The history of the parliament in Iran refers to the history of this legislative body 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 ...

, which has gone through various stages. This legislative body has been changing and expanding from a ''25-member House of Expediency'' to the present day, which operates under the name of the

Islamic Consultative Assembly The Islamic Consultative Assembly ( fa, مجلس شورای اسلامی, Majles-e Showrā-ye Eslāmī), also called the Iranian Parliament, the Iranian Majles (Arabicised spelling Majlis) or ICA, is the national legislative body of Iran. The P ...

with 290 members.

Ancient Iran

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...

(

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

) claims that after

Cyrus Cyrus ( Persian: کوروش) is a male given name. It is the given name of a number of Persian kings. Most notably it refers to Cyrus the Great ( BC). Cyrus is also the name of Cyrus I of Anshan ( BC), King of Persia and the grandfather of Cyrus ...

and his sons, the Iranians formed a small assembly to determine the status of the government in their country, which

Dariush Dariush ( fa, داریوش; also spelled ''Darioush'', ''Daryoush'' or ''Daryoosh'') is a common Persian male given name in Iran. Dariush is composed of ''dāraya-'' old+ ''vash-'' ood meaning "holding firm the good". It was the throne name of D ...

succeeded in persuading to abandon democratic systems and continue the imperial system. The first known parliament in the history of Iran dates back to the

Parthian Empire The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conque ...

. During this period, an assembly called ''Mehestan'' was formed among the elders and nobles of Iran. As mentioned, the first known parliament in the history of Iran dates back to

Parthian Parthian may be: Historical * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...

times. During this period, the ''Mehestan Assembly'' was divided into two groups of elders and emperors among the Iranian nobles. After the

Arab conquest of Iran The Muslim conquest of Persia, also known as the Arab conquest of Iran, was carried out by the Rashidun Caliphate from 633 to 654 AD and led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire as well as the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion. The ...

, parliament was abolished in Iranian governments for more than 12 centuries.

Qajar period

Naser al-Din Shah

During the reign of

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar Naser al-Din Shah Qajar ( fa, ناصرالدین‌شاه قاجار; 16 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. He was the son of Mohammad Shah Qajar and Malek ...

, permission to convene assemblies was issued on several occasions. On 17 March 1841 (23

Muharram Muḥarram ( ar, ٱلْمُحَرَّم) (fully known as Muharram ul Haram) is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is forbidden. It is held to be the second holiest month after R ...

1275 AH), a decree issued by Nasser al-Din Shah was published in the newspaper ''Vaqaye-e-Etefaqiye'', dividing the duties of the government between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, War, Finance, Justice and Public Works, including Mirza Jafar Khan Mushirod Dowleh (an Iranian diplomat who educated in

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

) was nominated as the Speaker of the ''25-member House of Expediency'', or " Consultative Assembly" for short.قبله عالم – نوشته عباس امانت – ترجمه حسن کامشاد Although this consultative assembly, as its name suggests, was more ceremonial, after several centuries it can be considered a spark of reform in Iran's political structure. After that, and in August 1884 (Shawwal 1301 AH), a group of merchants and traders were able to get permission from Nasser al-Din Shah to establish ''the assembly of merchant lawyers'', whose its ideology was very progressive and had a strong reformist aspect.نوسازی سیاسی در عصر مشروطه – حسن قاضی مرادی

Constitutional revolution

The date of formation of the first National Assembly of Iran dates back to the

Persian Constitutional Revolution The Persian Constitutional Revolution ( fa, مشروطیت, Mashrūtiyyat, or ''Enghelāb-e Mashrūteh''), also known as the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, took place between 1905 and 1911. The revolution led to the establishment of a par ...

, the decree of which was signed by

Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar ( fa, مظفرالدین شاه قاجار, Mozaffar ad-Din Ŝāh-e Qājār; 23 March 1853 – 3 January 1907), was the fifth shah of Qajar Iran, reigning from 1896 until his death in 1907. He is often credited with t ...

on 6 August 1906 (14

Mordad Mordad ( fa, Mordād, ) is the fifth month of the Solar Hijri calendar, the official calendar of Iran and Afghanistan. Mordad has thirty-one days, beginning in July and ending in August of the Gregorian calendar. It is the second month of summer ...

1285 SH).تاریخ مشروطه ایران – احمد کسروی At the same time, the original constitution of Iran was quickly drafted by a group of intellectuals familiar with the West and a number of court officials, and was signed by the Shah in December 1906.

The complete draft of the Iranian constitution

The sensitivity of the Iranian clerics, especially

Sheikh Fazlollah Noori Sheikh Fazlollah bin Abbas Mazindarani (; 24 December 1843 – 31 July 1909), also known as Fazlollah Noori (), was a twelver Shia Muslim scholar and politician in Qajar Iran during the late 19th and early 20th century and founder of islamist S ...

, was aroused by drafting an amendment to the Iranian constitution to prepare its whole plan and at the same time correcting, completing and refining it.شیخ فضل‌الله نوری لوایح حضرت عبدالعظیم Iranian clerics, especially Sheikh Fazlollah Noori, considered this amendment invalid in terms of compliance with the body of religious law of Islam and objected to it. The protests led to the formation of a secondary commission consisting of Sheikh Fazlollah Noori, a number of clerics and representatives of

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 ...

to enforce the constitution in accordance with Islamic law. As a result, with the efforts of Sheikh Fazlollah Noori and other Iranian clerics, the second principle of the constitutional amendment was approved as follows:

had said about this:

National Consultative Assembly

The date of formation of the first National Assembly of Iran dates back to the

, the decree of which was signed by

on 6 August 1906 (14

1285 SH).تاریخ مشروطه ایران – احمد کسروی The

National Consultative Assembly The National Consultative Assembly ( fa, مجلس شورای ملی, Mad̲j̲les-e s̲h̲ūrā-ye mellī) or simply Majles, was the national legislative body of Iran from 1906 to 1979. It was elected by universal suffrage, excluding the armed for ...

lasted from 1906 to 1989 for about 83 years and during the revision of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1989, its name changed from the National Assembly to the

. After the establishment of the government, the constitutionalists settled with the opposition. The proponents of tyranny, each took refuge somewhere. But the legitimacy of

, after nearly a century, became the foundation for drafting the text of the Constitution of the

Islamic Republic of 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 ...

and the Statute of the

of Iran after the Islamic Revolution of Iran in February 1979.سخنرانی سید علی خامنه‌ای، ۲/۱۲/۱۳۶۸.

1979 Iranian Revolution

With the victory of the

Islamic Revolution of Iran 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 dynas ...

, the

and the

Senate of Iran , native_name_lang = , transcription_name = , legislature = , coa_pic = , coa_res = , coa_alt = , coa_caption = , logo_pic = , logo_res = , logo_alt = ...

were dissolved, and 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 ...

assumed the powers of the legislature until the formation of the

and the

Guardian Council The Guardian Council, (also called Council of Guardians or Constitutional Council, fa, شورای نگهبان, Shourā-ye Negahbān) is an appointed and constitutionally mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence i ...

. The name of the Assembly was mentioned in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic as the National Assembly, but it was actually referred to as the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Until the revision of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic in 1989, its name was officially changed to the

. The name "Islamic Consultative Assembly", was once mentioned in the Constitutional Decree of

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:The history of the parliament in Iran Political history of Iran Assemblies in Iran