This article is about the Iranian deliberative body. For the former Greenlandic guardian councils, see parsissaet.
Guardian Council
Type
Type
Election supervision body
Constitutional court
Legislative council (overseeing parliament)
Leadership
Secretary
Ahmad Jannati since 17 July 1992
Structure
Seats
12
Political groups
Dominated by Principlists:[1]
Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom
Combatant Clergy Association
Meeting place
Tehran, Iran
Website
Official website
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 Movahedi-Azad
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 Akbar Ahmadian
Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution
Expediency Discernment Council
Chairman: Sadeq Larijani
Local governments
Municipality
Secretary of state
City Council
Elections
Election Office
Guardian Council
Recent and future elections
Presidential:
2021
2025
Legislative:
2020
2024
Experts:
2016
2024
Local:
2021
2025
Political parties and factions
Inside government
Reformists
Principlists
Outside government
Monarchism
Liberalism
Nationalism
Pan-Iranism
Socialism
Ideology
Islamic Government
Propaganda in Iran
Anti-capitalism
Foreign relations
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Minister: Hossein Amir-Abdollahian
Diplomatic missions of / in Iran
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
Nationality law
Passport
Visa requirements
Visa policy
Related topics
Taxation in Iran
Armed forces of Iran
Iran portal
Politics portal
Other countries
v
t
e
The Guardian Council (also called Council of Guardians or Constitutional Council, Persian: شورای نگهبان, romanized: Shourā-ye Negahbān)[2][3] is an appointed and constitutionally mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The constitution of the Islamic Republic gives the council three mandates:
a) veto power over legislation passed by the parliament (Majlis);[4][5][6]
b) supervision of elections;[7][4] and
c) approving or disqualifying candidates seeking to run in local, parliamentary, presidential, or Assembly of Experts elections.[7][4][8]
The Iranian constitution calls for the council to be composed of six Islamic faqihs (experts in Islamic Law), "conscious of the present needs and the issues of the day" to be selected by the Supreme Leader of Iran, and six jurists, "specializing in different areas of law, to be elected by the Majlis (the Iranian Parliament) from among the Muslim jurists nominated by the Chief Justice"[9] (who, in turn, is also appointed by the Supreme Leader).[10]
The Council has played a central role in controlling the interpretation of Islamic values in Iranian law in the following ways:
As part of its vetting of potential candidates to determine who can and cannot run for national office,[8] it has disqualified reform-minded candidates—including the most well-known candidates—from running for office;[11]
Vetoes laws passed by the popularly elected Majlis.[12][13]
Has increased the influence that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (an ideological fighting force separate from the Iranian army) has on the economic and cultural life of the country.[14][15]
When the 2009 presidential election was announced, popular former president Mohammad Khatami would not discuss his plans to run against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for the Council might have disqualified Khatami as it had other reformists' candidatures, on the grounds that they were not dedicated enough to Islamic values.[16][17]
There have also been instances where the Constitutional Council reversed its ban on particular people after being ordered to do so by Khamenei.[18]
^Shaul, Bakhash (12 September 2011). "Iran's Conservatives: The Headstrong New Bloc". Frontline. PBS. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
^Sandhu, Deep; Schirazi, Asghar (2003). "GUARDIAN COUNCIL". In Sandhu, Deep (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. XI. New York, NY: Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation. pp. 379–382. ISBN 0933273711.
The GuardianCouncil (also called Council of Guardians or Constitutional Council, Persian: شورای نگهبان, romanized: Shourā-ye Negahbān) is an appointed...
However, all democratic procedures and rights are subordinate to the GuardianCouncil and the Supreme Leader, whose powers are spelled out in Chapter Eight...
up to resolve differences or conflicts between the Majlis and the GuardianCouncil, but "its true power lies more in its advisory role to the Supreme...
The Guardian is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian, before it changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister...
and other key government organizations such as the GuardianCouncil and Expediency Discernment Council are subject to the Supreme Leader. According to the...
must first be vetted by the GuardianCouncil. All candidates to the Assembly of Experts must be approved by the GuardianCouncil whose members are, in turn...
However, main democratic procedures and rights are subordinate to the GuardianCouncil and the Supreme Leader, whose powers are spelled out in Chapter Eight...
and an appointed & unelected GuardianCouncil which is made up of Islamic clerics, (in the case of the GuardianCouncil, half of its members are Islamic...
approval of the GuardianCouncil would not be needed. The Leader can also revert the decisions of the GuardianCouncil. The GuardianCouncil can and has dismissed...
began with the mass disqualification of popular candidates by the GuardianCouncil, and broke records of the lowest turnout in Iranian electoral history...
the Senate of Iran was abolished and effectively succeeded by the GuardianCouncil, maintaining the bicameral structure of the Iranian legislature. In...
government, who control powerful governmental organizations like the GuardianCouncil, whose members are appointed by the Supreme Leader. Khatami lost most...
A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary beings can be traced...
of government, the armed forces, the intelligence service, and the GuardianCouncil. The amendments were allegedly approved by Iranian voters and became...
body charged with choosing the Supreme Leader, and as chairman of the GuardianCouncil, the body in charge of checking legislation approved by Majlis with...
election had been decided between the Ministry of Interior and the GuardianCouncil for 17 June 2005. The election will continue as a runoff race, which...
engage in peaceful protests. He also lodged an official appeal with the GuardianCouncil for new and more transparent elections. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali...
objections of Supreme Leader Khamenei. His nomination was rejected by the GuardianCouncil. During the 2017–18 Iranian protests, Ahmadinejad criticized the current...
influence over non-elective institutions such as the Judicial system, the GuardianCouncil and Revolutionary Guard Corps. After the 15 Khordad demonstration failed...
GuardianCouncil, whose members are selected directly or indirectly by the Supreme Leader of Iran. There have also been instances when the Guardian Council...
and managed by the GuardianCouncil vets registered candidates and approves a handful to run in the election. The GuardianCouncil does not publicly announce...
Ghalibaf finished second with 17% of the vote. Voter turnout was 73%. The GuardianCouncil screened 680 registered candidates, approving eight to run in the election;...
as well as non-elective institutions such as the GuardianCouncil, the Expediency Discernment Council, and the Judiciary. Ultra conservatives—also known...
postponed until 11 September 2020. Candidates had to be approved by the GuardianCouncil, and of the 14,000 applying to run for the Islamic Consultative Assembly...
held every eight years. All candidates have to be approved by the GuardianCouncil. See Politics of Iran for more details. Until January 2007, when it...
Meybod) is an Iranian Shia cleric and he is currently a member of the GuardianCouncil and also a member of the Assembly of Experts. He was former Chairman...