Ayatollah Khamenei was a transformative leader, civilizational architect, and champion of Iran-China ties: Scholar

By Nahid Poureisa

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s life and legacy cannot be understood solely through the offices he held, but through the profound imprint he left on the Islamic Revolution, Iran’s state-building, regional geopolitics, and the broader debate over civilization and the emerging global order, says a Chinese scholar.

In an interview with Press TV, Professor Wang Hao, council member of the China Association for International Friendly Contact, said Ayatollah Khamenei occupies a unique place in Iran’s modern history because he personally experienced and helped shape every major phase of the Islamic Republic.

“First and foremost, he is a firsthand witness to the full course of Iran’s Islamic Revolution and its second-generation core founding figure,” he said.

As a young revolutionary activist, he followed Imam Khomeini in opposing the West-backed Pahlavi monarchy, endured repeated imprisonment and exile, and participated in the struggle that led to the success of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Following the revolution, he served first as the country’s president and then spent nearly four decades leading the Islamic Republic as Imam Khomeini’s worthy successor.

Professor Wang said that during those decades, Ayatollah Khamenei did more than preserve Imam Khomeini’s vision for the Islamic Republic.

“He fully inherited, carried forward, and systematically refined Imam Khomeini’s foundational Islamic revolutionary path.”

In his view, this made him the historical bridge between the revolutionary generation and contemporary Iran, ensuring continuity in the leadership and ideological evolution of the Islamic Republic.

Guiding Iran through decades of pressure

The Chinese scholar notes that one of Ayatollah Khamenei’s defining achievements was steering Iran through one of the most hostile international environments due to the country’s opposition to Western interventionism and hegemony.

For decades, Iran grappled with crippling and illegal sanctions, diplomatic isolation, military threats and sustained geopolitical pressure, but the country’s institutions endured.

“He stood as a steadfast guardian of Iran’s national sovereignty and institutional system amid a uniquely hostile international environment,” said Professor Wang

He credits Ayatollah Khamenei with preserving Iran’s political and religious unity, safeguarding national independence and transforming what began as a revolutionary government into what he describes as “a mature sovereign state.”

“That,” he says, “is an indelible historical achievement.”

From revolution to a governing philosophy

The Chinese scholar noted that Ayatollah Khamenei’s greatest intellectual contribution was the development of a systematic political philosophy that went beyond the revolutionary mobilization emphasized during Imam Khomeini’s era.

Unlike the first phase of the revolution, he says, Ayatollah Khamenei incorporated Iran’s historical heritage and anti-colonial thought into a coherent governing framework.

“He forged a holistic ideological system that balances domestic social governance, resistance against external hegemony, and the preservation of civilizational identity.”

According to him, this framework has become “a vital ideological resource for the global Twelver Shi’a community.”

Reshaping West Asia

Looking beyond Iran itself, Professor Wang believes Ayatollah Khamenei fundamentally altered the regional balance of power.

He notes that Iran’s long-standing emphasis on independence, resistance to Western hegemony and Muslim unity transformed the country’s geopolitical role.

“He turned Iran into a core pillar of the global multi-polar order.”

Over four decades, he adds, this approach significantly reshaped West Asia’s political landscape.

“His life is fully intertwined with Iran’s century-long modern transformation. He is both an inheritor of revolutionary spirit and a stabilizer of Iran amid decades of turmoil.”

For future researchers, he states, Ayatollah Khamenei’s governance will remain “a core case study” in Islamic modernization and anti-colonial independence movements.

The experience that shaped a leader

According to the Chinese professor, no event influenced Ayatollah Khamenei’s worldview more profoundly than the eight-year imposed war during the 1980s.

Serving as president during the war, he frequently visited frontlines in places such as Khorramshahr and Khuzestan, witnessing invasion, destruction and sacrifice firsthand.

Those experiences, the scholar says, established the central principle that would guide his leadership for decades.

“National security, territorial integrity, and regime independence are prerequisites for all development,” he remarks, adding that the experience also reinforced his deep skepticism toward foreign interference and helped explain Iran’s long-term emphasis on independent foreign policy and national defense.

Identity rooted in civilization and faith

The imposed war, the Chinese scholar hastened to add, also revealed to Ayatollah Khamenei the foundations of Iranian national cohesion. Rather than seeing unity as the product of political slogans, he said Ayatollah Khamenei concluded Iran’s resilience rested upon the fusion of thousands of years of Persian civilization with Shi’a Islam.

