Ahmadinejad is not the first high-ranking official in Iran to challenge the supreme leader. Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, one of Iran’s most senior clerics, would have been Supreme Leader himself had he not fallen out with Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic’s founder, a few months before Khomeini’s death.
内贾德并不是挑战最高领袖权威的首位高官。大阿亚图拉侯赛因·阿里·蒙塔泽里曾是伊朗最高级的神职人员，假使他没有在霍梅尼死前数月和最高领袖兼伊斯兰共和国创始人大阿亚图拉霍梅尼闹翻他自己就会继任成为伊朗的最高领袖。