100 Notable alumni of
University of Tehran
Updated:
The University of Tehran is 76th in the world, 12th in Asia, and 1st in Iran by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from the University of Tehran sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Hassan Rouhani
- Enrolled in the University of Tehran
- 1969-1972 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- writerclericlawyerdiplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Hassan Rouhani is an Iranian politician who served as the seventh president of Iran from 2013 to 2021. He is also a sharia lawyer ("Wakil"), academic, former diplomat and Islamic cleric. He served as a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts from 1999 to 2024. He was a member of the Expediency Council from 1991 to 2013, and also was a member of the Supreme National Security Council from 1989 to 2021. Rouhani was deputy speaker of the fourth and fifth terms of the Parliament of Iran (Majlis) and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 1989 to 2005. In the latter capacity, he was the country's top negotiator with the EU three, UK, France, and Germany, on nuclear technology in Iran, and has also served as a Shia mujtahid (a senior cleric), and economic trade negotiator.
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Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
- Occupations
- writerakhoondentrepreneurpolitician
- Biography
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Ali Akbar Hashemi Bahramani Rafsanjani was an Iranian Shia cleric and politician who was the fourth president of Iran from 1989 to 1997. One of the founding fathers of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Rafsanjani was the head of the Assembly of Experts from 2007 until 2011 when he decided not to nominate himself for the post. He was also the chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council.
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Abbas Kiarostami
- Occupations
- film editorsculptorediting staffphotographerphotojournalist
- Biography
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Abbas Kiarostami was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of over forty films, including shorts and documentaries. Kiarostami attained critical acclaim for directing the Koker trilogy (1987–1994), Close-Up (1990), The Wind Will Carry Us (1999), and Taste of Cherry (1997), which was awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival that year. In later works, Certified Copy (2010) and Like Someone in Love (2012), he filmed for the first time outside Iran: in Italy and Japan, respectively. His films Where Is the Friend's House? (1987), Close-Up, and The Wind Will Carry Us were ranked among the 100 best foreign films in a 2018 critics' poll by BBC Culture. Close-Up was also ranked one of the 50 greatest movies of all time in the famous decennial Sight & Sound poll conducted in 2012. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of Iran, and of all time.
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Asghar Farhadi
- Occupations
- film screenwriterfilm producerfilm directoractordirector
- Biography
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Asghar Farhadi is an Iranian film director and screenwriter. He is considered one of the most prominent filmmakers of Iranian cinema as well as world cinema in the 21st century. His films have gained recognition for their focus on the human condition, and portrayals of intimate and challenging stories of internal family conflicts. In 2012, he was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. That same year, he also received the Legion of Honour from France.
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Massoud Rajavi
- Occupations
- partisanmilitary leaderpolitician
- Biography
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Massoud Rajavi is an Iranian politician and revolutionary who became the leader of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) in 1979. After leaving Iran in 1981, he resided in France and Iraq. He disappeared shortly before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, leaving his wife and co-leader Maryam Rajavi as the public face of the MEK.
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Abolhassan Banisadr
- Occupations
- essayistpoliticianwriterjournalisteconomist
- Biography
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Abolhassan Banisadr was an Iranian politician, writer, and political dissident. He was the first president of Iran after the 1979 Iranian Revolution abolished the monarchy, serving from February 1980 until his impeachment by parliament in June 1981. Before his presidency, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Interim Government of Iran.
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Al Sayed Musa al-Sadr
- Enrolled in the University of Tehran
- Studied fiqh and political science
- Occupations
- theologianpoliticianakhoond
- Biography
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Musa Sadr al-Din al-Sadr was a Lebanese-Iranian Shia Muslim cleric, politician and revolutionary In Lebanon. He founded and revived many Lebanese Shia organisations, including schools, charities, and the Amal Movement.
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Mostafa Chamran
- Occupations
- military officerpoliticianphysicist
- Biography
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Mostafa Chamran Save'ei was an Iranian physicist, politician, commander and guerrilla fighter who served as the first defense minister of post-revolutionary Iran and a member of parliament as well as the commander of paramilitary volunteers in Iran–Iraq War, known as "Irregular Warfare Headquarters". He was killed during the Iran–Iraq War.
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Ali Larijani
- Occupations
- politicianphilosopher
- Biography
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Ali Ardashir Larijani is an Iranian politician and former military officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who serves as Secretary of Supreme National Security Council since 2025. He served as the Speaker of the Parliament of Iran from 2008 to 2020. He has been a member of the Expediency Discernment Council since 2020, having previously served from 1997 to 2008.
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Mohsen Rezaee
- Occupations
- military leaderpolitician
- Biography
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Mohsen Rezaee Mirgha'ed is an Iranian principlist politician affiliated with the Resistance Front of Islamic Iran and senior military officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who is currently a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, secretary of the Supreme Council for Economic Coordination, as well as the secretary of the Iranian government's Economic Committee. He was secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council from 1997 to 2021 and Vice President of Iran for Economic Affairs between 2021 and 2023.
