But when President Mohammad Khatami assumed office in 1997, the two men did not enjoy a smooth relationship as their ideologies often conflicted
He had a peaceful working relationship with President Hashemi Rafsanjani in the early 1990s
The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ruhollah Khomeini, died in 1989 and Ali Khamenei succeeded him, assuming the role of the new Supreme Leader of Iran on 4 June 1989
Shortly afterwards, the President Mohammad Rajai was assassinated and Khamenei was elected President of Iran by a landslide vote in the Iranian presidential elections in October 1981, becoming the first cleric to serve in this office
The 1980s was a turbulent time in Iran and he helped guide the nation during the Iraq-Iran War and forged ties with the Revolutionary Guards
He played a key role in the 1979 Iranian revolution, which led to the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty and establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran
In 1958, he traveled to Qom where he attended the classes of Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi and Ruhollah Khomeini, eventually becoming involved in the Islamic activities of 1963
He was born on 17 July 1939 as the second of eight children to Seyyed Javad Khamenei and Khadijeh Mirdamadi in Mashhad, Iran
While the ‘Iranian Embassy’ in London’ was restored in February 20, 2014, it was officially reopened on August 23, 2015
He visited New York, US in September 2013 and had a one on one telephonic conversation with the US President Barack Obama on September 27, 2013
Again in 2006 he was elected member of the ‘Assembly of Experts’ this time representing Tehran Province, a position he still holds
As a Secretary of the ‘Supreme National Security Council’ he played an instrumental role from October 6, 2003 till August 15, 2005 as one of the prominent negotiators of Iran, on issues of nuclear technology, with Germany, France and the UK
From 2000 to 2005 he served as the ‘National Security Advisor’ to President Khatami
He remained a member of the board of trustees of the Tehran Universities and North Region from 1995 to 1999
He has remained a member of the ‘Expediency Council’ since 1991 and serves as the chief of the Political, Defense, and Security Committee of the Council
From 1989 until 1997 he served as the ‘National Security Advisor’ to President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
In1988-89, he remained Deputy to Second-in-Command of Joint Chiefs of Staff of Iran
McFarlane, ‘National Security Advisor’ of the then American President Ronald Reagan visiting Tehran in May 1986
In 1983-85 he served as deputy commander of the war, from 1985 to 1988 he was the commander of the Khatam-ol-Anbiya Operation Center and during 1986-91 he was the commander of the Iran Air Defense Force
He was a ‘Supreme Defense Council’ member from 1982 to 1988
From 1980-83 he headed the supervisory council of ‘Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting’
It was the first conversation of politicians of the highest-level between the two nations since 1979
In 1969 he enrolled at the ‘University of Tehran’ and in 1972 he earned a bachelor’s degree in Judicial Law
He travelled around the nation after 1965 and was outspoken in his views against the Shah and advocated for cleric Ruhollah Khomeini who was in exile
His religious studies began in 1960 when he joined the ‘Semnan Seminary’
He was born on November 12, 1948 as Hassan Fereydoun in Sorkheh in the Semnan Province, Iran, to Haj Asadollah Feridon and Sakineh Peivandi
