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Article: The Future of the Supreme Leader Role.(Commentary)(Reprint)
- Article from:
- Iran Times International (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- February 13, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Iran Times International. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The issue of who will eventually replace Iran's Supreme Leader first began being discussed two years ago, when there was a flurry of rumors that the incumbent, Ayatollah Ali Hossein Khamenehi, was seriously ill, and it remains a live and highly sensitive issue. Iran's leaders were quick to counter the story, which appeared in various articles and web postings around January 2007.
The following month, Ayatollah Khamenehi himself alluded to the rumors. "The enemies of the Islamic government invent rumors about people's death and illness in order to damage the morale of the Iranian people," he told a gathering of military servicemen. "What they fail to understand is ...