Iran's government is unique in following the principle of velayat-e faqih or guardianship of the jurist, according to which government must be run in accordance with traditional Islamic sharia, and for this to happen a leading Islamic jurist (faqih) must provide political "guardianship" (wilayat or velayat) over the people. Following the Iranian Revolution, the 1979 Constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran made the "guardian" the Supreme Leader of Iran[47] The author of Velayat-e faqih doctrine, Ayatollah Khomeini, as the first Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.