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Iran's political system explained: who decides what

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The Supreme Leader, the president, parliament, the Guardian Council and the Assembly of Experts – how Iran's institutions work together, who chooses whom, and which terms you will meet in the news in different languages.

News about Iran is full of institutions that have no exact equivalent elsewhere: a Supreme Leader above the president, a Guardian Council that approves candidates, an Assembly of Experts that chooses the Leader. This guide explains how these institutions work according to Iran's constitution, who chooses whom, and which names they carry in English, German, Spanish and Persian reporting. It describes the system as it is written down; how it works in practice is a matter of political debate, inside and outside Iran.

Two layers: elected and appointed

The Islamic Republic of Iran was founded after the revolution of 1979. Its constitution was approved in a referendum in December 1979 and revised in 1989. It combines two kinds of authority:

The idea behind the system is velayat-e faqih, the "guardianship of the Islamic jurist": the highest position belongs to a senior religious scholar. This is why the president, although elected by the people, is not the head of state in the usual sense.

The Supreme Leader

The Supreme Leader (Persian: Rahbar) is the highest authority in the state. According to the constitution he sets the general policies of the country, is commander-in-chief of all armed forces, can declare war and peace, and appoints the head of the judiciary, the head of state radio and television and the six clerical members of the Guardian Council. His term is not limited. The first Leader was Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.

The Assembly of Experts

The Assembly of Experts is a body of 88 clerics, elected by the people for eight years. It chooses the Supreme Leader and, according to the constitution, supervises him and can remove him. Like other candidates, those who want to sit in the Assembly must first be approved by the Guardian Council.

The president and the government

The president is elected directly for four years and can serve at most two consecutive terms. If no candidate wins more than half of the votes, a second round between the two strongest candidates follows. The president leads the government: he proposes the ministers, who need the approval of parliament, prepares the budget and is responsible for the economy and daily administration. Since the revision of 1989 there has been no prime minister.

Parliament

The parliament, officially the Islamic Consultative Assembly and usually called the Majles, has 290 members, elected for four years. It passes laws, approves the budget, confirms ministers and can remove them through a vote of no confidence. Five seats are reserved for recognised religious minorities: Armenian, Assyrian and Chaldean Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians.

The Guardian Council

The Guardian Council has twelve members: six Islamic jurists appointed by the Leader and six lawyers proposed by the head of the judiciary and approved by parliament. It has two tasks that appear in the news again and again:

  1. It checks every law passed by parliament for compatibility with Islam and the constitution and can send it back.
  2. It supervises the elections for president, parliament and the Assembly of Experts and decides which candidates may run.

The share of candidates who are not approved is often large and regularly debated: supporters of the system see the vetting as protection of the constitution, critics see it as a limit on voters' choice. When reports speak of "disqualified candidates", this is the process they mean.

If parliament and the Guardian Council cannot agree on a law, the Expediency Discernment Council, whose members are appointed by the Leader, decides. It also advises the Leader.

Judiciary and armed forces

The head of the judiciary is appointed by the Leader for five years. Iran has two armed forces: the regular army (Artesh) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, Persian Sepah), which was created after the revolution to protect it. Both are under the command of the Leader. The IRGC also includes the Basij volunteer force and plays a large role in the economy.

Political camps

Iranian politics has no party system like Germany's or Spain's; groups and lists form around elections. Two broad camps are usually named: the principlists (osulgarayan), often called "conservatives" or "hardliners" in Western media, and the reformists (eslah-talaban). Between them are moderates and pragmatists. Labels like "hardliner" or "moderate" are descriptions chosen by the media, not official names – it is worth noting who uses them and in which sense.

The same institutions in different languages

When you compare reports in several languages, it helps to recognise the names:

Iranian state media such as IRNA report from the government's point of view; Persian-language media abroad often take a critical one. Our guide on news agencies explains what that means for the headlines you read, and why the same story looks different in other languages shows how coverage changes from country to country. Dates in Iranian reports use the Persian calendar – see the Persian calendar and Nowruz explained.

Conclusion

Iran's system combines elections with a layer of appointed institutions under the Supreme Leader. Voters choose the president, parliament and the Assembly of Experts, but the Guardian Council decides who may stand, and the Leader holds the highest authority, including command of the armed forces. Knowing who chooses whom makes news about elections, laws and power struggles in Iran much easier to follow.