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
- DECEMBER 7, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Baton-wielding security forces arrested at least 60...
Baton-wielding security forces arrested at least 60 people in the Iranian capital, a city official said, as thousands gathered in and around Tehran University to call for political reform
- DECEMBER 4, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
In an open letter to the press, Iranian dissident academic...
In an open letter to the press, Iranian dissident academic Hashim Aghajari took on his conservative opponents, mocking his death sentence for blasphemy as a political verdict
- DECEMBER 2, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A lawyer for an Iranian professor sentenced to death...
A lawyer for an Iranian professor sentenced to death for insulting Islam appealed the verdict, saying he was acting against his client's wishes a day before the verdict was to become final
- NOVEMBER 29, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Ayatollah Bojnurdi the head of Iran's Islamic Human...
Ayatollah Bojnurdi the head of Iran's Islamic Human Rights Commission condemned the death sentence issued against university professor Hashem Aghajari
- NOVEMBER 26, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A court in the Islamic Republic of Iran sentenced two...
A court in the Islamic Republic of Iran sentenced two men to death for murdering a used car dealer in Tehran
- NOVEMBER 26, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Aghajari, the prominent Iranian academic condemned...
Aghajari, the prominent Iranian academic condemned to death for blasphemy refuses to appeal his sentence, his lawyer told AFP, after the judiciary said the controversial verdict will be upheld unless Hashem Aghajari lodges an appeal
- NOVEMBER 24, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran's student movement bowed to pressure from ruling...
Iran's student movement bowed to pressure from ruling hardliners and called a halt to two weeks of nationwide protests in defence of a liberal academic sentenced to death
- NOVEMBER 24, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Iranian authorities slapped an outright ban on further...
Iranian authorities slapped an outright ban on further student demonstrations against the sentencing to death of a pro-reform dissident academic
- NOVEMBER 24, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Leading Iranian reformists warned students that powerful...
Leading Iranian reformists warned students that powerful conservatives planned to impose emergency rule if university demonstrations against a dissident's death sentence got out of hand
- NOVEMBER 23, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A court in Mashhad, capital city of the northeastern...
A court in Mashhad, capital city of the northeastern Iranian province of Khorasan, sentenced 12 members of the 'Vultures' gang to death on various charges
- NOVEMBER 22, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The European Parliament adopted a resolution calling...
The European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the suspension of the death sentence on university professor Hashem Aghajari and also called for closer cooperation between the EU and the Islamic Republic in human rights issues
- NOVEMBER 22, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The European Parliament adopted a resolution calling...
The European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the suspension of the death sentence on university professor Hashem Aghajari and for closer cooperation between the EU and the Islamic Republic in human rights issues