Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the world’s 18th most powerful person, according to Forbes. Photo: www.sajed.ir via Wikimedia Commons.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei outranked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Forbes magazine’s 2015 list of the world’s most powerful people, released on Wednesday.

Iran’s ruler placed 18th, while the premier of the Jewish state was three places behind in the 21st slot.

This is not the first time Khamenei has ranked higher than Netanyahu on the annual list. In 2014, Khamenei ranked 20th and Netanyahu 26th; and in 2013, Khamenei ranked 23rd and Netanyahu 26th.

This year’s list includes 74 people and ranks Russia’s Vladimir Putin in the top slot and President Obama third. To calculate the rankings, Forbes considers hundreds of candidates from around the world and from different fields. According to the magazine, a panel of its editors ranks the candidates by measuring four “power” dimensions: the candidate’s influence over a lot of people; his or her control over financial resources; whether the candidate is powerful in multiple arenas; and if the candidate actively uses his or her power. The individual rankings are averaged into a composite score and the top 74 make the final cut, according to Forbes.

Second place on the list was given to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who jumped from 5th last year.