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Hossein Amir-Abdollahian
- Enrolled in the University of Tehran
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in international relations
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was an Iranian politician and diplomat who served as foreign minister of Iran from 2021 until his death in a helicopter crash in 2024. He was the deputy foreign minister for Arab and African Affairs between 2011 and 2016.
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Parsa Pirouzfar
- Occupations
- playwrightfilm directoractortranslatorpainter
- Biography
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Parsa Pirouzfar is an Iranian actor, theatre director, painter, playwright, and translator. He is best known for his role in In the Eyes of the Wind (2009–2010), and Mum's Guest (2004). He has received various accolades, including a Hafez Award and an Iran Cinema Celebration Award, in addition to a nomination for a Crystal Simorgh.
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Jafar Panahi
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directorfilm editorfilm produceractor
- Biography
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Jafar Panâhi is an Iranian filmmaker and actor. He is known internationally for his artistically significant contributions to post-1979 Revolution Iranian cinema and has been associated with the Iranian New Wave. His work, deeply rooted in neorealism and centered on the lives of women, children, and the marginalized, constitutes a powerful critical portrait of the social, political, and gender structures of contemporary Iran.
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Mohammad Beheshti
- Occupations
- judgepoliticianakhoondwritertheologian
- Biography
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Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti was an Iranian jurist, poetic philosopher, cleric and politician who was known as the second person in the political hierarchy of Iran after the Revolution. Beheshti is considered to have been the primary architect of Iran's post-revolution constitution, as well as the administrative structure of the Islamic republic. Beheshti is also known to have selected and trained several prominent politicians in the Islamic Republic, such as former presidents Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad Khatami, Ali Akbar Velayati, Mohammad Javad Larijani, Ali Fallahian, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi. Beheshti also served as the Secretary General of the Islamic Republic Party, and was the head of the Iranian judicial system. He further served as Chairman of the Council of Islamic Revolution, and the Assembly of Experts. Beheshti earned a PhD in philosophy, and was fluent in English, German and Arabic.
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Mohsen Tanabandeh
- Occupations
- screenwritertelevision actorfilm directoractor
- Biography
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Mohsen Tanabandeh is an Iranian actor, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for his role as Naghi Mamooli in the television series Capital (2011–2025), for which he also served as creator and head writer, earning three Hafez Awards.
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Atila Pesiani
- Occupations
- performing artistactortelevision actor
- Biography
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Atila Pesyani was an Iranian actor.
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Lotfi A. Zadeh
- Occupations
- computer scientistengineeruniversity teachermathematician
- Biography
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Lotfi Aliasger Zadeh was a mathematician, computer scientist, electrical engineer, artificial intelligence researcher, and professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. Zadeh is best known for proposing fuzzy mathematics, consisting of several fuzzy-related concepts: fuzzy sets, fuzzy logic, fuzzy algorithms, fuzzy semantics, fuzzy languages, fuzzy control, fuzzy systems, fuzzy probabilities, fuzzy events, and fuzzy information. Zadeh was a founding member of the Eurasian Academy.
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Shirin Ebadi
- Occupations
- lawyerwriterhuman rights defenderpeace activistjurist
- Biography
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Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian Nobel laureate, lawyer, writer, teacher and a former judge and founder of the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. In 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her pioneering efforts for democracy and women's, children's, and refugee rights. She was the first Iranian to receive the award.
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Ehsan Alikhani
- Occupations
- television presenterfilm directorpresenterfilm producertelevision producer
- Biography
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Ehsan Alikhani is an Iranian producer, television presenter, and director.
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Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
- Occupations
- public relations executiveproject managerjournalist
- Biography
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Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is an Iranian-British dual citizen who was detained in Iran from 3 April 2016 to 16 March 2022 as part of a long-running dispute between Britain and Iran. In early September 2016, she was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of plotting to topple the Iranian government. While in prison, she went on at least three hunger strikes trying to persuade Iranian authorities to provide medical treatment for her health problems. She was temporarily released on 17 March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran, but subject to electronic monitoring.
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Saeed AghaKhani
- Occupations
- screenwritertelevision directorfilm directorwriteractor
- Biography
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Saeed Aghakhani is an Iranian actor and director. He has received various accolades, including a Crystal Simorgh, two Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association Awards and a Duhok International Film Festival Award.
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Saeed Rad
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Ahmad Saeed Hagh Parast Raad was an Iranian actor and playwright who started his career in 1968. Rad left Iran in 1986 and lived in Canada but returned in 2000 to continue his career.
