Prominent hardline cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi has claimed that Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has not made "even one single mistake during the past three decades as the leader of the Islamic Republic."
Mesbah Yazdi said "It is strange that someone leads a nation for 30 years and faces the most complicated social problems and still does not make a mistake while other world leaders have committed numerous mistakes."
Such an exaggeration is a characteristic of Mesbah Yazdi as the only cleric who tried to kiss Khamenei's feet in public.
Mesbah Yazdi also said that "thanks to Khamenei's presence, Iranians are blessed in a way many cannot understand", according to an ISNA report on March 30.
Mesbah Yazdi made the comments while Iran under Khamenei ranks as one of the last countries in many areas in the list of world nations. For instance, Iran ranks 164 among 180 nations in terms of media freedom according to Reporters without Frontiers.
Khamenei, as a leader with absolute powers who can hire and fire most civilian and military officials, intervenes in the country's domestic policies and foreign affairs without being accountable to anyone.
Well known figures from various political factions, including ultraconservative former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and reform-minded former regime insider Abolfazl Qadiani have criticized Khamenei for encouraging corruption and for not being accountable.
Meanwhile, his regime faces major economic crises due to his inability to resolve the country's foreign relations deadlock.
At the same time, Iran under Khamenei is overwhelmed by widespread and systematic financial corruption. RecentlyGholam Ali Jafarzadeh Imanabaadi, MP for Rasht, has said that the anti-corruption campaign should start from Khamenei's own household.
Mesbah Yazdi failed to win enough votes to become re-elected to the Assembly of Experts. His unpopularity is partly because of his open opposition to human rights, which he has said "is against the spirit of Islam."
