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"Constitution of Iran" redirects here. For the previous constitution, see Persian Constitution of 1906.

Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Overview
Jurisdiction	Islamic Republic of Iran
Created	24 October 1979
Ratified	3 December 1979
Date effective	3 December 1979
Government structure
Branches	3
Head of state	Supreme Leader
Chambers	Islamic Consultative Assembly
Executive	President led Government Prime Minister (defunct)
Judiciary	Guardian Council Supreme Court of Iran
History
First legislature	14 March 1980
First executive	5 February 1980
Amendments	1
Last amended	28 July 1989
Location	Tehran
Author(s)	Assembly of Experts for Constitution
Signatories	Constitutional referendum by the citizens of Iran
Supersedes	Persian Constitution of 1906

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: قانون اساسی جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Qanun-e Asasi-ye Jimhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Iran) was adopted by referendum on 2 and 3 December 1979, and went into force replacing the Constitution of 1906. It has been amended once, on 28 July 1989. The constitution has been called a "hybrid" of "theocratic and democratic elements". Articles One and Two vest sovereignty in God; but article Six "mandates popular elections for the presidency and the Majlis, or parliament." However, main democratic procedures and rights are subordinate to the Guardian Council and the Supreme Leader, whose powers are spelled out in Chapter Eight (Articles 107-112).

History

Main article: Assembly of Experts for Constitution

See also: Iranian Constitution of 1906

It is said that an early draft was written in Paris by Ruhollah Khomeini during his exile there before the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty by the Iranian Revolution.

Its draft also has been produced there and after that has been considered in Iran many times. Khomeini promised to the Iranian people the establishment of an assembly. This task was transferred to the provisional government by Mehdi Bazargan.

The draft constitution published by the provisional government of Mehdi Bazargan in June 1979 was modeled on the 1958 constitution of the French Fifth Republic.

Also provisional government transferred the task of establishment of assembly establishers to superieur council of revolution according to Islamic resources. Then, during a joint summit between the members of provisional government and superieur council of revolution with presence of Khomeini in Qom, it is ordained that there is no need to establish of assembly establishers and they rejected it. Also after that, it is ordained that Assembly of Experts has to be established.

The offices of the President and the Prime Minister were retained for the executive branch of government from the French model. According to the order of Rouhollah Khomeini, it was necessary to establish a congress in order to evaluate the constitution of Iran finally. The congress has been come to exist by 1358 solar. Nearly seventy three members of Majlis has been selected for evaluating the constitution who were from different minorities of religions, scientists, Athletes, and religious figures.

The Majlis of finally evaluating of constitution begun his career during sixty seven sessions and in four rounds. The first round considered with preliminary evaluating of principles. The second round considered with providing principles in groups. The third round dealt with approbation of principles and the fourth round with investigation of all collection of principles. According to legal bill of council of revolution that constitution has placed to vote through referendum of yes or no and finally has been voted by 15578956 positive votes of Iranian people.

It has been said that the republic is a kind of regime in which the chief of country and generally all responsible has to be selected whether directly or indirectly by people. In fact, republic system is a contrary to aristocracy in which the right of governing is hierarchical and at disposal of a definitive and minor groups.

1989 Amendments

Main article: 1989 Iranian constitutional referendum

On 24 April 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini issued a decree convening an Assembly for Revising the Constitution. It made several changes in the constitution, in Articles 5, 107, 109, 111, eliminating the need for the Supreme Leader to be a marja chosen by popular acclaim. It made permanent the Expediency Discernment Council to work out disagreements between the Parliament and Council of Guardians, and eliminated the post of Prime Minister. The amendments were thought to be established because no marja had given strong support for Khomeini's policies. The amendments were approved by the voting public on 28 July 1989 (in same election as Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was elected to the first of two terms as President of Iran).