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Bahram Beyzai
- Occupations
- directorfilm editoruniversity teachertheatrical directorfilm director
- Biography
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Bahrām Beyzai was an Iranian filmmaker, playwright, theatre director, researcher, and ostād ("master") of Persian literature, mythology, and Iranian studies.
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Mahmoud Hessabi
- Occupations
- nuclear physicistacademicpolitician
- Biography
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Mahmoud Khan Mirza Hessabi was an Iranian nuclear physicist and senator. He was the minister of education in the cabinet of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh from 1951 to 1952.
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Ebrahim Golestan
- Occupations
- film directorwriterscreenwritertranslatorfilm producer
- Biography
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Ebrahim Taghavi Shirazi, known as Ebrahim Golestan, was an Iranian filmmaker and literary figure. Golestan was closely associated with Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad, whom he met in his studio in 1958, until her death. He was said to have inspired her to live more independently. It could also be said that she inspired him in his artistic vision. He lived in Sussex, United Kingdom from 1975 until his death.
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Jaleh Sameti
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Zhaleh Sameti is an Iranian actress. She graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Tehran in the field of theater and began her professional career in 1994 with a role in Det. When Did You See Sahar Last Time? (2015) and Darkhongah (2018) has been nominated for Crystal Simorgh from Fajr Film Festival. She has also won the Hafez Award for Home and Underground TV series (2020–present). Sameti has been a judge in the Asr-e Jadid television competition since 2022.
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Hamid Farrokhnezhad
- Enrolled in the University of Tehran
- Studied theatrical director
- Occupations
- actorscreenwriterfilm director
- Biography
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Hamid Farrokhnezhad is an Iranian actor, writer, and director. He has received various accolades, including four Crystal Simorgh (two for acting), two Hafez Awards, three Iran Cinema Celebration Awards, and an Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association Award.
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Abdolkarim Soroush
- Occupations
- university teacherphilosopherwriter
- Biography
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Abdolkarim Soroush, born Hossein Haj Faraj Dabbagh (born 16 December 1945; Persian: حسين حاج فرج دباغ), is an Iranian Islamic and Rumi scholar, and a former professor of philosophy at the University of Tehran. He is among the most influential figures in the religious intellectual movement of Iran.
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Hadi Hejazifar
- Enrolled in the University of Tehran
- Graduated with bachelor's degree in puppetry
- Occupations
- actorscreenwriterfilm director
- Biography
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Hadi Hejazifar is an Iranian actor, director and screenwriter. He gained attention and received critical acclaim for his performances in films Standing in the Dust (2016), Midday Adventures (2017), Atabai (2020), Majority (2021), and The Lion Skin (2022–2023). He has received various accolades, including a Crystal Simorgh, two Hafez Awards, an Urban International Film Festival Award and two Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association Awards.
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Mohammad Ali Jafari
- Occupations
- military personnelpolitician
- Biography
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Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari is a retired Iranian military officer who was the commander-in-chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from 2007 to 2019. He was appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on 1 September 2007, succeeding Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi.
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Mohammad Ali Foroughi
- Occupations
- writerliterary scholaruniversity teacherpoliticianjournalist
- Biography
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Mohammad Ali Foroughi, also known as Zoka-ol-Molk (Persian: ذُکاءُالمُلک), was an Iranian politician, writer, freemason, Azali, and diplomat who served as the Prime Minister of Iran for three terms. He wrote numerous books on ancient Iranian history and is known for founding the Academy of Iran.
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Nechervan Idris Barzani
- Enrolled in the University of Tehran
- Studied political science
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Nechirvan Idris Barzani is an Iraqi Kurdish politician serving as the second President of the Kurdistan Region. He was elected into office by the Kurdistan Region Parliament in June 2019. Nechirvan Barzani was appointed as Vice President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party since 2010. He previously served as Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government from March 2007 to August 2009 and March 2012 to May 2019. Nechirvan Barzani is also the founder of the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr, the Kurdistan Region's top-ranked university.
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Roya Nonahali
- Enrolled in the University of Tehran
- Graduated with bachelor's degree in painting
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Roya Nonahali is an Iranian actress and director. She studied painting, and has worked in theatre since 1984. Nonahali started film acting with The Beloved Is at Home (1987, by Khosrow Sinai). Then she was selected by Mohsen Makhmalbaf for Marriage of the Blessed and received a Crystal Simorgh for Best Actress from Fajr International Film Festival. Her performance in Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine was awarded with the Best Supporting Actress award at the festival. She started acting in TV programs by Asleep & Awake in 2001. In 2019 she referee's in first Iranian Talent Show called Asre Jadid produced by Ehsan Alikhani.
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Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel
- Occupations
- writertranslatorphilosopheracademicpolitician
- Biography
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Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel is an Iranian conservative and principlist politician and former chairman of the Parliament. He is currently member of the Expediency Discernment Council.
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Mohammad Khamenei
- