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• n  a high-ranking Shiite religious leader who is regarded as an authority on religious law and its interpretation and who has political power as well

• As an ayatollah, his views and religious edicts, or fatwas, would carry considerable weight.
• Sadr's ambition to be the grand ayatollah of Iraq is taken as a given by many observers in Baghdad.

News & Articles

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• Iranians count on president-elect Rohani to bring change
  By Zahra Hosseinian DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian president-elect Hassan Rohani, who won a landslide victory promising better relations abroad and more freedom at home, on Sunday paid his first visit since the vote to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who will ultimately decide the pace of any change. Rohani, a mid-ranking Shi'ite cleric, is an Islamic Republic insider who has held senior ...
  June 16, 2013 - Reuters via Yahoo! News
• Iran's leader says election was win for Islamic Republic
  DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that whatever the result of the presidential election, in which a moderate candidate appeared headed for victory, it would be a vote of confidence in the Islamic Republic. "A vote for any of these candidates is a vote for the Islamic Republic and a vote of confidence in the system," the leader's official Twitter ...
  June 15, 2013 - Reuters via Yahoo! News
• Results coming in from Iran election
  Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei fills out the very first ballot as polls open in the national election to replace controversial outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
  June 15, 2013 - CNN