ional short form:
Iran
local long form:
Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran
local short form:
Iran
Digraph:
IR
Type:
theocratic republic
Capital:
Tehran
Administrative divisions:
24 provinces (ostanha, singular - ostan); Azarbayjan-e Bakhtari,
Azarbayjan-e Khavari, Bakhtaran, Bushehr, Chahar Mahall va Bakhtiari,
Esfahan, Fars, Gilan, Hamadan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, Khorasan,
Khuzestan, Kohkiluyeh va Buyer Ahmadi, Kordestan, Lorestan, Markazi,
Mazandaran, Semnan, Sistan va Baluchestan, Tehran, Yazd, Zanjan
Independence:
1 April 1979 (Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed)
National holiday:
Islamic Republic Day, 1 April (1979)
Constitution:
2-3 December 1979; revised 1989 to expand powers of the presidency and
eliminate the prime ministership
Legal system:
the Constitution codifies Islamic principles of government
Suffrage:
15 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
supreme leader and functional chief of state:
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-KHAMENEI (since
4 June 1989); supreme leader (velayat-e faqih)
head of government:
President Ali Akbar Hashemi-RAFSANJANI (since 3 August 1989); election
last held June 1993 (next to be held June-July 1997); results - Ali
Akbar HASHEMI-RAFSANJANI was elected with 63% of the vote
cabinet:
Council of Ministers; selected by the president with legislative
approval
Legislative branch:
unicameral
Islamic Consultative Assembly:
(Majles-e-Shura-ye-Eslami) elections last held 8 April 1992 (next to
be held April 1996); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats -
(270 seats total) number of seats by party NA
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders:
there are at least 76 licensed parties; the three most important are -
Tehran Militant Clergy Association, Mohammad Reza MAHDAVI-KANI;
Militant Clerics Association, Mehdi MAHDAVI-KARUBI and Mohammad Asqar
MUSAVI-KHOINIHA; Fedaiyin Islam Organization, Sadeq KHALKHALI
Other political or pressure groups:
groups that generally support the Islamic Republic include Hizballah,
Hojjatiyeh Society, Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, Muslim
Students Following the Line of the Imam; armed political groups that
have been almost completely repressed by the government include
Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK), People's Fedayeen, Kurdish
Democratic Party; the Society for the Defense of Freedom
Member of:
CCC, CP, ESCAP,