(b. 1939) also known as "Ayatollah Khamenei", is among Shi'a Marja's and the second leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. There is perhaps no leader in the world more important to current world affairs but less known and understood than Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran. Before being elected as the leader in 1989, he was elected by the people twice and served as the third president of Iran from 1981 to 1989. Before the Islamic Revolution of Iran, he was among the active clerics in Mashhad.
The most important and prominent development in the thought of Islam can be found in the developments of the Islamic Revolution and the views and thoughts of the leaders of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Ayatollah Khamenei's thoughts also has an important role and position as a disciple and loyal friend of Imam Khomeini. The wise insight and practical experience of the leadership of the Islamic system in the aftermath of various events in nearly a few decades, has highlighted the importance of paying attention to their ideas and opinions. 
Ayatollah Khamenei has the idea of Islamic proximity and believes that victory among the Muslim would happen as a result of their unity and decreasing their disagreements. Based on such an idea, he founded the International Assembly for the Proximity among the Islamic schools of thought and has tried to gather influential personalities of the Muslim world in different ways.
Ayatollah Khamenei used expressions such as "cultural invasion" and "cultural raid" and tried to direct the attention of scholars of cultural domains to cultural changes happening in the society. In his opinion, cultural invasion is against cultural exchange; and it is a deliberate attack by colonist powers to destroy the cultures of other nations and expanding their domination over them.