Government & politics — Iran

• 1 April 1979 (Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed)
• notable earlier dates: ca. 550 B.C. (Achaemenid (Persian) Empire established)
• A.D. 1501 (Iran reunified under the Safavid Dynasty)
• 1794 (beginning of Qajar Dynasty)
• 12 December 1925 (modern Iran established under the PAHLAVI Dynasty)

• history: previous 1906; latest adopted 24 October 1979,
• effective 3 December 1979 amendments: proposed by the supreme leader – after consultation with the Exigency Council – and submitted as an edict to the "Council for Revision of the Constitution," a body consisting of various executive, legislative, judicial, and academic leaders and members; passage requires absolute majority vote in a referendum and approval of the supreme leader; articles including Iran’s political system, its religious basis, and its form of government cannot be amended; amended 1989

• mbly of Experts elects a permanent successor. The members are: President Masoud Pezeshkian, the reformist-leaning heart surgeon elected in 2024, who has emphasized economic recovery and limited social openings while remaining loyal to the Islamic Republic’s framework. Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, a hardline conservative appointed by Khamenei in 2021, with a long record in intelligence and judicial roles known for tough stances on dissent. Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, a senior cleric and member of the Guardian Council, selected for the council role. Arafi, 67, serves as deputy chairman of the Assembly of Experts and heads Iran’
• chief of state: Supreme Leade
• President Masoud PEZESHKIAN (since 30 July 2024) cabinet: Council of Ministers selected by the president with legislative approval; the supreme leader has some control over ap
• pointments to several ministries election/appointment process: supreme leader appointed for life by Assembly of Experts; president directly elected by absolute-majority popular vote in 2 rounds, if needed, for a 4-year term (eligible for a second term and
• an additional nonconsecutive term) most recent election date: 28 June 2024,
• with runoff held on 5 July 2024 election results: 2024: first round results - Masoud PEZESHKIAN (independent) 44.4%, Saeed JALILI (Front of Islamic Revolution Stability) 40.4%, Mohammad Baqer QAKIBAF (Progress and Justice Population of Islamic Iran) 14.3%, other 0.9%; second round results - Masoud PEZESHKIAN elected; Masoud PEZESHKIAN 54.8%, Saeed JALILI 45.2% 2021: Ebrahim RAISI elected president; percent of vote - Ebrahim RAISI (independent) 72.4%, Mohsen REZAI (RFII) 13.8%, Abbdolnaser HEMATI (ECP) 9.8%, Amir-Hosein Qazizadeh-HASHEMI (Islamic Law Party) 4%
• note: presidential election held early due to the death of President Ebrahim RAISI in a helicopter accident in May 2024

Description

unicameral Islamic Consultative Assembly or Majles-e Shura-ye Eslami or Majles (290 seats; 285 members directly elected in single- and multi-seat constituencies by multiple non-transferable vote in 2 rounds, 1 seat each for Zoroastrians, Jews, Assyrian and Chaldean Christians, Armenians in the north of the country and Armenians in the south; members serve 4-year terms);

Note

all candidates to the Majles must be approved by the Council of Guardians, a 12-member group of which 6 are appointed by the supreme leader and 6 are jurists nominated by the judiciary and elected by the Majles

Elections

• first round held on 1 March 2024 for 245 seats
• second round for 45 remaining seats to be held in May (next full Majles election to be held in 2028)

Election Results

• percent of vote by coalition in first round - NA
• seats by coalition in first round - conservatives and hardliners 200, other 45;

Composition

NA

• highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the chief justice and organized into 42 two-bench branches, each w
• ith a justice and a judge) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court president appointed by the head of the High Judicial Council (HJC), a 5-member body to include the Supreme Court chief justice, the prosecutor general, and 3 clergy, in consultation with judges of the Supreme Court; president appointed for a single, renewable 5-year term; other judges appointed by the HJC;
• judge tenure NA subordinate courts: Penal Courts I and II; Islamic Revolutionary Courts; Courts of Peace; Special Clerical Court (functions outside the judicial system and handles cases involving clerics); military courts

31 provinces (ostanha, singular - ostan); Alborz, Ardabil, Azarbayjan-e Gharbi (West Azerbaijan), Azarbayjan-e Sharqi (East Azerbaijan), Bushehr, Chahar Mahal va Bakhtiari, Esfahan, Fars, Gilan, Golestan, Hamadan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, Kermanshah, Khorasan-e Jonubi (South Khorasan), Khorasan-e Razavi (Razavi Khorasan), Khorasan-e Shomali (North Khorasan), Khuzestan, Kohgiluyeh va Bowyer Ahmad, Kordestan, Lorestan, Markazi, Mazandaran, Qazvin, Qom, Semnan, Sistan va Baluchestan, Tehran, Yazd, Zanjan

• Combatant Clergy Association [Mostafa PURMOHAMMADI] (an active political group)
• Executives of Construction Party [Hossein MARASHI]
• Front of Islamic Revolutionary Stability [Sadegh MAHSULI, secretary general]
• Islamic Coalition Party [Asadollah BADAMCHIAN]
• Militant Clerics Society (Majma-e Ruhaniyoun-e Mobarez) or MRM [Mohammad Mousavi KHOEINIHA]
• Moderation and Development Party [Hassan RUHANI]
• National Trust Party (Hezb-e E'temad-eMelli) or HEM [Elias HAZRATI]
• Progress and Justice Society [Mohammad Saeed AHADIAN]
• Union of Islamic Iran People's Party (Hezb-e Ettehad-e Iran-e Eslami) [Azar MANSURI]

• no citizenship by descent only: the
• no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

BRICS, CICA, CP, D-8, ECO, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, SAARC (observer), SCO (observer), UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNOOSA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)

embassy

none; the US Interests Section is located in the Embassy of Switzerland; US Foreign Interests Section, Embassy of Switzerland, Pasdaran, Shahid Mousavi Street (Golestan 5th), Corner of Paydarfard Street, No. 55, Tehran

chief of mission

none; Iran has an Interests Section in the Pakistani Embassy; address: Iranian Interests Section, Embassy of Pakistan, 1250 23rd Street NW, Washington, DC 20037;

telephone

[1] (202) 965-4990; FAX [1] (202) 965-1073; email: requests@daftar.org; info@daftarwashington.com; website: https://daftar.org/