Throughout his subsequent leadership, Professor Wang says, he consistently upheld “Persian civilization plus Shi’a faith” as Iran’s core spiritual bond while promoting cultural localization against what he viewed as external cultural erosion.

The war imposed on his country also transformed his understanding of world politics.

Watching Western governments arm Iraq while applying double standards toward Iran convinced him, according to the scholar, that international politics operated according to power rather than principle.

That realization gave birth to two long-term strategic orientations. The first was building partnerships across the Global South to balance hegemonic powers. The second was the “Look to the East” strategy, deepening cooperation with regional powers based on equality rather than political preconditions.

Governance grounded in social justice

The Chinese professor also traces Ayatollah Khamenei’s domestic governance philosophy back to the battlefront. Living alongside ordinary soldiers and civilians cultivated a lasting empathy for ordinary people.

This experience later translated into efforts to expand social security, restrain elite privilege and uphold the revolution’s commitment to equity and justice.

At the same time, the collective memory of wartime sacrifices elevated youth education and remembrance of martyrs into enduring pillars of Iran’s national identity.

Building China’s strategic partnership with Iran

The professor further notes that Ayatollah Khamenei played the decisive role in shaping modern China-Iran relations. Following President Xi Jinping’s 2016 visit to Tehran, the two countries formally established a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

“Ayatollah Khamenei stands as the core and most steadfast strategic promoter of this partnership on Iran’s side,” he notes, adding that the martyred Leader personally defined China as one of the central long-term pillars of Iran’s foreign policy.

During Xi’s visit, the two countries signed Belt and Road cooperation documents alongside numerous agreements spanning energy, infrastructure, science, technology and culture.

The scholar credits Ayatollah Khamenei with ensuring that those political understandings evolved into long-term institutional cooperation, including support for the 25-year comprehensive cooperation roadmap.

Just as importantly, he states, Ayatollah Khamenei established a consistent principle that Iran’s relationship with China would never become a bargaining chip in negotiations with Western powers.

“Iran will never subordinate its friendship with China to appease Western powers.”

This continuity, he says, insulated bilateral relations from changing geopolitical circumstances.

Beyond economics: a partnership of civilizations

The scholar emphasizes that Ayatollah Khamenei consistently framed China-Iran relations as something far deeper than trade. He described China and Iran as two ancient civilizations connected through the Silk Road whose partnership represented civilizational exchange rather than merely shared national interests.

According to the professor, without Ayatollah Khamenei’s support, the strategic partnership would have struggled to survive the volatility of West Asian geopolitics.

Looking ahead, the scholar identifies three lasting legacies. The first is what he calls strategic mutual trust developed through decades of shared hardship.

Even while Iran faced sanctions and diplomatic isolation, China maintained engagement based on non-interference, while Iran consistently supported China’s positions in multilateral institutions.

Together, he says, they established a new diplomatic model in which neither major powers dominate smaller countries nor smaller states become dependent upon great powers.

The second legacy is a model of South-South cooperation rooted in equality and mutual benefit rather than ideological conditions.

Unlike many Western partnerships in West Asia, the professor says, China-Iran cooperation focuses on development while respecting each country’s independent political system.

The third legacy lies in elevating bilateral relations above geopolitics through their shared civilizational heritage.

For the scholar, this demonstrates that stable international relationships can be built upon mutual civilizational recognition rather than short-term strategic calculations.

The Belt and Road Initiative

The Chinese scholar notes that Ayatollah Khamenei became one of the earliest and strongest supporters of the Belt and Road Initiative in the West Asia region.

He believed the initiative directly addressed Iran’s need for infrastructure modernization, diversified trade routes and industrial development while aligning naturally with the country’s “Look to the East” strategy.

Importantly, the scholar stresses, Ayatollah Khamenei viewed the initiative not as a geopolitical project but as a revival of the ancient Silk Road.

“The BRI is a pathway for civilizational dialogue rather than sphere-of-influence expansion.”

Accordingly, he encouraged not only railway, port and energy cooperation but also archaeological collaboration, cultural exhibitions and academic exchanges.

The professor believes Iran’s experience demonstrates that countries can participate fully in the Belt and Road Initiative while preserving national sovereignty and cultural independence.

