| Country name | conventional long form: Islamic Republic of Iran conventional short form: Iran local long form: Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran local short form: Iran former: Persia etymology: name derives from the Avestan term "aryanam" meaning "Land of the Noble [Ones]" |
| Government type | theocratic republic |
| Capital | name: Tehran geographic coordinates: 35 42 N, 51 25 E time difference: UTC+3.5 (8.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins fourth Wednesday in March; ends fourth Friday in September etymology: various explanations of the city's name have been proffered, but the most plausible states that it derives from the Persian words "tah" meaning "end or bottom" and "ran" meaning "[mountain] slope" to signify "bottom of the mountain slope"; Tehran lies at the bottom slope of the Elburz Mountains |
| Administrative divisions | 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 |
| Independence | 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) |
| National holiday | Republic Day, 1 April (1979) |
| Constitution | 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 |
| Legal system | religious legal system based on secular and Islamic law |
| International law organization participation | has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt |
| Citizenship | citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: the father must be a citizen of Iran dual citizenship recognized: no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch | chief of state: Supreme Leader Ali Hoseini-KHAMENEI (since 4 June 1989) head of government: President-elect Ebrahim RAISI (since 18 June 2021); First Vice President Eshagh JAHANGIRI (since 5 August 2013) cabinet: Council of Ministers selected by the president with legislative approval; the supreme leader has some control over appointments to several ministries elections/appointments: 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); election last held on 18 June 2012 (next to be held in June 2025) election results: Ebrahim RAISI elected president; percent of vote - Ebrahim RAISI (CCA) 72.4%, Mohsen Rezaee MIRGHA'ED (RFII) 13.8%, Abbdolnaser HEMMATI (ECP) 9.8%, Amir Hossein Hossein Ghazizadegh HASHEMI (Islamic Law Party) 4% note: 3 oversight bodies are also considered part of the executive branch of government |
| Legislative branch | 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 2-round vote, and 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 21 February 2020 and second round for 11 remaining seats held on 11 September 2020 (next full Majles election to be held in 2024) election results: percent of vote by coalition (first round) - NA; seats by coalition (first round) - conservatives 219, reformists 20, independents 35, religious minorities 5; remaining 11 seats to be decided in April 2020 |
| Judicial branch | highest courts: Supreme Court (consists of the chief justice and organized into 42 two-bench branches, each with 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 |
| Political parties and leaders | Combatant Clergy Association (an active political group) Council for Coordinating the Reforms Front Executives of Construction Party Followers of the Guardianship of the Jurisprudent [Ali LARIJANI] Front of Islamic Revolutionary Stability [Morteza AGHA-TEHRANI, general secretary] Islamic Coalition Party Islamic Iran Participation Front [associated with former President Mohammed KHATAMI] Islamic Law Party Militant Clerics Society Moderation and Development Party National Trust Party National Unity Party Pervasive Coalition of Reformists [Ali SUFI, chairman] (includes Council for Coordinating the Reforms Front, National Trust Party, Union of Islamic Iran People Party, Moderation and Development Party) Principlists Grand Coalition [Ali Reza ZAKANI] (includes Combatant Clergy Association and Islamic Coalition Party, Society of Devotees and Pathseekers of the Islamic Revolution, Front of Islamic Revolution Stability) Progress, Welfare, and Justice Front Progress and Justice Population of Islamic Iran or PJP [Hosein GHORBANZADEH, general secretary] Resistance Front of Islamic Iran [Yadollah HABIBI, general secretary] Steadfastness Front Union of Islamic Iran People's Party Wayfarers of the Islamic Revolution |
| International organization participation | 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, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer) |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | 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; info@daftar.org |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | 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 |
| Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and red; the national emblem (a stylized representation of the word Allah in the shape of a tulip, a symbol of martyrdom) in red is centered in the white band; ALLAH AKBAR (God is Great) in white Arabic script is repeated 11 times along the bottom edge of the green band and 11 times along the top edge of the red band; green is the color of Islam and also represents growth, white symbolizes honesty and peace, red stands for bravery and martyrdom |
| National symbol(s) | lion; national colors: green, white, red |
| National anthem | name: "Soroud-e Melli-ye Jomhouri-ye Eslami-ye Iran" (National Anthem of the Islamic Republic of Iran) lyrics/music: multiple authors/Hassan RIAHI note 1: adopted 1990; Iran has had six national anthems; the first, entitled Salam-e Shah (Royal Salute) was in use from 1873-1909; next came Salamati-ye Dowlat-e Elliye-ye Iran (Salute of the Sublime State of Persia, 1909-1933); it was followed by Sorud-e melli (The Imperial Anthem of Iran; 1933-1979), which chronicled the exploits of the Pahlavi Dynasty; Ey Iran (Oh Iran) functioned unofficially as the national anthem for a brief period between the ouster of the Shah in 1979 and the early days of the Islamic Republic in 1980; Payandeh Bada Iran (Long Live Iran) was used between 1980 and 1990 during the time of Ayatollah KHOMEINI note 2: a recording of the current Iranian national anthem is unavailable since the US Navy Band does not record anthems for countries from which the US does not anticipate official visits; the US does not have diplomatic relations with Iran |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