Fundamental Principles

In Chapter 1 (‘General Principles’) of the Iranian constitution, the Islamic Republic of Iran is described in two very different ways. Article 6 lays the foundation for a democratic republic by saying that “In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the country’s affairs must be administered by reliance on the public vote, and through elections.” However, previously, in Article 4, it is written that  “All civic, penal, financial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political, and other laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria.” These two fundamental principles, of the rights of citizens to have a voice in their governance, and the supremacy of religious rule in Iran, are both found throughout the text of the constitution.  

Velāyat-e faqīh

The prevailing power in the constitution is vested in the original Supreme Leader Khomeini’s concept of velāyat-e faqīh. This ideology points to a divine origin of social order, with a view that there should be no separation between religion and the state. Velayat-e fagih places supreme authority in the religious leaders who ensure that laws are in line with Islamic principles. In fact, the constitution quotes from the Quran fourteen times, many of which are used to justify the authority of various religious figures. While the electoral has a vote in certain areas of Iranian law and government, the principle of velāyat-e faqīh means that the greatest voice lies with the religious leaders. In the division of powers, this means that the unelected arm of each governmental branch tends to have more power than its elected counterpart.  

Democracy vs Theocracy

In the Constitution

The Iranian constitution contains elements of both a democratic and a theocratic state. Like many Western democracies, the constitution contains a section called Nation’s Rights that outlines the freedoms and protections guaranteed to the Iranian people. Like the US Bill of Rights, the Iranian constitution promises equal protection of the law to both men and women; equal rights regardless of race; the rights to privacy, social security, and fair trials; and freedoms of press and protest, among others. These articles contain many of the freedoms and protections that the international community outlines for the facilitation of human rights.

Many of these rights also contain provisions that refer back to the Islamic source of authority in governance. For example, Article 24, which discusses the right to free press, says that “Publications and the press are free to discuss issues unless such is deemed harmful to the principles of Islam or the rights of the public.” Thus, many of the freedoms nominally discussed in the constitution are constrained by the principles of Islam, as interpreted by the Iranian religious authorities.

In Practice

Despite the numerous provisions in the Iranian constitution discussing the “Nation’s Rights”, many reports of Iran’s record on human rights maintain that these rights are not being upheld in Iran. Though the constitution permits unarmed public assembly and marches, the government uses the requirement that such protests be “not in violation of the fundamental principles of Islam” to justify actions taken against peaceful protesters. In 2019, a government policy that increased gasoline costs sparked significant public outrage and protests. Despite the peaceful nature of these demonstrations, the government deployed security forces that ultimately killed an estimated 1,500 protesters. Additionally, the constitution guarantees that women “should be granted more rights,” and that men and women “are equally protected by the law”. However, international human rights agencies have found significant discrimination against women in Iran. By law, women in Iran are not allowed to have passports or travel outside of the country without a husband’s permission. Laws such as these are permissible due to the caveat of Article 21 that “the government must secure the rights of women in all respects, according to the Islamic criteria.” The qualifying religious perspective on the women’s rights clause gives the Guardian Council the ability to filter legislation that come through the Islamic Legislative Assembly, and limit the passage of laws to those that support the Islamic leadership’s values. Additionally, in several instances, the Supreme Leader has vetoed bills passed by the parliament, and ask the members to rewrite the laws according to his recommendations. While this is not a power delegated to the Supreme Leader explicitly in the constitution, the priority of the religious viewpoint in the text allows for the bypassing of democratic processes.

These differences between the text and the application of the constitution stem from the religious authority that supersedes all democratic processes and laws.

Organization of the Republic

Structure of the State

The Islamic Republic of Iran functions as a nominal constitutional democracy subsumed within a theocratic state: the real power is vested in the religious authorities, though the constitution outlines many of the same structures and power divisions as a Western democracy. The Iranian constitution outlines three branches of government: the executive, legislative and judiciary. The executive branch officially consists of the president and formerly a prime minister. The prime minister was eliminated in a 1989 constitutional amendment. The president does not function alone in his executive power, however, with a Supreme Leader functioning as the overall head of government, with many executive powers. The legislative branch is composed of a unicameral parliamentary body known as the Islamic Consultative Assembly, and the Guardian Council; and the judiciary contains the Supreme Court, Supreme Judicial Council, and lower courts. Within two of these spheres—the executive and legislative—power is split between an elected and an unelected body, with the president and parliament being directly elected, while the Supreme Leader and Guardian Council are appointed by other governmental systems. This internal bifurcation both reflects and drives the tension between democratic and theocratic principles in Iranian politics in general.

