Iran
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- theocratic republic
- CONSTITUTION
- December 1979, revised in 1989 to extend presidential power
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on Sharia law
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- unicameral, Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majles-e-Shura-ye-Eslami)
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme Court
RELIGIONS
Shia majority; 10% Sunni; Christian, Jewish, Bahá'í, and Zoroastrian minorities
From the country
- SEPTEMBER 28, 1999IranDEATH PENALTY
On September 28, a crowd of about 2,000 people gathered...
On September 28, a crowd of about 2,000 people gathered outside the gates of Tehran University to condemn 2 students and the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, whose pluralistic policies have come under increasing fire from angry conservatives and
- SEPTEMBER 11, 1999IranDEATH PENALTY
On September 11, an Iranian Revolutionary Court sentenced...
On September 11, an Iranian Revolutionary Court sentenced 4 people to death and more could face the death penalty for pro-democracy protests in July
- SEPTEMBER 11, 1999IranDEATH PENALTY
On September 11, the weekly Jebheh said it would donate...
On September 11, the weekly Jebheh said it would donate 100 million rials ($57,000) for the "revolutionary execution" of Hossein Baqerzadeh, a London-based human rights activist, if any ranking cleric issued a fatwa, or religious edict, condemning him to
- SEPTEMBER 1, 1999IranDEATH PENALTY
In September, a court ordered the reformist Iranian...
In September, a court ordered the reformist Iranian newspaper Neshat to stop publishing because it had run articles seen as questioning a central principle of Islamic justice and challenging the authority of Iran's supreme clerical leader and, in particul
- AUGUST 14, 1999IranDEATH PENALTY
On August 14, Iran's spiritual leader Khamenei named...
On August 14, Iran's spiritual leader Khamenei named Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi to replace Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, who had been at the helm of Iran's judiciary since 1989
- AUGUST 1, 1999IranDEATH PENALTY
On August 1, Iranian police re-arrested Helmut Hofer,...
On August 1, Iranian police re-arrested Helmut Hofer, "because of his connections with some suspicious foreign elements and the fear of his escaping from Iran," judicial spokesman Saeed Nobari said
- AUGUST 1, 1999IranDEATH PENALTY
In August, the daily Neshat reported that death sentences...
In August, the daily Neshat reported that death sentences had been handed down to six officials whom it identified only by their initials
- JULY 22, 1999IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed...
Iran signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed to the President of the Economic and Social Council, in which the retentionist countries dissociated from the Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/61 on the question of the death penalty
- JULY 20, 1999IranDEATH PENALTY
On July 20, the newspaper Resalat reported that 3 Evin...
On July 20, the newspaper Resalat reported that 3 Evin prison officials were executed for extortion
- JULY 9, 1999IranDEATH PENALTY
On July 9, the police's storming of a Tehran University...
On July 9, the police's storming of a Tehran University dormitory sparked mass protests, which highlighted the struggle between reformists and conservatives in the Government
- JUNE 23, 1999IranDEATH PENALTY
On June 23, 9 men charged with theft had their right...
On June 23, 9 men charged with theft had their right hand cut off at Mashhad prison
- JUNE 18, 1999IranDEATH PENALTY
On 18 June, 3 men accused of theft had the 4 fingers...
On 18 June, 3 men accused of theft had the 4 fingers of their right hand amputated during a public ceremony in Tabriz