List of presidents of Iran

This is a list of the presidents of the Islamic Republic of Iran since the establishment of that office in 1980. The president of Iran is the highest popularly elected official in the country. The current president, Masoud Pezeshkian has been in office since 28 July 2024 after winning the 2024 presidential election.

Background

After the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and referendum to create the Islamic Republic on March 29 and 30, the new government needed to craft a new constitution. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ordered an election for the Assembly of Experts, the body tasked with writing the constitution. ^[1] The assembly presented the constitution on October 24, 1979, and Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini and Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan approved it. This was also approved in constitutional referendum on December 2 and 3.

The 1979 Constitution designated the supreme leader as the head of state and the president and prime minister as the heads of government. The post of prime minister was abolished after the 1989 constitutional referendum.

The first Iranian presidential election was held on January 25, 1980 and resulted in the election of Abolhassan Banisadr with 76% of the votes. Banisadr was impeached on June 22, 1981 by Parliament. Until the early election on July 24, 1981, the duties of the president were undertaken by the Provisional Presidential Council. Mohammad-Ali Rajai was elected president on July 24, 1981 and took office on August 2. Rajai remained in office for less than one month, with both he and his prime minister being assassinated on August 30, 1981. Once again, a Provisional Presidential Council filled the office until October 13, 1981 when Ali Khamenei was elected president.

Ali Khamenei, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mohammad Khatami, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani were each elected president for two terms. Ebrahim Raisi was the eighth president, serving from his election in 2021 until his death on May 19, 2024 leaving the office occupied in an acting capacity by First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber. Masoud Pezeshkian was elected as the current president on July 6, 2024.

List of officeholders

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party		Election(s)	Cabinet	Prime minister	Previous office	Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Abolhassan Banisadr سید ابوالحسن بنی‌صدر (1933–2021)	4 February 1980	22 June 1981	1 year, 138 days		Independent	1980	Rajai	Mohammad-Ali Rajai	Minister of Finance (1979–1980)
The Council of the Islamic Revolution deputised during the interim (6 November 1979 – 4 February 1980). [a]
The Presidential Council deputised during the interim (22 June 1981 – 2 August 1981). [a]
2		Mohammad-Ali Rajai محمدعلی رجائی (1933–1981)	2 August 1981	30 August 1981   X	28 days		Islamic Association of Teachers	1981 (Jul)	Bahonar	Mohammad-Javad Bahonar	Prime Minister of Iran (1980–1981)
The Presidential Council deputised during the interim (30 August 1981 – 9 October 1981). [a]
3		Ali Khamenei علی خامنه ای (1939–2026)	9 October 1981	16 August 1989	7 years, 311 days		Combatant Clergy Association	1981 (Oct)	Mousavi I	Mir-Hossein Mousavi	Member of the Parliament of Iran (1980–1981)	[2]
								1985	Mousavi II
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party		Election(s)	Cabinet	First vice president(s)	Previous office	Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
4		Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی (1934–2017)	16 August 1989	3 August 1997	7 years, 352 days		Combatant Clergy Association	1989	Rafsanjani I	Hassan Habibi	Speaker of the Parliament of Iran (1980–1989)	[2]
								1993	Rafsanjani II
5		Mohammad Khatami محمد خاتمی (born 1943)	3 August 1997	3 August 2005	8 years		Combatant Clergy Association	1997	Khatami I	Hassan Habibi	Minister of Culture (1982–1992)
								2001	Khatami II	Mohammad Reza Aref
6		Mahmoud Ahmadinejad محمود احمدی‌نژاد (born 1956)	3 August 2005	3 August 2013	8 years		Alliance of Builders	2005	Ahmadinejad I	Parviz Davoodi	Mayor of Tehran (2003–2005)
										Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei
								2009	Ahmadinejad II	Mohammad-Reza Rahimi
7		Hassan Rouhani حسن روحانی (born 1948)	3 August 2013	3 August 2021	8 years		Moderation and Development Party	2013	Rouhani I	Eshaq Jahangiri	Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (1989–2005)
								2017	Rouhani II
8		Ebrahim Raisi ابراهیم رئیسی (1960–2024)	3 August 2021	19 May 2024   #	2 years, 290 days		Combatant Clergy Association	2021	Raisi	Mohammad Mokhber	Chief Justice (2019–2021)
–		Mohammad Mokhber [a] محمد مخبر (born 1955) acting	19 May 2024	28 July 2024	70 days		Independent	–	Raisi	Himself	Vice President (2021–2024)
9		Masoud Pezeshkian مسعود پزشکیان (born 1954)	28 July 2024	Incumbent	1 year, 217 days		Independent	2024	Pezeshkian	Mohammad Reza Aref	Minister of Health and Medical Education (2001–2005)

