General Principles

Article 1: The government of Iran is an Islamic Republic, which the nation of Iran based on its long-held belief in the rule of the truth and the justice of the Qu’ran, and after its victorious Islamic revolution, under the leadership of marja’-e taqlīd the exalted Grand Ayatollah Imam Khomeini, has established. The measure was ratified by the 98.2 percent affirmative vote of all the eligible voters in a referendum that was held on the 10th and the 11th of Farvardīn in the year 1358 of the solar Islamic calendar, agnate to the first and the second of jumādī al-awlā’ in the year 1399 of the lunar Islamic calendar.

Article 2: The Islamic Republic is a system based on the faith in:

1. one God (“There is no god but God”), the exclusive attribution of sovereignty and the legislation of law to Him, and the necessity of surrender to His commands;
2. divine inspiration and its foundational role in the articulation of the laws;
3. resurrection and its constructive role in explanation of laws;
4. the justice of God in creation and legislation;
5. belief in the Imams (imamat), continuous leadership, and its fundamental role in the continuity of the Islamic Revolution;
6. the wondrous and exalted status of human beings and their freedom, which must be endowed with responsibility, before God. These are achieved through: a. the continuous striving to reason (ejtehād) of qualified jurisprudents (foqahā) who possess the necessary qualifications based on the book (Qur’an) and the Traditions of the infallibles (ma‘sumin), peace be upon them all; b. the employment of sciences, technologies, and advanced human experience with the aim of their further development; c. the negation of all kinds of oppression, authoritarianism, or the acceptance of domination, which secures justice, political and economic, social, and cultural independence and national unity. Article 3: In order to achieve the objectives mentioned in Article 2, the Islamic Republic government of Iran is obliged to use all of its resources in the following areas:
7. the creation of an apt environment for the development of ethical values based on faith, piety, and the struggle against all manifestations of corruption and decadence;
8. the increasing of public awareness in all areas through the correct use of the press, mass media, and other means;
9. free academic and physical education, at all levels for everyone; the facilitation and extension of higher education;
10. the fostering of a spirit of research, innovation, and originality in all areas of scientific, technological, cultural, and Islamic fields through the establishment of research centers and the encouragement of researchers;
11. the complete rejection of colonialism and the prevention of foreign influence;
12. the eradication of all kinds of tyranny, autocracy, and monopolization of power;
13. the securing of political and social freedoms within the limits of law; 8
14. the participation of the general public in determining its own political, economic, social, and cultural destiny;
15. the elimination of all unjust forms of discrimination and the creation of just opportunities for everyone, in all spiritual and material areas;
16. the establishment of a correct administrative system and the elimination of unnecessary institutions;
17. the complete strengthening of the national defense, through universal military training, with the aim of securing the country’s independence, its territorial integrity, and its Islamic system;
18. the planning of a correct economic system according to Islamic measures in order to create prosperity and eliminate poverty; the removal of all forms of depravation in the areas of nutrition, housing, labor, and health; and the expansion of insurance;
19. the securing of self-sufficiency in sciences, technology, industry, agriculture, military affairs and other such matters;
20. the securing of all-inclusive rights for everyone, man and woman, and the creation of judicial security for everyone, equality for all before the law;
21. the cultivation and strengthening of Islamic brotherhood and general cooperation among the people;
22. the organization of the nation’s foreign policy based on Islamic criteria, fraternal commitment to all Muslims, and unrestrained support for the impoverished people of the world. Article 4: All civic, penal, financial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political, and other laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria. This principle governs all the articles of the constitution, and other laws and regulations. The determination of such compatibility is left to the Foqaha of the Guardian Council. Article 53 : During the absence (ghayba) of his holiness, the Lord of the Age, May God all mighty hasten his appearance, the sovereignty of the command [of God] and religious leadership of the community [of believers] in the Islamic Republic of Iran is the responsibility of the faqīh who is just, pious, knowledgeable about his era, courageous, and a capable and efficient administrator, as indicated in Article 107. Article 6: In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the country’s affairs must be administered by reliance on the public vote, and through elections. These will include the election of the president, the deputies of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majles), the members of the councils, and other such institutions, or through a referendum in such instances as are determined in other articles of this document.

