Iran

parastatal economic foundations

A Society and economy that are sharply decided into a traditional, usually poorer, and a modern, usually richer, sector.

Sunni

A branch of Islam whose members acknowledge the first four caliphs as the rightful successors of Muhammad

Rentier State

A country that obtains much of its revenue from the export of oil or other natural resources.

Shah

A title of the former monarch of Iran (king). The last shah was overthrown in 1979 during the Iranian Revolution.

International Atomic Energy Agency

Cooperates with partners worldwide to promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies.

Ali Khamenei

Current supreme leader of Iran, as of 1989

Iranian Hostage Crisis

In 1979, Iranian fundamentalists seized the American embassy in Tehran and held fifty-three American diplomats hostage for over a year. The Iranian hostage crisis weaked the Carter presidency; the hostages were finally released on January 20, 1981, the day Ronald Reagan became president.

Ebrahim Raisi

Iran President

Tehran

Iran's capital and largest city

shari'a

Islamic Law a series of principles that are interpreted, negotiated, and debated by legal scholars and adapted in the lives of Muslims in order to bring their actions in line with God's vision for a just and good life.

velayat-e faqih (jurist's guardianship)

Khomeini's concept that the Iranian clergy should rule on the grounds that they are the divinely appointed guardians of both the law and the people.

Assembly of Leadership Experts

Popularly elected body in Iran consisting of ulema who would choose the Leader from among the most learned ulema

Hazbollah

Shi ia Islamic military group & Political party based in Lebanon

Majles

The Iranian parliament, from the Arabic term for "assembly."

Iran Revolution 1979

The revolution that overthrew the monarchy in Iran and installed the Islamist Ayatollah Khomeini as President. Under Khomeini Iranian politics became extremely Islamist and anti-American.

Ayatollah

a Shiite religious leader in Iran.

Council of Guardians

a group of 12 senior scholars of Islamic jurisprudence and civil law who determine whether the laws and actions of government officials are in conformity with Islamic principles

Ulema

a group of religious advisers to the ottoman sultan; this group administered the legal system and schools for educating Muslims

Persians

a native or inhabitant of ancient or modern Persia (Iran), or a person of Persian descent. The largest ethnic group in Iran.

Green Movement (Iran)

a political movement that arose after the 2009 Iranian presidential election, in which protesters demanded the removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from office

Theocracy

a system of government in which priests rule in the name of God or a god.

Expediency Council (Iran)

advisory board to supreme leader resolve disputes between parliament and the council of guardians; can pass temporary laws; supervise govt; advises national religious leaders on national policy

Multiple Power Centers

revolutionary-created institutions that overlap with, or supplement, traditional state institutions

Farsi

the modern Persian language that is the official language of Iran

Supreme Leader of Iran

the most powerful political authority in the Islamic Republic. He is the head of state of Iran, the commander-in-chief

Islamists

those who seek to establish Islamic states in which the sovereignty of God is supreme

Ruhollah Khomeini

"Ayatollah" was an Iranian religious leader and scholar, politician, and leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution which saw the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the late Shah of Iran. Following the revolution and a national referendum, Khomeini became the country's Supreme Leader—a position created in the constitution as the highest ranking political and religious authority of the nation, until his death.

Basij

"People's militia," which serves as a public morals police