Timeline

Presidential age-related data

No.	President	Born	Age at start of presidency	Age at end of presidency	Time in office	Post-presidency timespan	Lifespan
							Died	Age
1	Abolhassan Banisadr	Mar 22, 1933	46 years, 319 days Feb 4, 1980	48 years, 92 days Jun 22, 1981	1 year, 138 days	40 years, 109 days	Oct 9, 2021	88 years, 201 days
2	Mohammad-Ali Rajai	Jun 15, 1933	48 years, 48 days Aug 2, 1981	48 years, 76 days Aug 30, 1981	28 days	0 days [b]	Aug 30, 1981	48 years, 76 days
3	Ali Khamenei	Apr 19, 1939	42 years, 173 days Oct 9, 1981	50 years, 119 days Aug 16, 1989	7 years, 311 days	36 years, 196 days	Feb 28, 2026	86 years, 315 days
4	Akbar Rafsanjani	Aug 25, 1934	54 years, 356 days Aug 16, 1989	62 years, 343 days Aug 3, 1997	7 years, 352 days	19 years, 158 days	Jan 8, 2017	82 years, 136 days
5	Mohammad Khatami	Oct 14, 1943	53 years, 293 days Aug 3, 1997	61 years, 293 days Aug 3, 2005	8 years, 0 days	20 years, 211 days	–	82 years, 139 days
6	Mahmoud Ahmadinejad	Oct 28, 1956	48 years, 279 days Aug 3, 2005	56 years, 279 days Aug 3, 2013	8 years, 0 days	12 years, 211 days	–	69 years, 123 days
7	Hassan Rouhani	Nov 12, 1948	64 years, 264 days Aug 3, 2013	72 years, 264 days Aug 3, 2021	8 years, 0 days	4 years, 211 days	–	77 years, 110 days
8	Ebrahim Raisi	Dec 14, 1960	60 years, 232 days Aug 3, 2021	63 years, 157 days May 19, 2024	2 years, 290 days	0 days [b]	May 19, 2024	63 years, 157 days
-	Mohammad Mokhber (Acting)	Jun 26, 1955	68 years, 328 days May 19, 2024	69 years, 32 days Jul 28, 2024	70 days	1 year, 217 days	–	70 years, 249 days
9	Masoud Pezeshkian	Sep 29, 1954	69 years, 303 days Jul 28, 2024	(Incumbent)	1 year, 217 days	(Incumbent)	–	71 years, 154 days

Notes

1. Article 131 of The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran:
   In case of death, dismissal, resignation, absence, or illness lasting longer than two months of the President or when his term in office has ended and a new president has not been elected due to some impediments, or similar other circumstances, his first deputy shall assume, with the approval of the Leader, the powers and functions of the President. The Council, consisting of the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, head of the judicial power, and the first deputy of the President, is obliged to arrange for a new President to be elected within a maximum period of fifty days. In case of death of the first deputy to the President, or other matters which prevent him to perform his duties or when the President does not have a first deputy, the Leader shall appoint another person in his place. ^[3]
2. Died in office

See also

• Supreme Leader of Iran
• President of Iran
• List of vice presidents of Iran
• List of heads of state of Iran
• Prime Minister of Iran
  • List of prime ministers of Iran
• List of speakers of the Parliament of Iran

References

1. "Assembly of Experts". Archived from the original on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
2. "Letter to Hashemi Rafsanjani and resignation from presidency" (in Persian). Khamenei.ir. 16 August 1989. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
3. "Constitution". Archived from the original on 12 January 2024. Retrieved 20 May 2024.