SAEDNEWS: A rare personal anecdote shared by a longtime clerical companion of Iran’s Supreme Leader offers a candid look into the private habits and modest lifestyle of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
According to Saed News, a recently resurfaced recollection by Ayatollah Seyyed Jafar Shobeiri Zanjani—an esteemed cleric and seminary companion of Iran’s Supreme Leader—has cast fresh light on the private demeanor and ascetic lifestyle of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The story recounts a spontaneous evening visit to the Supreme Leader’s home in Tehran shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, revealing a moment of quiet humility far removed from the formality of his public persona.
Zanjani describes arriving unannounced at Khamenei’s residence with several mutual friends from their seminary days. After attending to prior engagements, Khamenei greeted them and eventually returned from his inner quarters with a candid comment: “We don’t eat cooked meals at night—and you didn’t let us know in advance to prepare dinner.”
When Zanjani suggested bringing out bread and cheese, Khamenei complied. Sensing some guests were uncomfortable with the simplicity of the offering, he re-entered the kitchen, emerging with boiled potatoes and later, two eggs which he quickly fried. “It turned into a beautiful, intimate evening,” Zanjani recalled.
The cleric, born in 1937 in the holy city of Qom, studied under prominent scholars including Ayatollah Khomeini and Sheikh Morteza Haeri. Though he did not attend lessons by Grand Ayatollah Boroujerdi—citing personal reasons—this divergence eventually brought him into closer companionship with Khamenei, enriching his recollections with moments of quiet candor such as this.
