A constitutional referendum was held in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

on 2 and 3 December 1979. The new Islamic constitution was approved by 99.5% of voters. The referendum was held by the

Council of the Islamic Revolution The Council of the Islamic Revolution ( fa, شورای انقلاب اسلامی, Šūrā-ye enqelāb-e eslāmī) was a group formed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to manage the Iranian Revolution on 10 January 1979, shortly before he returned ...

, because Bazargan's

Interim Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

—which oversaw the previous referendum—had resigned in protest to the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis. A day before the referendum, when the mourning of ''

Ashura Ashura (, , ) is a day of commemoration in Islam. It occurs annually on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. Among Shia Muslims, Ashura is observed through large demonstrations of high-scale mourning as it marks the ...

'' was practiced, Ayatollah

Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...

said those who will not vote tomorrow, will help Americans and desecrate '' Shohada'' (Martyrs). Alongside

Islamic Republican Party The Islamic Republican Party (IRP; fa, حزب جمهوری اسلامی, Ḥezb-e Jomhūrī-e Eslāmī, also translated Islamic Republic Party) formed in 1979 to assist the Iranian Revolution and Ayatollah Khomeini establish theocracy in Iran. ...

, the communist

Tudeh Party of Iran The Tudeh Party of Iran ( fa-at, حزب تودۀ ایران, Ḥezb-e Tūde-ye Īrān, lit=Party of the Masses of Iran) is an Iranian communist party. Formed in 1941, with Soleiman Mirza Eskandari as its head, it had considerable influence in i ...

urged people to vote yes, expressing its support for " Imam's line"; while

Freedom Movement of Iran The Freedom Movement of Iran (FMI) or Liberation Movement of Iran (LMI; fa, نهضت آزادی ايران, Nahżat-e āzādi-e Irān) is an Iranian pro-democracy political organization founded in 1961, by members describing themselves as "Muslim ...

requested a yes vote on the grounds that the alternative was an

anarchy Anarchy is a society without a government. It may also refer to a society or group of people that entirely rejects a set hierarchy. ''Anarchy'' was first used in English in 1539, meaning "an absence of government". Pierre-Joseph Proudhon adopted ...

. Others, including leftists, secular nationalists and Islamist followers of

Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari Sayyid Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari ( fa, محمد کاظم شریعتمداری), also spelled Shariat-Madari (5 January 1906 – 3 April 1986), was an Iranian Grand Ayatollah. He favoured the traditional Shiite practice of keeping clerics away ...

called for a boycott. The turnout among

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

minorities in

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...

and Sistan and Baluchestan Provinces, as well as Shariatmadari's home

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

was low and number of votes fell down in comparison to the referandum held in January. Historian

Ervand Abrahamian Ervand Abrahamian; hy, Երուանդ Աբրահամեան (born 1940) is an Iranian-American historian of the Middle East. He is Distinguished Professor of History at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York a ...

estimates that nearly 17% of the people did not support the constitution.

Background

The supplement to the constitution (fundamental law) adopted in 1907. Some instances of European fundamental law were contradictions with Shia doctrine but they were accommodated. At that time there were no attempts at developing the Islamic fundamental laws. In 1979, the

Pahlavi dynasty The Pahlavi dynasty ( fa, دودمان پهلوی) was the last Iranian royal dynasty, ruling for almost 54 years between 1925 and 1979. The dynasty was founded by Reza Shah Pahlavi, a non-aristocratic Mazanderani soldier in modern times, who ...

was ousted and an Islamic republic was established on end of the March by holding the Iranian Islamic Republic referendum. The first day of April 1979 was entitled as the first day of a "Government of God", with the 2,500 year

Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...

in Iran was ended by Ayatollah Khomeini. He stated the necessary next step was in ratifying the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

. On 12 January 1979, the

Assembly of Experts The Assembly of Experts ( fa, مجلس خبرگان رهبری, majles-e khobregân-e rahbari), also translated as the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership or as the Council of Experts, is the deliberative body empowered to appoint the Supreme ...

election was held and Ayatollah Khomeini asked Iranians to select their representatives. On 3 and 4 August 1979 the Assembly of Experts as a

Constituent assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

commenced activities with 72 representatives from all over of Iran, and Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani read the message of Ayatollah Khomeini for them that the "Constitution and other laws in this Republic must be based one hundred per cent on Islam." The convocations of the Assembly of Experts lasted until 15 November 1979, and finally the new Islamic constitution was approved by at least two-thirds of the representatives. In June 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini approved the draft by applying minor changes and he stated that the draft must to be submitted to a referendum.

New constitution

The proposed new constitution would make Iran an Islamic republic, introduce direct elections for the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

, create a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, and require any constitutional changes to go to a referendum.Iran, 3 December 1979: Constitution
Direct Democracy The new constitution was codified according to Shia Islam. Therefore there was an appendix in which verses of

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

and traditions were cited in support of many articles. Among the applied changes were a chapter on

leadership Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...

replacing a chapter on monarchy. Two chapters about

foreign policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

and

mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information ...

was added. Some articles from the previous constitution were preserved, such as equality before the law (Articles 19-20); guarantees of security of life, property, honor, and domicile (Articles 22, 39); freedom of opinion and choice of profession (Articles 23, 28); the rights to due process (Articles 32-36) and to privacy of communications (Article 25); and the requirement for public deliberations of the Majlis under normal circumstances (Article 69), as well as parliamentary procedure and definition of the rights and responsibilities of the ministers of the Majlis (Articles. 70, 74, 88-90).

Party policies

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1979 12 Iranian constitutional referendum Aftermath of the Iranian Revolution

Referendums in Iran December constitutional referendum Constitutional referendums Iranian constitutional referendum 1970s in Iran