The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), officially the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran ( fa, جمعیت هلال احمر جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Jamʿiyyat-e Helâl-e Ahmar-e Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Irân) is a non-governmental humanitarian organization 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 ...

. Founded as the

Red Lion and Sun Society The Red Lion and Sun Society of Iran ( fa, انجمن شیر و خورشید سرخ ایران) was established in 1922 and admitted to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in 1923. However, some report the symbol was introduced ...

in 1922, it became affiliated with the

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is a worldwide humanitarian aid organization that reaches 160 million people each year through its 192-member National Societies. It acts before, during and after disas ...

(IFRC) in 1924 and changed its name and emblem in 1980, informing the international community of '' Hilal Ahmar'' adoption while assuming the right to adopt the former emblem in future. The society is one of the world's largest national societies within IFRC and is noted for its special expertise in responding to

earthquakes An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

. Since inception, the IRCS has participated in a variety of public activities. Its core activity is to perform relief and rescue operations to help victims and the injured in natural disasters and accidents. It also engages a in wide range of humanitarian services in health and rehabilitation, training and research. The society had a therapeutic approach and was regarded a major

healthcare Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

institution with thousands of hospital beds across the country until 1979, when all of its medical facilities were transferred to the Ministry of Health. IRCS is an example of strong national societies that play an important role domestically and is held in high esteem by the Iranian general public.

Organization

IRCS has 30 governorate headquarters, one in each province of Iran, and 330 branches throughout the country, as of 2005. Based on the latest structure, it is made up of four departments: relief and rescue (''emdād wa najāt''), medical provisions (''tadārokāt-e pezeški''), volunteers (''dāvṭalabān''), and youth (''javānān''). The latter is largely made up of high school and university student members. According to the law enacted by the

Iranian Parliament 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 ...

, the society is run by a chairman appointed by the President of Iran. This procedure is in contrast with the elective nature of a society chairman as suggested by the IFRC. The secretary general is responsible for the administrative and executive affairs.

Other subordinates

IRCS owns and runs Helal Iran Textile Industries Co., a producer of blankets and tents. SOHA, a manufacturer of disposable medical devices is also owned by the society, as well as ''Shahrvand'', a daily newspaper. The ''Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal'', an English language peer-reviewed journal on clinical and scientific medicine, is another publication of IRCS.

Presidents

Heads of the society have been: * 1922–1949: Amir Amir-A'lam (deputy director) ** 1922–1925:

Mohammad Hassan Mirza Mohammad Hassan Mirza Qajar ( fa, شاهزاده محمدحسن میرزا قاجار; 20 November 1899 – 7 January 1943) was the brother of Ahmad Shah Qajar of Iran, and former Crown Prince of the Qajar dynasty. Soon after Reza Shah deposed th ...

(honorary) ** 1927–1931:

Mostowfi ol-Mamalek Mirza Hasan Ashtiani, commonly known by the bestowed title Mostowfi ol-Mamalek ( fa, مستوفی‌الممالک, lit=Chancellor of the Realm; 1871 – 1932) was an Iranian politician who served as Prime Minister on six occasions from 1910 to ...

(chairman) ** 1931–1941:

Reza Pahlavi Reza Pahlavi may refer to: * Reza Shah (1878–1944), Reza Shah Pahlavi, Shah of Iran from 1925 until 1941 * Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919–1980), Shah of Iran from 1941 to 1979, son of Reza Shah * Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran Reza Pah ...

(symbolic) ** 1941–1949:

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 October ...

* 1949–1979: Hossein Khatibi Nouri (managing director) ** 1949–1979:

Shams Pahlavi Shams Pahlavi ( fa, شمس پهلوی; – ) was an Iranian royal of the Pahlavi dynasty, who was the elder sister of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran. During her brother's reign she was the president of the Red Lion and Sun Soc ...

(chairwoman) * 1979–1980:

Kazem Sami Kazem Sami ( fa, کاظم سامی; 1935 – 23 November 1988) was Iran's minister of health in the transitional government of Mehdi Bazargan and leader of The Liberation Movement of People of Iran (''JAMA''). Political career Kazem Sami was one ...

* 1980–1981: Ali Behzadnia * 1981–1983:

Hassan Firouzabadi Sayyid Hassan Aghaee Firouzabadi ( fa, حسن فيروزآبادی; 3 February 1951 – 3 September 2021) was an Iranian military officer. He served as the Chief-of-Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces—the most senior military authority in Iran� ...

* 1983–1999:

Seifollah Vahid Dastjerdi Seifollah Vahid Dastjerdi (1926–1999) was head of the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran. During political turmoil in Tehran following the 1987 Iranian pilgrim riots in Saudi Arabia, Seifollah Vahid Dastjerdi appeared on televis ...

* 1999–2006: Ahmad-Ali Nourbala * 2006–2010: Masoud Khatami * 2010–2013: Abolhassan Faqih * 2013–2014: Mohammad Farhadi * 2014–2017: Amir-Mohsen Ziayi * 2017–2019:

Ali Asqar Peyvandi Ali Asqar Peyvandi ( fa, علی اصغر پیوندی) born 1962- Sorkheh, is an Iranian physician, politician and university professor. He was the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society between 2017 and 2019 when he was forced to resign before ...

* 2020–2021: Karim Hemmati * 2021–present: Pir-Hossein Kolivand

References

External links

Official WebsiteIranian Red Crescent Medical Journal
{{Authority control

1922 establishments in Iran Organizations established in 1922 Medical and health organisations based in Iran Emergency management in Iran First aid organizations Volunteer organizations Non-profit organisations based in Iran