Iran Vocab

Question 0

Assembly of Experts

Answer 0

Deliberative body of Islamic theologians responsible for the election/ removal of the Supreme Leader

Question 1

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Answer 1

Sixth and previous president of Iran who stayed in office from 2005 until 2013, and held the favor of fundamentalists and the Supreme Leader through his conservative approach

Question 2

Basij

Answer 2

Volunteer paramilitary militia used as an internal security force

Question 3

Council of Guardians

Answer 3

Appointed legislative body which reviews laws in context of Quran and constitution

Question 4

Shirin Ebadi

Answer 4

First female Iranian judge who practiced under the Shahs but became a lawyer following the revolution and won a Nobel peace prize for her human rights work

Question 5

Expediency Council

Answer 5

Council created to resolve conflict between majiles and guardian council

Question 6

Green Movement

Answer 6

Political movement which arose following the 2009 presidential election calling for the removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Question 7

Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

Answer 7

Prominent Iranian politician who served as the 4th President of Iran from 1989 until 1997, and headed the Assembly of Experts from 2007 until 2011; he has chaired the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran since 1989

Question 8

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Answer 8

UN subsidiary tasked with the promotion of the peaceful use nuclear of nuclear energy and the prevention of the use of nuclear weapons

Question 9

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)

Answer 9

Branch of the Iranian military tasked with the protection of Iran’s Islamic System of government

Question 10

Islamists

Answer 10

Conservatives who would like to see a stricter adherence to Sharia law

Question 11

Ali Khamenei

Answer 11

Conservative Supreme Leader who ascended in 1989 following Khomeini’s death

Question 12

Mohammad Khatami

Answer 12

Reform minded 5th president of Iran from 1997 until 2005

Question 13

Ruhollah Khomeini

Answer 13

Revolutionary leader of the 1997 Iranian Revolution which overthrew the Shahs and instated Iran’s current Islamic system. He was also the 1st Supreme Leader of that system.

Question 14

Majles

Answer 14

National legislative body (parliament) of Iran

Question 15

Mohammad Mossadegh

Answer 15

Democratically elected PM of Iran from 1951 until ‘53 when his government was overthrown in a coup (thrown by the CIA)

Question 16

Mir-Hossein Mousavi

Answer 16

Reformist Iranian politician who served as 79th and final PM of Iran from ‘81 ‘til ‘89, and ran for the presidency in 2009; when he lost he led the Green Movement

Question 17

Multiple power centers

Answer 17

Revolutionary-created positions which overlapping with positions found in traditional governments

Question 18

Mohammad-Reza Shah Pahlavi

Answer 18

Last Shah of Iran; reigned from 1941 until 1979

Question 19

Leader

Answer 19

Highest position in Iran; combining religious and traditional authority

Question 20

Parastal foundations

Answer 20

Companies or agencies which are separate from the gov’t but possess political clout and perform activities which serve the state either directly or indirectly

Question 21

Rentier state

Answer 21

A state which derives a majority of its profits from the renting of indigenous resources to external clients

Question 22

Shari’a

Answer 22

Divine code of law derived from the Quran

Question 23

Sunnis

Answer 23

Muslims that believe the community should select its own leadership (faith of most Muslims)

Question 24

Theocracy

Answer 24

Government that establishes its legitimacy through divine guidance

Question 25

Tudeh Party

Answer 25

Iranian Communist party formed in 1941 which nationalized the Iranian oil industry

Question 26

Twelver Shiism

Answer 26

Largest branch of Shia Islam

Question 27

Ulema

Answer 27

Religious scholars of the Muslim world

Question 28

Velayet-e faqih

Answer 28

“Guardianship of the Jurispundent”

Concept that the state shall be placed in the hands of someone who is enlightened in Islamic theology and law (the Supreme Leader)