Ali Khamenei, the Ayatollah who ruled Iran with an iron fist for nearly four decades

"For most Iranians, a dictator has disappeared one who did not hesitate to give the order to fire whenever people took to the streets demanding greater freedoms or denouncing economic hardship and whose nuclear ambitions they blame for the country's international isolation and the bombings by the United States and Israel."

"Whoever succeeds him will never wield the same power, given the weight the Revolutionary Guard has acquired during his tenure and the loss of legitimacy suffered by the Islamist regime."

"The old anti-monarchy slogan marg bar diktator (death to the dictator), which Iranians revived in 2009 (when they protested alleged electoral fraud) and have repeated at every demonstration since, reflects not only the country's polarization but also the supreme leader's failure to build bridges."

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader since 1989, was killed in a bombing raid by Israel according to U.S. and Israeli sources at age 86. While his followers mourned the loss of the revolutionary leader who maintained the 1979 Islamic Republic, most Iranians viewed him as a dictator who suppressed dissent and pursued nuclear ambitions blamed for international isolation. His successor will face diminished power due to the Revolutionary Guard's strengthened position during his tenure and the regime's eroded legitimacy. Khamenei's failure to serve as an arbiter between competing factions and his alignment with conservative sectors deepened national polarization, as reflected in persistent anti-dictator protests since 2009.

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