1979 Iranian constitutional referendum

1979 Iranian constitutional referendum
2–3 December 1979
Results
Choice
 Votes %
Yes 15,680,329 99.50%
No 78,516 0.50%
Valid votes 15,758,845 100.00%
Invalid or blank votes 111 0.00%
Total votes 15,758,956 100.00%

A constitutional referendum was held in Iran on 2 and 3 December 1979.[1][2] The new Islamic constitution was approved by 99.5% of voters.[3]

The referendum was held by the Council of the Islamic Revolution, because Bazargan's Interim Government—which oversaw the previous referendum—had resigned in protest to the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis.[4]

A day before the referendum, when the mourning of Ashura was practiced, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini said those who will not vote tomorrow, will help Americans and desecrate Shohada (Martyrs).[5]

Alongside Islamic Republican Party, the communist Tudeh Party of Iran urged people to vote yes, expressing its support for "Imam's line";[6] while Freedom Movement of Iran requested a yes vote on the grounds that the alternative was an anarchy.[5]

Others, including leftists, secular nationalists and Islamist followers of Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari, and the prominent opposition group PMOI (People's Mojahedin Organization) called for a boycott. The turnout among Sunni minorities in Kurdistan and Sistan and Baluchestan Provinces, as well as Shariatmadari's home Azerbaijan was low and number of votes fell down in comparison to the referendum held in March. Historian Ervand Abrahamian estimates that nearly 17% of the people did not support the constitution.[7]

  1. ^ Mahmood T. Davari (1 October 2004). The Political Thought of Ayatollah Murtaza Mutahhari: An Iranian Theoretician of the Islamic State. Routledge. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-134-29488-6.
  2. ^ Eur (31 October 2002). The Middle East and North Africa 2003. Psychology Press. p. 414. ISBN 978-1-85743-132-2.
  3. ^ 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.
  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. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference ea was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference t was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Abrahamian, Ervand (2008). A History of Modern Iran. Cambridge University Press. p. 169. ISBN 978-0521528917.