Division of Power

The Supreme Leader

The true head-of-state in the Iranian government is the Supreme Leader, who serves for life as the highest religious and political authority in Iran. The Supreme Leader holds many of the roles of a typical head-of-state, including dictating much of Iran’s foreign policy. The Supreme Leader acts as the commander-in-chief, and he alone has the power to declare war. In addition to these executive functions, the Leader also exerts a large degree of power in his ability to appoint leaders of the judiciary, members of the Guardian Council, and heads of state media. Moreover, the Leader has representatives throughout the government, and generally serves as the last word on any significant policies or disputes.

Though the Leader enjoys a great amount of authority over the other branches of government, his power is, at least in theory, not completely unconstrained due to the democratic principles written into the Iranian constitution. The Supreme Leader can be removed from power by the Assembly of Experts if he fails to complete his duties satisfactorily. Thus far, this power has never been exercised, with the Iran’s first Supreme Leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, holding the position until his death, and the current Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, serving since then.

The Executive Branch

The President

Prior to 1989 constitutional amendment, the presidency was a largely ceremonial role, with some of the executive power residing in a prime minister. After 1989, however, the semi-presidential structure of the executive was transformed into something more like a nominal presidential regime. The presidency is a directly elected position, with a 4 year term and a term limit of two terms. The president is not accountable to the parliament, though the president appoints a Council of Ministers, which must obtain a vote of confidence from parliament. Since the 1989 amendment, the president has a more substantial role in the day-to-day governance of Iran. The president is responsible for domestic affairs, including economic policy, and leads several governmental councils. However, the president’s executive powers exclude “instances that are directly related to the leadership,” meaning the powers of the Supreme Leader.

Some ceremonial duties persisted through the constitutional amendment: much like a traditional figurehead monarch, the president is required to sign all legislation approved by the parliament, though he has no veto power for these laws. The Iranian president is also unique in that, as an executive branch leader, he does not have command of the armed forces.

The Legislative Branch

Islamic Consultative Assembly

The Islamic Consultative Assembly is a unicameral parliament whose representatives are directly elected by the Iranian people and who serve for four-year terms. Originally, there were 270 representatives, as per Article 64 of the 1989 constitution. However, Article 64 stipulates that the number of representatives can be increased, with a limit of 20 additional representatives every 10 years; in the 2000 election, 20 members were added, bringing the total up to the current 290 seats.

The 290 members are elected by Iran’s 207 electoral districts, with five seats reserved for religious minorities. These seats are reserved for the “only recognized religious minorities” as per the Iranian constitution—Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian Iranians—with one representative each for the Jews and Zoroastrians, one for the Assyrian and Chaldean Christians, and two for the Armenian Christians.

The Islamic Consultative Assembly’s powers include proposing and interpreting laws, ratifying treaties, and summoning or impeaching ministers and the president. If one third of the parliament question’s the president’s capacity to lead, the president must appear before the Assembly and argue his case; a two-thirds majority of the parliament can then vote to remove the president. A two-thirds majority is also required to ratify any bills proposed in the parliament. However, any laws ratified by the Islamic Consultative Assembly must be vetted by the Guardian Council to determine compatibility with Islamic law before being enacted, which acts as a serious check on their legislative power.

Elections

As delineated by the constitution, there are two main systems in place in the Iranian government for entering into a position of power: direct election by the Iranian people, and unelected appointment by previously elected or appointed officials.

Direct Elections

The president and members of the Parliament and Assembly of Experts are all elected directly. There is universal suffrage, with a minimum voting age of 18. Article 6 stresses that “In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the country’s affairs must be administered by reliance on the public vote, and through elections.” Indeed, much of the Iranian people do participate in the electoral process, with voter turnout consistently above 50% each election since the 1979 revolution. However, statements like the one in Article 6 do not make up the entirety of the constitution. As Article 4 states, in clear tension with Article 4, “All civic, penal, financial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political, and other laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria,” which is determined by the Guardian Council. Unlike the Parliament and Assembly of Experts, the members of the Guardian Council are not directly elected.

