, Yazd, Zanjan

_#_Independence: 1 April 1979, Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed

_#_Constitution: 2-3 December 1979; revised 1989 to expand powers of
the presidency and eliminate the prime ministership

_#_Legal system: the new Constitution codifies Islamic principles of
government

_#_National holiday: Islamic Republic Day, 1 April (1979)

_#_Executive branch: cleric (faqih), president, Council of Ministers

_#_Legislative branch: unicameral Islamic Consultative Assembly
(Majles-e-Shura-ye-Eslami)

_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court

_#_Leaders:

Cleric and functional Chief of State--Leader of the Islamic
Revolution Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-KHAMENEI (since 4 June 1989);

Head of Government--President Ali Akbar HASHEMI-RAFSANJANI
(since 3 August 1989);

_#_Political parties and leaders: there are at least 14 licensed
parties; the three most important are--Tehran Militant Clergy
Association, Mohammad Reza MAHDAVI-KANI;
Militant Clerics Association, Mehdi MAHDAVI-KARUBI and Mohammad Asqar
MUSAVI-KHOINIHA;
Fedaiyin Islam Organization, Sadeq KHALKHALI

_#_Suffrage: universal at age 15

_#_Elections:

President--last held NA July 1989 (next to be held April 1993);
results--Ali Akbar HASHEMI-RAFSANJANI was elected with only token
opposition;

Islamic Consultative Assembly--last held 8 April 1988 (next
to be held June 1992); results--percent of vote by party
NA;
seats--(270 seats total) number of seats by party NA

_#_Communists: 1,000 to 2,000 est. hardcore; 15,000 to 20,000 est.
sympathizers; crackdown in 1983 crippled the party; trials of captured
leaders began in late 1983 and remain incomplete

_#_Other political or pressure groups: groups that generally
support the Islamic Republic include Hizballah, Hojjatiyeh Society,
Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, Muslim Students Following the Line
of the Imam; armed political groups that have been almost completely
repressed by the government include Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO),
People's Fedayeen, and Kurdish Democratic Party; the Society for the
Defense of Freedom is a group of liberal nationalists that has been
repressed by the government for accusing it of corruption

_#_Member of: CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD,
ICAO, ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT,
INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OIC, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO

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