Prime Minister of Iran

Prime Minister of Iran
نخست‌وزیر ایران
Official standard (1979–1989)
Type	Head of Government
Status	Office abolished
Member of	Cabinet of Iran Supreme National Security Council
Residence	Marble Palace
Appointer	The Parliament
Precursor	Grand Vizier of Persia
Formation	1 August 1906
First holder	Mirza Nasrullah Khan
Final holder	Mir-Hossein Mousavi
Abolished	3 August 1989
Succession	President of Iran Vice President of Iran

Politics of Iran
Government of Islamic Republic of Iran
Leadership Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist Assembly of Experts Chairman: Ahmad Jannati
Executive President (list) Ebrahim Raisi First Vice President (list) Mohammad Mokhber Supervisor of Presidential Administration Gholamhossein Esmaeili Cabinet Government of Raisi
Legislative Islamic Consultative Assembly Speaker: Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf Supreme Audit Court Guardian Council Chairman: Ahmad Jannati
Judicial Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ezhe'i Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri Supreme Court Islamic Revolutionary Court Special Clerical Court General Inspection Office High Council for Human rights Ministry of Justice
Supreme Councils Supreme National Security Council Secretary: Ali Shamkhani Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution Expediency Discernment Council Chairman: Sadeq Larijani
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The Prime Minister of Iran was a political post in Iran (Persia) that had existed during several different periods of time starting with the Qajar era until the end of the Pahlavi dynasty. It was also in existence from 1979 to 1989 following the Iranian Revolution, but was abolished in 1989.

History of the office[]

Qajar era[]

In the Qajar era, prime ministers were known by different titles. The post itself was mainly known as ataabak or ataabak-e a'zam (grand ataabak), or sometimes sadr-e a'zam (premier) at the beginning, but became ra'is ol-vozaraa (head of ministers) at the end. The title of nakhost vazir (prime minister) was rarely used. The prime minister was usually called by the honorific title hazrat-e ashraf. Reza Khan Sardar Sepah became the last prime minister of the Qajar dynasty in 1923.

For a list of Iranian 'prime ministers' prior to 1907 see List of Grand Viziers of Persia.

Pahlavi era[]

In 1925, Reza Shah became Shah of Iran. He installed Mohammad-Ali Foroughi as the prime minister.^[1] In 1941 his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi became Shah. He installed Mohammad-Ali Foroughi as the prime minister too. In 1951, Mohammed Mosaddeq became Prime Minister but was overthrown in a counter coup d'état in 1953. Amir-Abbas Hoveyda became Prime minister of Iran in 1965 and remained in office until 1977. Shapour Bakhtiar was the last prime minister of Pahlavi era.

Islamic Republic of Iran[]

After the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini installed Mehdi Bazargan as the Prime Minister of an interim government, which served until November 1979. The government resigned during the Iran hostage crisis, but mentioned that it has not been the sole reason, and the decision for mass resignation had been reached one day before the invasion of the United States embassy by the Iranian students.

The post was left empty until Abolhassan Banisadr became president in January 1980 and chose Mohammad Ali Rajai as his prime minister, mainly because of pressures imposed by Majlis representatives, specially those close to Islamic Republic Party. Rajai served in the post until Banisadr's impeachment in June, 1981, and was elected as president in the elections of July 24, 1981. Rajai chose Mohammad Javad Bahonar as his prime minister, but they were assassinated together in Prime Minister's office only a few weeks later, on August 30, 1981.

When Ali Khamenei became president in the elections of October, 1981, he first introduced right-leaning Ali Akbar Velayati to the Majlis as his prime minister, but he was voted down by the then left-leaning majority of the parliament, which then forced their own preferred prime minister to Khamenei, namely Mir-Hossein Mousavi. The dispute was finally ended by interference of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, who advised the president to accept Mousavi.

Mousavi served under the title until 1989, when the constitution was amended to abolish the title of Prime Minister and divide his responsibilities between the president and a newly created title of First Vice President.

List of prime ministers[]

Living former prime ministers[]

Name	Picture	Term	Date of birth
Mir-Hossein Mousavi		1981–1989	(1942-03-02) 2 March 1942 (age 79)

See also[]

• List of Grand Viziers of Persia
• History of Iran

References[]

Sources[]

• For a full list of Viziers of Iran in the last 2000 years, see: "Iranian Viziers: From Bozorgmehr to Amir Kabir" (وزیران ایرانی از بزرگمهر تا امیر کبیر) by Abdolrafi' Haqiqat (عبدالرفیع حقیقت). Perry–Castañeda Library collection DS 271 F34 1995
• Mohammad Taghi Bahar, Taarikh-e Mokhtasar-e Ahzaab-e Siaasi-e Iraan (A Short History of Political Parties of Iran), Amirkabir, 1978.
• Encyclopædia Iranica's entries on "Ala-al-Saltana, Mohammad-Ali" and "Akbar Sepahdar-e Azam, Fathallah"
• various articles in The Persian Encyclopedia
• 'Alí Rizā Awsatí (عليرضا اوسطى), Iran in the Past Three Centuries (Irān dar Se Qarn-e Goz̲ashteh - ايران در سه قرن گذشته), Volumes 1 and 2 (Paktāb Publishing - انتشارات پاکتاب, Tehran, Iran, 2003). ISBN 964-93406-6-1 (Vol. 1), ISBN 964-93406-5-3 (Vol. 2).