As per the Iranian constitution, the elected officials are subsumed under the authority of unelected religious figures, including the most powerful, Supreme Leader. Before being eligible for the popular vote, all potential candidates must be vetted by the Guardian Council prior to elections.

Indirect Appointments

Excluding the president and the Assembly of Experts, all other governmental leaders and officials in Iran are appointed, not elected.

The Supreme Leader is appointed by the directly elected Assembly of Experts. The Supreme Leader then appoints an Expediency Council, the Head of the Judiciary, and six members of the Guardian Council. The other six members of the Guardian Council are recommended by the Head of the Judiciary and confirmed by the parliament. In this way, the Supreme Leader has a direct or indirect influence on all of the appointments to the Guardian Council.

The Guardian Council has the power to veto any candidate from standing in elections to the Presidency, Parliament, or the Assembly of Experts, an ability that they exercise broadly. In 2005, there were over 1,000 presidential candidates brought before the Guardian Council; only 6 of them received the Council’s approval.  

Constitutional Amendment

Constitutional History

Constitutions of 1906 and 1907

In the late 19^th and early 20^th century, Iran was ruled by a succession of Iranian royals of Turkic origin called the Qajar dynasty. Between 1890-1892, the Iranian people revolted against the Qajar rule after the Shah, in response to growing foreign competition, ceded control of Iran’s tobacco trade to the British. This marked the beginning of the Iran people’s dissatisfaction with the government and the degree of foreign influence. In 1906, after significant popular pressure from both intellectuals and the clergy, the Shah agreed to establish a constitution. Some of the driving principles behind this constitution were the appeasement of the clergy with the expansive role of Islam, the limiting of absolutist leaders, and the institution of independent judicial courts. The constitution was modeled in part on the Belgian constitution at the time.

However, the 1906 constitution proved to be unsatisfying in some capacities, with a lack of clarity on the division of powers. In 1907, a supplement to the constitution was added in the form of the Fundamental Laws. The Fundamental Laws adapted some principles of the 1831 Belgian Constitution, and in 51 articles, aimed to further reduce the power of the Shah. This was accomplished via the creation of a bicameral national assembly, as well as a bill of rights. The bill of rights contains rights found in the 1931 Belgian, 1876 Ottoman and 1879 Bulgarian constitutions, with additional original Iranian inclusions. 

The Fundamental Laws were then amended three more times, in 1925, 1949, and 1956.

Constitution of 1979

By the 1970’s the Qajar dynasty had been overthrown and replaced by the Pahlavi. Though Mohammed Reza Shah purported to act as a constitutional monarch, his unilateral style of rule more resembled that of previous dictators. Furthermore, the Iranian people were dissatisfied by the Shah’s poor economic management and his imposition of limits on political freedom, including the abolishment of all but one political party. In response to growing protests and demonstrations, the Shah escalated the tenuous political situation by deploying a secret police force to quell the protesters. The protests culminated in the 1979 departure of the Shah, and the ascension of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power.

Khomeini initially ruled with dual governmental system composed of a secular Provisional Government, and a clerical Revolutionary Council, headed by Khomeini. In 1979, Khomeini put to a public vote, via referendum, whether there was support for this new Islamic Republic. The referendum is reported to have received over 90% positive support by the Iranian people, and was followed by a process to begin drafting a constitution to guide the new Iran. In order to prevent a communist takeover, Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the islamists in the revolution, cooperated with nationalists in drafting a constitution. This constitution essentially outlined a democratic government, nestled under the authority of unelected clerics. A second referendum was held to approve this new constitution in December of 1979.

Amendment of 1989

Before Khomeini’s death, he orchestrated another public referendum to approve amendments to the constitution that would consolidate power in the Supreme Leader. The new amendments abolished the position of prime minister, and designated more power to the Guardian Council and the Supreme Leader]. This referendum was also approved by a majority of the public.  

