Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the 86-year-old supreme leader of Iran, was killed in the first day of massive US and Israeli air strikes against Iranian targets. His was an all-powerful office - the supreme leader is head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, including the elite Revolutionary Guards. Iran has had only two supreme leaders since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In 1989, Khamenei succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, after his death, at the age of 86. Under Khamenei’s rule, Ir