3 Article 5 (1979 Edition): In the Islamic Republic of Iran, during the absence (ghayba) of his holiness, the Lord of the Age, May God all mighty hasten his appearance, the sovereignty of the command [of God] and religious leadership of the community [of believers] is the responsibility of the jurisprudent who is just, pious, courageous, knowledgeable about his era, and a capable administrator, and is recognized and accepted by the majority of people as leader. In case no jurisprudent receives such a majority, the leader or the Leadership Council, consisting of qualified jurisprudents, as mentioned above and in accordance with Article 107, assumes these responsibilities. 9 Article 7: As the munificent Qur’an ordains: “They (conduct) their affairs according to these commands, by mutual consultation” (42: 38) and “And consult them in the affairs” (3: 159), the councils, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Guardian Council, the province of municipal and city councils and the district and village councils and so forth are the decision making and administrative organs of the country. The constitution and the laws arising from it shall determine the manner of formation of these councils and the limits of their authority. Article 8: In the Islamic Republic of Iran, inviting one to good, the promotion of virtue and the prohibition of vice, is a general and concomitant responsibility of the people toward one another, the government toward the people, and the people toward the government. The conditions, boundaries, and nature of this relationship are set by the law. According to the Qur’an: “The believers, men and women, are protectors, one of another: they promote virtue, and prohibit vice” (9: 71). Article 9: In the Islamic Republic of Iran, freedom, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of the nation are inseparable from one another; the safeguarding of these is the responsibility of the government and each and every one in the nation. No individual, group, or authority has the right to damage, in the slightest way, the political, cultural, economic, and military independence of Iran and its territorial integrity, in the name of exercising freedom. And no authority is allowed to take away the legitimate freedoms, even through the establishment of laws and regulations, under the pretext of safeguarding the independence and sovereignty of the nation. Article 10: The family is the foundational unit of the Islamic society. Therefore, all the laws, regulations, and their corresponding politics must be in the direction of facilitating the establishment of the family, the protection of its sanctity, and the maintenance of its relations, based on Islamic law and ethics. Article 11: According to the Qur’an: “Verily, this brotherhood of yours is a single brotherhood. And I am your Lord and cherisher: therefore serve me” (21: 92), all Muslims form a single nation and the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is required to base its overall politics on the merging and unity of the Muslim nations. It must continuously strive to achieve the political, economic, and cultural unity of the Muslim world. Article 12: The official religion of Iran is Islam and the Twelver Ja‘fari school of [shi‘ī] religion. This principle shall remain eternally unchangeable. Other Islamic schools of thought, such as the Hanafi, Shafi‘i, Maliki, Hanbali, and Zaydi, are deserving of total respect and their followers are free to perform their own religious practices, religious education, and personal matters. They may practice their religious education, personal status, (marriage, divorce, inheritance, and bequest), in accordance with their own jurisprudence. The dispute over these matters is recognized in the courts. In any area where followers of these schools of thought are in the majority, local regulations, within the domain of the council’s jurisdictions, are set according to that school of thought so long as the rights of the followers of other schools of religion are maintained. Article 13: Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian Iranians are considered the only recognized religious minorities. They may exercise their religious ceremonies within the limits of the law. 10 They are free to exercise matters of personal status and religious education and they follow their own rituals. Article 14: According to the Qur’an: “Allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for (your) faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them. For Allah loveth those who are just” (80: 8), the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Muslims are required to treat the non-Muslim individuals with good conduct, in fairness and Islamic justice, and must respect their human rights. This principle is valid for those persons who have not conspired or acted against Islam and the Islamic Republic of Iran.