Process for Amendment

Public Referendum

According to the 1989 constitution, public referenda can be used in general for deciding “vital economic, political, social, and cultural issues.” According to Article 59, in order to put an issue to public vote, the Islamic Consultative Assembly must approve it by a two-thirds majority. However, this power is limited by Article 99, which vests in the Guardian Council the responsibility of supervising any referrals to public referenda. As such, the last public referendum to take place to date was the one that instituted the 1989 constitution. Furthermore, to date, no legislative referendum has been conducted. This again demonstrates the difference between the democratic processes outlined in the text of the constitution, and the actual realization of those principles, which is often overshadowed by religious authority. Because the Supreme Leader and Guardian Council serve as the gatekeepers to public referendum, this makes any proposed referendum that target the power structures in the Iranian government unlikely to be put to a public vote.

Constitutional Amendment

Article 177 of the constitution outlines the process for amending the constitution, including the requirement that any proposed amendment be put to a public vote and approved by an absolute majority. Unlike general legislation, Article 59’s requirement of a two-thirds majority in the parliament is not required for constitutional amendment. Instead, the need to propose an amendment is evaluated by the Supreme Leader, who refers the issue to a Council of Reevaluating the Constitution. The Council is composed of members of the Guardian Council, Expediency Council, Assembly of Experts, and Islamic Consultative Assembly; heads of the executive, legislative, and judiciary; ministers; judges; academics; and several additional members selected by the Supreme Leader. However, even once the Supreme Leader makes this referral, he maintains the power to veto the Reevaluating council’s proposed amendments. This is because the amendment still needs to be put to public vote, which only the Supreme Leader can order.

Finally, the ability to amend the Iranian constitution is further limited by the final clause in Article 177. Article 177 includes the provision that “it is impossible to change the content of the articles which concern the Islamic nature of the system.” This section also goes on to entrench several other principles in the constitution including the nature of the government as a republic, the sovereignty of the divine and the clerics, the utilization of public referendums, and Islam as the official religion and ideology of Iran. These sections of the constitution are absolutely entrenched, with a general prohibition against any amendment to them. Studies have shown that constitutions that are formed via majority approval are more likely to contain such entrenchment clauses, though the democratic nature of a political system is not strongly related to the presence or absence of entrenchment clauses. In Iran in general, the articles protected by the entrenchment clause are not related to the assurance of human rights or personal freedoms, but rather serve as another safeguard of the absolute authority of Islam and its religious leaders in Iran.  

Summary of Formal Content

Preamble

The constitution begins by stating that the "anti-despotic movement for constitutional government [1906-1911], and anti-colonialist movement for the nationalization of petroleum" in the 1950s failed because of lack of religious coloring thereunder. Moreover, the "central axis" of the theocracy shall be Quran and hadith.

The preamble further states: "The Assembly of Experts for Constitution...fram[ed] the Constitution...[after input] by the government...with the hope that this century will witness the establishment of a universal holy government and the downfall of all others." (See also: Mahdi and Mohammed al-Mahdi)

Chapter I [Article 1 to 14] : General Principles

Article 1 (Form of Government)

Article 1 states that the form of Government in Iran is that of an Islamic Republic. It explains this form is due to the referendum passed by 98% of the eligible voters of Iran and gives credit to Imam Khomeini for the victorious revolution.

Article 2 (Foundation Principles)

Article 2 defines an Islamic Republic as a system based on the belief in:

1. the One Allah (as stated in the phrase "There is no god except Allah"), His exclusive sovereignty and right to legislate, and the necessity of submission to His commands;
2. divine revelation and its fundamental role in setting forth the laws;
3. the return to Allah in the Hereafter, and the constructive role of this belief in the course of man's ascent towards Allah;
4. the justice of Allah in creation and legislation;
5. continuous leadership and perpetual guidance, and its fundamental role in ensuring the uninterrupted process of the revolution of Islam;
6. the exalted dignity and value of man, and his freedom coupled with responsibility before God; in which equity, justice, political, economic, social, and cultural independence, and national solidarity are secured by recourse to:

• continuous leadership of the holy persons, possessing necessary qualifications, exercised on the basis of the Quran and the Sunnah, upon all of whom be peace;
• sciences and arts and the most advanced results of human experience, together with the effort to advance them further;
• negation of all forms of oppression, both the infliction of and the submission to it, and of dominance, both its imposition and its acceptance.

