Parliamentary elections were held in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

on 13 March 1980, with a second round on 9 May. They were the first elections to the

Majlis ( ar, المجلس, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning "sitting room", used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural conne ...

since the overthrow of the

Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

, and were contested to a considerable degree on a party basis. It resulted in a victory for the

Islamic Republican Party The Islamic Republican Party (IRP; fa, حزب جمهوری اسلامی, Ḥezb-e Jomhūrī-e Eslāmī, also translated Islamic Republic Party) formed in 1979 to assist the Iranian Revolution and Ayatollah Khomeini establish theocracy in Iran. ...

, which won 85 of the 270 seats, whilst its allies won a further 45. The party, joined by smaller Islamist groups in the

Grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government. The term is most commonly used in countries where there ar ...

was a highly organized force and put up candidates in most constituencies and dominated the campaigns, especially in the provinces. President

Abolhassan Banisadr Seyyed Abolhassan Banisadr ( fa, سید ابوالحسن بنی‌صدر; 22 March 1933 – 9 October 2021) was an Iranian politician, writer, and political dissident. He was the first president of Iran after the 1979 Iranian Revolution abo ...

and his followers, presented dozens of candidates in Tehran and provinces under the list Office for the Cooperation of the People with the President. The Freedom Movement of Iran which failed to organize effectively, fielded at most only 40 candidates under the banner of

Eponym Group The Eponym Group ( fa, گروه همنام; ''Hamnam'') was an electoral list for the 1980 Iranian legislative election claiming "it would choose its candidates based on merit without regard to party affiliation". Close to the Freedom Movement, th ...

and won about 20 seats. Among National Front candidates, four won the election but their credentials was rejected on the grounds such as being "landlord" or "American agent" and they were not allowed to take their seat. Its leader

Karim Sanjabi Karim Sanjabi ( fa, کریم سنجابی; 11 September 1905 – 4 July 1995) was an Iranian politician of National Front. Early life He was born in Kermanshah in September 1905 to the chief of the Kurdish Sanjâbi tribe. He studied law and ...

withdrew in the run-off because of the alleged "irregularities". Under the name ''Progressive Revolutionary Candidates'' list,

People's Mujahedin of Iran The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) ( fa, سازمان مجاهدين خلق ايران, sâzmân-e mojâhedīn-e khalq-e īrân), is an Iranian pol ...

endorsed 127 nominees nationwide and the official counts gave them as much as 20% of the votes in some constituencies, however they failed to win any seats. Its leader

Massoud Rajavi Massoud Rajavi ( fa, مسعود رجوی, born 18 August 1948 – disappeared 13 March 2003) became the leader of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) in 1979. In 1985, he married Maryam Rajavi, who became the co-leader of the MEK. After leaving ...

received 531,943 votes in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...

but was defeated in the run-offs.

Tudeh Party The Tudeh Party of Iran ( fa-at, حزب تودۀ ایران, Ḥezb-e Tūde-ye Īrān, lit=Party of the Masses of Iran) is an Iranian communist party. Formed in 1941, with Soleiman Mirza Eskandari as its head, it had considerable influence in i ...

lacked popularity and did poorly, with their highest ranked candidate in

receiving only some 100,000 votes. The party was unable to persuade other left-wing groups to unite.

Electoral system

The

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

approved in a December 1979 referendum provided for a 270-seat Majlis, with five seats reserved for minority groups including

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

, Zoroastrians,

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

from the north and south of the country and one jointly elected by

Assyrians Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...

and Chaldeans.Iran
IPU As there was no electoral law at the time of the elections, they were held in accordance with a proposal from the Ministry of the Interior and approved by the

Council of the Revolution The Council of the Islamic Revolution ( fa, شورای انقلاب اسلامی, Šūrā-ye enqelāb-e eslāmī) was a group formed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to manage the Iranian Revolution on 10 January 1979, shortly before he returned ...

. However, the elections were postponed in 23 constituencies in Kurdistan Province and Sistan and Balochistan Province.

Results

137 of the elected MPs were clerics.James W Hesle
The Decline of Clerics in the Iranian Majles
;''Ettela'at'' newspaper (1980) ;Thapar (1980) ;Abrahamian (1989) ;Nohlen ''et al'' (2001)

References

{{Iranian elections 1980 elections in Iran Aftermath of the Iranian Revolution Islamic Consultative Assembly elections