NCRI Staff
NCRI – Back in 1989, a mid-level cleric in the Iranian Regime became the surprise pick for Supreme Leader after the death of the Regime’s founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Ali Khamenei was chosen as the Supreme Leader during an emergency closed-door session of the Assembly of Experts, in which he said that he was unqualified for the job and his selection was unconstitutional, as damning new footage shows.
He said: “Based on the constitution [which specifies that a Supreme Leader must first be a grand ayatollah], I am not qualified for the job and from a religious point of view, many of you will not accept my words as those of a leader.”
However, shortly before Khomeini’s death, the Regime had lost the former second-in-command, Ali Montazeri, after he criticised high-ranking Regime members for orchestrating the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, so the Assembly of Experts appointed Khamenei for a one-year term.
After that year, the country’s leadership would be transferred to a council with members elected through a referendum.
If Khamenei was only supposed to rule for one year, how has he remained in power for nearly three decades?
Well, the referendum never took place and Khamenei changed the constitution to allow himself to remain supreme leader.
This video, leaked on January 8, raises questions about the legitimacy of Khamenei’s leadership, especially when so many of the anti-regime protesters have been calling for his resignation and even his death.
Alavi, the US-based Iranian journalist who shared the video he received from a secret source within Iran said that this would bolster the Iranian people’s cries for freedom against an unjust and unqualified ruler.
He said: “The person who people have accused of poor leadership and have demanded step down, admits himself that his leadership would make people shed tears of blood.”