Article 3 (State Goals)

Article 3 states the objective of the Islamic Republic is to direct all of its resources to a number of goals. These goals cover general topics in governance. For example:

• Support good moral values based on faith
• Fight all forms of vice and corruption
• Raise public awareness through the proper use of the mass media and press
• Free education
• Free physical training
• Strengthening advanced scientific research
• The elimination of imperialism and foreign influence
• The elimination of despotism, autocracy and monopoly
• Ensure social and political freedoms within the law
• The end to all forms of undesirable discrimination

These goals were designed to emphasize positive liberty.

Some of the goals are put in context of the requirements of Islam. For example:

• The planning of a just economic system
• Public cooperation of all people
• The creation of the government's foreign policy

Commentary

The principles of faith and piety are necessary conditions of creating a good society. Therefore, that is needed some initiative actions such as cleaning the environment. That action is to policies like codification of rules of social justice and removing any type of social gap; creating the administrative system; reformation of judicial system according to Islamic regulations. Reducing the phenomena of being illiterate; rejecting the tyranny and being participated of all people in all affairs and Refinement of souls.

Article 4 (Islamic Principle)

Article 4 is immutable and the Council of Guardians ensures that all articles of the Constitution as well other laws are based on Islamic criteria.

Article 5 (Office of Religious Leader)

This article explains the leaders of Ummah must choose a leader in accordance with Article 107 for this office. This is stated to be related to the disappearance of the Twelfth Imam whom it asks God to return.

Chapter II [Article 15 to 18]: The Official Language, Script, Calendar, and Flag of the Country

Official Language

Article 15 states that the "Official language and writing script (of Iran)... is Persian ...[and]... the use of regional and tribal languages in the press and mass media, as well as for teaching of their literature in schools, is allowed in addition to Persian." Per Article 16, "Since the language of the Qur'an and Islamic texts ... is Arabic it must be taught ... in school from elementary grades until the end of high school."

Chapter III [Article 19 to 42]: The Rights of the People

Article 23 of the Iranian constitution holds that “the investigation of individuals’ beliefs is forbidden, and no one may be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief.”

Article 24 "Publications and the press are free to discuss issues unless such is deemed harmful to the principles of Islam or the rights of the public. The law shall determine the details of this exception."

Article 27 provides for freedom of assembly, "provided arms are not carried" and the assemblies "are not detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam".

Article 37 provides for the presumption of innocence, stating: "Innocence is to be presumed, and no one is to be held guilty of a charge unless his or her guilt has been established by a competent court."

Article 29 [Welfare benefits] is a universal right of all to enjoy social insurance or other forms of security for retirement, unemployment, old-age disability, lack of guardianship, being a wayfarer, accident and the need for health and treatment services and medical care. The government, in accordance with the laws and by drawing on national revenues, is required to provide such insurance and economic protection to each and every citizen of the country.

Chapter IV [Article 43 to 55]: Economy and Financial Affairs

Article 44: The Islamic Republic is not a Communist state as the Islamic scholars fiercely oppose this. Notwithstanding this, pursuant to Article 44, "all large-scale and mother industries, foreign trade, major minerals, banking, insurance, power generation, dams, and large-scale irrigation networks, radio and television, post, telegraph and telephone services, aviation, shipping, roads, railroads and the like" are entirely owned by the government. According to the Article 44 of the Iranian Constitution, the economy of Iran is to consist of three sectors: state, cooperative, and private; and is to be based on systematic and sound planning. This article has been amended in 2004 to allow for the Privatization of the Iranian economy.

