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March-December 1979Primary source · 2 sourcesWell documented

Iranians Vote to Become an Islamic Republic

A new constitution enshrines clerical rule at the top of the state

On the timeline · around March-December 1979 · The Islamic RepublicThe Pahlavi EraThe Islamic RepublicIranians Vote to Become an Islamic Republic19601965197019751980198519901995

Quick facts

Islamic Republic referendum
March 30-31, 1979
Constitution ratified
December 2-3, 1979
Key doctrine
Velayat-e faqih (guardianship of the jurist)
First Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini

What happened

On March 30 and 31, 1979, Iranians voted in a referendum on whether to transform the country into an Islamic Republic, a measure approved by an overwhelming majority. The government's initial draft constitution did not mention any special political role for the clergy, but the draft was handed to a 73-member assembly dominated by Shia clerics that convened in August 1979, and the clerical majority rewrote it to make the new state more explicitly Islamic. The revised constitution enshrined velayat-e faqih, the guardianship of the Islamic jurist, establishing a supreme religious Leader with power to command the armed forces, oversee intelligence services, and ensure no organ of the state deviated from its essential Islamic duties. Iranians ratified this constitution in a second referendum on December 2 and 3, 1979, and Khomeini became the Islamic Republic's first Supreme Leader.

Why it matters

The 1979 constitution created a hybrid political system unlike any other in the modern world, combining elected institutions such as a president and parliament with an unelected Supreme Leader who holds final authority over the state's most important levers of power. That structure, built around a concept absent from the original draft constitution and inserted only after clerics gained control of the drafting process, has defined Iranian governance ever since.

How we know

The 1979 referenda results and the drafting history of the Islamic Republic's constitution are documented in Iranian government records analyzed by academic legal researchers, and the constitution's text itself is preserved and translated by university-hosted archives.

Sources

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Iranians Vote to Become an Islamic Republic · History of Iran · SourcedStory