Referendums in Iran

Five referendums in Iran were held since the first referendum was held in 1953 for dissolution or survival of 17th Iranian Majlis and the latest of those for revision of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1989.^[1]

Legal status

There is nothing in Persian Constitution of 1906 about the referendum but at the time enforcing this law (until 1978), two referendums were held (1953 ^[2] and 1963^[3]). Third referendum (1979) was held when the Persian Constitution of 1906 had been fallen into desuetude with a victory of the revolution and as yet the new constitution had not been enacted for Iran. The fourth referendum (1979) was held for enactment the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran^[4] and the fifth referendum (1989) was to review it.^[5] In Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, referendum is part of popular sovereignty and was provided about it in Principles 1, 6, 59, 99, 110, 123, 132, 177 of the constitution. According to the referendum act of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran (1989), referendum will be held with the proposal of the president or 100 members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and enactment of at least two-thirds of the total number of Members of them. The Ministry of Interior is responsible for holding referendum and Guardian Council for monitoring and confirmation it.^[1]

Brief outline of referendums

Year	Proposed by	Held by	Issue	Yes votes (%)	Result	Ref
1953	Mohammad Mossadegh	2nd Cabinet of Mosaddegh	Dissolution of parliament	99.94%	17th Iranian Majlis dissolved	[2]
1963	Mohammad Reza Pahlavi	1st Cabinet of Alam	Land reform and Electoral reform	99.93%	White Revolution declared	[3]
1979	Ruhollah Khomeini	Cabinet of Bazargan	Regime change	99.31%	Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran declared	[1]
1979		Council of the Islamic Revolution	Constitution adoption	99.5%	Constitution drafted by the Assembly of Experts was adopted	[4]
1989		2nd Cabinet of Mousavi	Constitutional amendment	97.57%	Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran amended	[5]

References

1. Nohlen, Dieter; Grotz, Florian; Hartmann, Christof (2001). "Iran". Elections in Asia: A Data Handbook. Vol. I. Oxford University Press. p. 72. ISBN 0-19-924958-X.
2. Elton L. Daniel (2012). The History of Iran. ABC-CLIO. p. 154. ISBN 978-0313375095.
3. Singh; Singh, Manjit, D.P. (2008). Violence: Impact and Intervention. Atlantic (2008). ISBN 978-8126909414.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
4. Gasiorowski, Mark (2016). "Islamic Republic of Iran". The Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa. Westview Press. p. 279. ISBN 9780813349947.
5. Moin, Baqer, Khomeini, (2001), p.293