Most Powerful

• #1 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
  IraqSyria CriminalCriminal EnterprisePolitical 21st Century Illicit NetworksState Power Power: 100
  Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (1971 – 2019) was an Iraqi militant leader who became the head of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the wider Islamic State (IS) network. Operating in the breakdown of state authority after the Iraq War and amid the civil war in Syria, he led an insurgent movement that briefly combined guerrilla tactics with territorial rule. In June 2014, after a rapid military advance across northern Iraq, he proclaimed himself “caliph” in Mosul, a claim that sought to frame the organization as a state rather than a clandestine group.
• #2 Ali al-Sistani
  Iraq PoliticalReligionReligious Hierarchy Cold War and Globalization Religious HierarchyState Power Power: 100
  Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani (born 4 August 1930) is an Iranian-born, Iraq-based Shia Muslim cleric and one of the most influential marjaʿ in Twelver Shiʿism. Based in Najaf, he emerged as the most consequential clerical voice in Iraq after 2003. Without holding formal office, he shaped Iraq’s political trajectory by insisting on elections and constitutional legitimacy and by intervening at key moments of crisis.
• #3 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
  Gulf regionIranIraqLebanonMashhadMiddle EastSyriaTehran PoliticalReligionReligious Hierarchy 21st Century Religious HierarchyState Power Power: 100
  Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (1939–2026) was an Iranian cleric and politician who served as president of Iran from 1981 to 1989 and as Supreme Leader from 1989 until his death in 2026. As the highest authority in the Islamic Republic, he controlled key levers of state power through appointment rights over the judiciary, military leadership, state broadcasting, and influential oversight bodies. His rule consolidated a theocratic security state in which religious legitimacy, revolutionary ideology, and coercive institutions reinforced one another.
• #4 Hulagu Khan
  CaucasusIranIraqMongol Empire MilitaryMilitary CommandPolitical Medieval Military CommandState Power Power: 100
  Hulagu Khan (c. 1217–1265) was a Mongol prince of the Toluid line and the founder of the Ilkhanate in Iran and Iraq. Commissioned by his brother [Möngke Khan](https://moneytyrants.com/mongke-khan/) to extend Mongol control into the Middle East, Hulagu led campaigns that dismantled major political and religious centers, most notably the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad in 1258. He also destroyed the Nizari Ismaili strongholds often associated with the “Assassins,” reshaping the security landscape of Iran. After conquest, Hulagu established a new regime that combined Mongol military supremacy with Persian administrative expertise, creating fiscal systems to extract revenue from agriculture, cities, and trade corridors. His reign unfolded amid complex religious and diplomatic dynamics: he cultivated alliances with Christian actors, faced opposition from Muslim powers, and entered conflict with other Mongol branches, particularly the Jochids of the Golden Horde. Hulagu’s career illustrates a distinctive wealth-and-power mechanism in which conquest destroyed existing institutions and then rebuilt extraction capacity through taxation, tribute, and control of long-distance commerce.
• #5 Saddam Hussein
  Iraq MilitaryParty State ControlPolitical Cold War and Globalization Military CommandState Power Power: 100
  Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as president of Iraq from 1979 until 2003 and was a leading figure of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party. He rose through party and security structures during a period of coups and factional struggle and helped construct a highly centralized state in which intelligence services, patronage, and repression were used to control rivals and manage society. Saddam’s rule coincided with major regional conflicts, including the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988) and Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, which triggered the Gulf War and years of international sanctions. His government was widely condemned for human-rights abuses, including mass killings and the use of chemical weapons. Saddam was removed from power after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, captured later that year, tried by an Iraqi tribunal, and executed in 2006.
• #6 Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani
  Iraq ReligionReligious Hierarchy Cold War and Globalization Religious Hierarchy Power: 82
  Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani (born 1930) is a leading Twelver Shia cleric based in Najaf whose religious authority has repeatedly shaped Iraq’s post‑2003 political direction through guidance on elections, legitimacy, and restraint in conflict.