The surnames of Ruhollah Khomeini and Ali Khamenei, Iran’s first two supreme leaders, sound similar and are sometimes confused. In Persian Khomeini is pronounced khoh-mey-NEE (xomejˈniː) and Khamenei is pronounced khaw-ma-NEY-EE (xɒːmæneɪˈiː). English speakers usually pronounce Khomeini as koh-MEY-nee but vary in how they pronounce Khamenei. One common pronunciation for Khamenei is kah-meh-NEY, which comes relatively close to the Persian pronunciation.
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