Article 49: The government has the responsibility of confiscating all wealth accumulated through usury, usurpation, bribery, embezzlement, theft, gambling, misuse of endowments, misuse of government contracts and transactions, the sale of uncultivated lands and other resources subject to public ownership, the operation of centers of corruption, and other illicit means and sources, and restoring it to its legitimate owner; and if no such owner can be identified, it must be entrusted to the public treasury. This rule must be executed by the government with due care, after investigation and furnishing necessary evidence in accordance with the law of Islam.

Article 50: This article links current and future generations to the environment and makes it a public duty to protect the environment. This article explicitly forbids economic activity that degrades or causes irreversible harm to the environment.

Chapter V [Article 56 to 61]: The Right of National Sovereignty

Pursuant to Article 60, the president fulfills "executive" functions "except in the matters that are directly placed under the jurisdiction of the [Leader]" as enumerated in Article 110. Article 68 allows suspension of elections during wartime. Article 57 states the Separation of Powers

Chapter VI [Article 62 to 99]: The Legislative Powers

Article 81 [Foreign Business]

This article forbids multinational corporations from taking over certain businesses in Iran saying, "concessions to foreigners or the formation of companies" in Iran is forbidden.

Chapter VII [Article 100 to 106]: Councils

Article 100 In order to expedite social, economic, development, public health, cultural, and educational programmes and facilitate other affairs relating to public welfare with the cooperation of the people according to local needs, the administration of each village, division, city, municipality, and province will be supervised by a council to be named the Village, Division, City, Municipality, or Provincial Council. Members of each of these councils will be elected by the people of the locality in question. Qualifications for the eligibility of electors and candidates for these councils, as well as their functions and powers, the mode of election, the jurisdiction of these councils, the hierarchy of their authority, will be determined by law, in such a way as to preserve national unity, territorial integrity, the system of the Islamic Republic, and the sovereignty of the central government.

Article 101 In order to prevent discrimination in the preparation of programmes for the development and welfare of the provinces, to secure the cooperation of the people, and to arrange for the supervision of coordinated implementation of such programmes, a Supreme Council of, the Provinces will be formed, composed of representatives of the Provincial Councils. Law will specify the manner in which this council is to be formed and the functions that it is to fulfil.

Article 102 The Supreme Council of the Provinces has the right within its jurisdiction, to draft bills and to submit them to the Islamic Consultative Assembly, either directly or through the government. These bills must be examined by the Assembly.

Article 103 Provincial governors, city governors, divisional governors, and other officials appointed by the government must abide by all decisions taken by the councils within their jurisdiction.

Article 104 In order to ensure Islamic equity and cooperation in chalking out the programmes and to bring about the harmonious progress of all units of production, both industrial and agricultural, councils consisting of the representatives of the workers, peasants, other employees, and managers, will be formed in educational and administrative units, units of service industries, and other units of a like nature, similar councils will be formed, composed of representatives of the members of those units. The mode of the formation of these councils and the scope of their 'functions and powers' are to be specified by law.

Article 105 Decisions taken by the councils must not be contrary to the criteria of Islam and the laws of the country.

Article 106 The councils may not be dissolved unless they deviate from their legal duties. The body responsible for determining such deviation, as well as the manner for dissolving the councils and re-forming them, will be specified by law. Should a council have any objection to its dissolution, it has the right to appeal to a competent court, and the court is duty-bound to examine its complaint outside the docket sequence.

Chapter VIII [Article 107 to 112]: The Leader or Leadership Council

Article 110 [Leadership Duties and Powers]

The constitution accords many powers to the Supreme Leader.

Some say that the Supreme Leader's powers extend beyond those enumerated in the Constitution because he can use "Islamic issues for justification."

Article 112: If a proposed bill of Majles is "against the principles of Shariah or the Constitution," then the Guardian Council should meet with the Expediency Council to resolve the legislative deadlock.

Chapter IX [Article 113 to 151]: The Executive Power

Article 146 [No Foreign Military Bases]

"...[F]oreign military bases in Iran, even for peaceful purposes, is forbidden."

