The reported death of Ali Khamenei in US-Israel strikes sparked strong reactions worldwide. After Iranian state media confirmed the news, social media filled with tributes, criticism, and old posts from his past. His remarks on reading literature and his admiration for Jawaharlal Nehru’s books drew considerable attention.
Old posts Khamenei shared on X started circulating again. In one from August 2013, he said that before reading Nehru’s Glimpses of World History, he didn’t realize how much progress India had made before colonization. Another post from that year described Nehru as a trusted and knowledgeable figure, discussing how British rule limited India’s industrial growth.
In 2021, Khamenei mentioned Nehru’s memoirs again while discussing how the colonial powers affected Africa and India. An old video has also gone viral, in which he encouraged people to read Nehru’s work to better understand British expansion and its impact on India.
His reading interests went beyond political history. In 2016, he said he had read an English summary of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. He described it as a story about pride, misunderstandings, and love in early 19th-century England. He also mentioned reading novels and poems by Russian writers, such as Mikhail Sholokhov and Alexei Tolstoy.
Over the years, reports said Khamenei studied in Islamic schools in Iraq and later translated several Arabic works into Farsi. In a 2015 post, he openly said he had read many novels and poems.
Since his death, these posts have taken on new meaning for many online users. Some see them as a glimpse of a lesser-known side of a political leader, usually seen only through the lens of global conflict. Others discuss the contrast between his political role and his love of literature.
Amid intense geopolitical events, the return of these reading-related posts has added an unexpected layer to the public conversation.