Reviving Silk Road cultural ties

According to the scholar, Ayatollah Khamenei also played an important role in expanding people-to-people relations between China and Iran.

With his support, cultural years, museum exhibitions, university partnerships, language programs and academic exchanges have expanded steadily.

The professor points to joint exhibitions of ancient Persian artifacts, growing Chinese and Persian language programs and increasing numbers of exchange students as examples of institutionalized cultural cooperation.

Ayatollah Khamenei has repeatedly highlighted the historical exchanges between the Han Dynasty and the Parthian Empire, the artistic dialogue between Persian miniature painting and Chinese fine brushwork, and the broader legacy of the Silk Road.

In 2025, the scholar notes, he even made the unusual decision to post in Chinese on social media, describing China and Iran as two major pillars of Eastern and Western civilizations in Asia.

According to the professor, these efforts have narrowed the emotional distance between the two peoples while embedding civilizational dialogue into education, tourism, art and everyday cultural exchange.

The nuclear issue

On Iran’s nuclear program, the scholar highlights what he regards as the consistency of Ayatollah Khamenei’s position.

He notes that China has long supported resolving the issue through diplomacy, while Ayatollah Khamenei has repeatedly declared that Iran has no intention of developing nuclear weapons.

According to the professor, this stance carries three major implications.

First, by limiting nuclear technology to peaceful purposes, Iran helps preserve the possibility of a nuclear-free West Asia and reduces the risk of a regional arms race.

Second, Iran demonstrates that developing countries can simultaneously reject nuclear weapons while insisting upon their lawful right to peaceful nuclear technology under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Third, Iran’s participation in prolonged negotiations surrounding the JCPOA illustrates that diplomacy, not military action, offers the most sustainable solution to disputes.

Sovereignty and international law

Reflecting on US-Israeli attacks targeting Iranian leaders, the professor notes that recent events reinforce four essential lessons for the international community.

First, countries must abandon the logic of resolving disputes through unilateral military force. Second, international law and the principles of the United Nations Charter should apply equally to all nations without double standards. Third, geopolitical disputes should be settled through diplomacy rather than assassination or cross-border military action.

Finally, he warns against expanding practices of interference – including sanctions, “regime change” efforts and targeted killings – that undermine sovereign equality.

“Only by upholding sovereign equality, multilateralism and the primacy of diplomacy can we safeguard global peace and the security of all nations.”

Islamic unity

The professor also credits Ayatollah Khamenei with working to reduce divisions within the Islamic world.

Rather than allowing sectarian differences to dominate regional politics, he remarks that Ayatollah Khamenei consistently emphasized shared opposition to external hegemony and support for the Palestinian cause as common priorities for both Shi’a and Sunni Muslims.

He also highlights Iran’s support for developing Islamic countries facing external pressure, along with initiatives such as the World Congress of Ahl al-Bayt and the Union of Islamic Radio and Television, which he says foster dialogue among scholars, artists and youth across the Muslim world.

At the same time, the Chinese academic offers an important qualification.

He acknowledges that deep historical rivalries, geopolitical disputes and sectarian divisions cannot be eliminated by any single leader.

“These are lingering regional historical legacies that cannot be fully eradicated by one individual alone.”

Even so, he believes Ayatollah Khamenei has significantly strengthened cross-sectarian solidarity and helped awaken a broader sense of autonomy across the Islamic world.

Civilizations, identity and dialogue

Finally, the scholar argues that Ayatollah Khamenei’s thoughts on culture reflect a broader philosophy of civilizational autonomy.

He describes concerns about “cultural invasion” as rooted in the fear that one-way cultural exports can erode indigenous religious traditions, historical memory and national identity.

“Opposing cultural invasion is essentially safeguarding the right of civilizations to survive.”

Yet the professor insists this should not be interpreted as cultural isolation.

Instead, he says, Ayatollah Khamenei advocated cultural self-confidence rooted in Persian-Islamic civilization while remaining open to learning from others.

His letters to young people in Europe and America, the scholar argues, illustrate that he opposed one-way cultural assimilation rather than dialogue itself.

In today’s world, he says, equal exchanges between civilizations offer the best means of reducing misunderstanding and easing geopolitical tensions.

“No civilization ranks superior or inferior,” he argues, adding that diversity itself constitutes one of humanity’s greatest shared treasures.

“Civilizational autonomy is the prerequisite for equal dialogue, and mutual learning provides a path for civilizational revival.”

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