Chapter X [Article 152 to 155]: Foreign Policy

Article 152: The foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is based upon the rejection of all forms of domination, both the exertion of it and submission to it, the preservation of the independence of the country in all respects and its territorial integrity, the defence of the rights of all Muslims, non-alignment with respect to the hegemonic superpowers, and the maintenance of mutually peaceful relations with all non-belligerent States.

Article 153: Any form of agreement resulting in foreign control over the natural resources, economy, army, or culture of the country, as well as other aspects of the national life, is forbidden.

Article 154: The Islamic Republic of Iran has as its ideal human felicity throughout human society, and considers the attainment of independence, freedom, and rule of justice and truth to be the right of all people of the world. Accordingly, while scrupulously refraining from all forms of interference in the internal affairs of other nations, it supports the just struggles of the Mustad'afun (oppressed) against the Mustakbirun (oppressors) in every corner of the globe.

Article 155: The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran may grant political asylum to those who seek it unless they are regarded as traitors and saboteurs according to the laws of Iran.

Chapter XI [Article 156 to 174]: The Judiciary

Islamic laws & Verdicts

Article 167 [Rule of Law for Judiciary] stipulates that judges must make use of "Islamic sources and...verdicts " in matters where the Iranian law books are silent.

Chapter XII [Article 175]: Radio & Television

This article guarantees the freedom of expression and dissemination of thoughts in the "Radio and Television of the Islamic Republic of Iran" when keeping with the Islamic criteria and best interests of the country. It gives the Leader the power to appoint and dismiss the head of the "Radio and Television of the Islamic Republic of Iran" and establishes a council with two representatives (six in total) from each branch of the government to supervise this organization.

Chapter XIII [Article 176]: Supreme Council for National Security

Chapter 8, which has only one article, establishes Iran's National Security Council.

Chapter XIV [Article 177]: The Revision of the Constitution

This article regulates the process for revising the Constitution and puts a moratorium on revisions to particular aspects of the Constitution. Absent its own repeal, Article 177 requires an edict by the Leader to initiate the process of making future revisions to the Constitution.

Itself a revision to the Constitution, Article 177 necessitates a “Council for Revision of the Constitution” to make future amendments to the Constitution. This panel’s membership is exclusively governmental officials beyond the advice of 3 university professors. The final amendments are put to referendum in a process initiated by the executive unlike Article 59 referendum which must be approved by a supermajority of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. The article further stipulates that particular aspects of the Constitution are unalterable: the Islamic character of government and laws, the objectives of the republic, the democratic character of the government, “the absolute wilayat al-'amr and the leadership of the Ummah”, the administration of the country by referendum, and the official religion of Islam.

See also

• 1989 Iranian constitutional referendum
• Blasphemy laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran
• December 1979 Iranian constitutional referendum
• Iran Constitution of 1906
• Iranian Islamic Republic Day
• Iranian Revolution
• List of members of Constitutional Amendment Council of Iran
• Politics of Iran
• Sharia

External links

• Constitution of Iran (in Persian), Ministry of Interior, Iran
• Constitution of Iran, as an unofficial English translation hosted at University of Bern, Switzerland (with good summaries)
• Islamic Republic of Iran Constitution from parstimes.com
• Islamic Republic of Iran Constitution
• An article on the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran from the Encyclopaedia Iranica
• Iran Chamber Society
• Iran Law Library
• http://www.helplinelaw.com/law/iran/constitution/constitution02.php
• https://web.archive.org/web/20070929082837/http://www.ibchamber.org/lawreg/constitution.htm
• https://web.archive.org/web/20170918102549/http://www.alaviandassociates.com/documents/constitution.pdf
• Iran Electoral Archive - Iranian Constitution
• (in English) Nourlaw.com - Database of Iranian laws and regulations - 2017

Category:Government of Iran Category:1979 in law Category:Law of Iran Category:Iranian Revolution Category:1979 documents Category:1979 in politics Category:December 1979 events in Asia Islamic Category:1979 in Iran Category:1970s in Iran