The Prime Minister of Iran was a political post that had existed 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 ...
(
Persia
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 ...
) during much of the 20th century. It began in 1906 during the
Qajar dynasty
The Qajar dynasty (; fa, دودمان قاجار ', az, Qacarlar ) was an IranianAbbas Amanat, ''The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896'', I. B. Tauris, pp 2–3 royal dynasty of Turkic origin ...
and into the start of 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 ...
in 1923 and into the
1979 Iranian Revolution before being abolished in 1989.
History of the office
Qajar era
In the Qajar era, prime ministers were known by different titles. The post itself was mainly known as ''ataabak'' or ''ataabak-e a'zam'' (grand ''ataabak''), or sometimes ''sadr-e a'zam'' (premier) at the beginning, but became ''ra'is ol-vozaraa'' (head of ministers) at the end. The title of ''nakhost vazir'' (prime minister) was rarely used. The prime minister was usually called by the honorific title ''hazrat-e ashraf''.
Reza Khan Sardar Sepah became the last prime minister of the Qajar dynasty in 1923.
For a list of Iranian 'prime ministers' prior to 1907 see
List of Grand Viziers of Persia.
Pahlavi era
In 1925,
Reza Shah
,
, spouse = Maryam Savadkoohi Tadj ol-Molouk Ayromlu (queen consort) Turan Amirsoleimani Esmat Dowlatshahi
, issue = Princess Hamdamsaltaneh Princess Shams Mohammad Reza Shah Princess Ashraf Prince Ali Reza Prince Gholam Reza P ...
became Shah of Iran. He installed
Mohammad-Ali Foroughi
Mohammad Ali Foroughi ( fa, محمدعلی فروغی; early August 1877 – 26 or 27 November 1942), also known as Zoka-ol-Molk ( Persian: ذُکاءُالمُلک), was a writer, diplomat and politician who served three terms as Prime Mini ...
as the prime minister.
In 1941 his son
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
, title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran
, image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg
, caption = Shah in 1973
, succession = Shah of Iran
, reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979
, coronation = 26 Octob ...
became Shah. He installed Mohammad-Ali Foroughi as the prime minister too. In 1951,
Mohammed Mosaddeq
Mohammad Mosaddegh ( fa, محمد مصدق, ; 16 June 1882 – 5 March 1967) was an Iranian politician, author, and lawyer who served as the 35th Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953, after appointment by the 16th Majlis. He was a member of ...
became Prime Minister but was overthrown in a
counter coup d'état in 1953.
Amir-Abbas Hoveyda became Prime minister of Iran in 1965 and remained in office until 1977.
Shapour Bakhtiar
Shapour Bakhtiar ( fa, شاپور بختیار, ; 26 June 19146 August 1991) was an Iranian politician who served as the last Prime Minister of Iran under the Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. In the words of historian Abbas Milani: "more than once ...
was the last prime minister of Pahlavi era.
Islamic Republic of Iran
After the
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
of 1979,
Ayatollah 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 ...
installed
Mehdi Bazargan
Mehdi Bazargan ( fa, مهدی بازرگان; 1 September 1907 – 20 January 1995) was an Iranian scholar, academic, long-time pro-democracy activist and head of Iran's interim government. He was appointed prime minister in February 1979 by Ay ...
as the Prime Minister of an
interim government, which served until November 1979. The government resigned during the
Iran hostage crisis
On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over ...
, but mentioned that it has not been the sole reason, and the decision for mass resignation had been reached one day before the invasion of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
embassy by the Iranian students.
The post was left empty until
Abolhassan Banisadr became president in January 1980 and chose
Mohammad Ali Rajai
Mohammad-Ali Rajai ( fa, محمدعلی رجائی; 15 June 1933 – 30 August 1981) was the second president of Iran from 2 to 30 August 1981 after serving as prime minister under Abolhassan Banisadr. He was also minister of foreign affairs fro ...
as his prime minister, mainly because of pressures imposed by
Majlis
( ar, المجلس, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning "sitting room", used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural conne ...
representatives, especially those close to the
Islamic Republic Party. Rajai served in the post until Banisadr's impeachment in June 1981, and was elected as president in the elections of July 24, 1981. Rajai chose
Mohammad Javad Bahonar
Mohammad-Javad Bahonar ( fa, محمدجواد باهنر, 5 September 1933 – 30 August 1981) was a Shia Iranian theologian and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Iran for less than one month in August 1981. Bahonar and other memb ...
as his prime minister, but they were assassinated together in the Prime Minister's office only a few weeks later on August 30, 1981.
When
Ali Khamenei
Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنهای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia '' marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third presiden ...
became president in the elections of October 1981, he first introduced right-leaning
Ali Akbar Velayati to the Majlis as his prime minister, but he was voted down by the then left-leaning majority of the parliament, which then forced their own preferred prime minister to Khamenei, namely
Mir-Hossein Mousavi
Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh ( fa, میرحسین موسوی خامنه, Mīr-Hoseyn Mūsavī Khāmené, ; born 2 March 1942) is an Iranian reformist politician, artist and architect who served as the forty-ninth and last Prime Minister of Ira ...
. The dispute finally ended following intervention by the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, who advised the president to accept Mousavi.
Mousavi served under the title until 1989, when 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 entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these pr ...
was
amended
Amend as a verb means to change or modify something, as in:
*Constitutional amendment, a change to the constitution of a nation or a state
*Amend (motion), a motion to modify a pending main motion in parliamentary procedure
Amend as a surname may ...
to abolish the title of Prime Minister and divide his responsibilities between the president and a newly created title of
first Vice President.
List of prime ministers
Living former prime ministers
See also
*
List of Grand Viziers of Persia
*
History of Iran
The history of Iran is intertwined with the history of a larger region known as Greater Iran, comprising the area from Anatolia in the west to the borders of Ancient India and the Syr Darya in the east, and from the Caucasus and the Eurasian Step ...
References
Sources
* For a full list of Viziers of Iran in the last 2000 years, see: "Iranian Viziers: From Bozorgmehr to Amir Kabir" (وزیران ایرانی از بزرگمهر تا امیر کبیر) by Abdolrafi' Haqiqat (عبدالرفیع حقیقت).
Perry–Castañeda Library
The Perry–Castañeda Library (PCL) is the main central library of the University of Texas at Austin library system in Austin, Texas. PCL is located at 21st Street and Speedway in Austin, TX.
The UT Austin campus library system holds nearly eigh ...
collection DS 271 F34 1995
*
Mohammad Taghi Bahar
Mohammad-Taqi Bahar ( fa, محمدتقی بهار; also romanized as Mohammad-Taqī Bahār; 10 December 1886 in Mashhad – 22 April 1951 in Tehran), widely known as Malek osh-Sho'arā ( fa, ملکالشعراء) and Malek osh-Sho'arā Bahā ...
, ''Taarikh-e Mokhtasar-e Ahzaab-e Siaasi-e Iraan'' (A Short History of Political Parties of Iran),
Amirkabir, 1978.
*
Encyclopædia Iranica
''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times.
Scope
The ''Encyc ...
's entries on "Ala-al-Saltana, Mohammad-Ali" and "Akbar Sepahdar-e Azam, Fathallah"
* various articles in
The Persian Encyclopedia
* 'Alí Rizā Awsatí (عليرضا اوسطى), ''Iran in the Past Three Centuries'' (''Irān dar Se Qarn-e Goz̲ashteh'' - ايران در سه قرن گذشته), Volumes 1 and 2 (Paktāb Publishing - انتشارات پاکتاب, Tehran, Iran, 2003). (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prime Minister Of Iran
Government of Iran
*