-Dhari'a, vol. 2, p. 640
  25. ↑ "Knowing ancestors of Ayatollah Khamenei's parents". navideshahed.com. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  26. ↑ "Genealogy (family-tree) of Ayatollah Khamenei". cloob.com/. Retrieved 22 September 2019.[permanent dead link]
  27. ↑ "Ancestors of Ayatollah Khamenei". navideshahed.com. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  28. ↑ Institute of Contemporary History Studies of Iran
  29. ↑ Izady 1989, p. 45: "Mr. Khamenei was born to an Azeri clerical family living at the site of the holy Shi'ite shrine of Meshad, Khurasan. But his Azeri connections are undeniable, including his fluency in Azeri and his maintaining of the family's last name ascribing him to the town of Khameneh in Azerbaijan."
  30. ↑ Miller & Aghajanian-Stewart 2017, pp. 4, 106: "Alongside the headword for each entry, representing its word family, we also provide the pronunciation of the headword in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), reflecting the common Iranian pronunciation of the word. [...] Rank: 4283; Headword: خامنه‌ای; Pronunciation: xɑmeneji; Gloss: Khamenei."
  31. ↑ "How are Khomeini and Khamenei pronounced?". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2 March 2026. ISSN 1085-9721. OCLC 33663660. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  32. ↑ Pear, Robert (5 June 1989). "Man in the News; Iran's New Supreme Leader; Ali Khamenei". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  33. ↑ "Khamenei". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  34. ↑ "Khamenei". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. OCLC 1120411289. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  35. ↑ "Khamenei". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  36. ↑ "Khamenei". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. OCLC 1032680871. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  37. ↑ Bollard, John K., ed. (1998). "Khamenei". Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics. ISBN 978-0-7808-0098-4.
  38. ↑ "KHAMENEI, AYATOLLAH ALI". pronounce.voanews.com. Retrieved 5 March 2025.

Bibliography