So no, that’s also not how that works. The Supreme Leader directly appoints and can dismiss at will 6 of the 12 members of the Council of Guardians that decides who can and cannot run for elected office. The Chief Justice appoints the other 6 but he is also directly appointed and can be dismissed by the Supreme Leader. Opposition candidate are routinely prevented from running. The Assembly of Experts selects and can dismiss the Supreme Leader but those members also have to be approved by the Council of Guardians so they’re all loyalists. The supreme leader is legally considered "inviolable", with Iranians being routinely punished for questioning or insulting him. Oh, he’s also the Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian armed forces too. He is not just a pope-like figure, he is the highest authority in the country with effective control over every government position and policy. Effectively, a dictator.

Huh, til. Thanks!

He was not the head of Shia Islam he was a grand Ayatollah, think of that as the head judge of a Supreme Court, an Ayatollah can be thought of as a judge who has spent their whole life dedicated to the study and application of religious law. Any time he makes a legal decision called a fatwa it is for people who choose to follow his, for lack of a better term, legal philosophy. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was arguably the second most important grand Ayatollah in Shia Islam, he just also happend to be the Supreme leader of Iran. The most important Ayatollah is Ayatollah Sistani in Iraq.

Less power than the Pope since the Vatican is its own city-state.

Eta so extremist, he's the one standing between Iran and nuclear weapons, just like his father, peace be upon him.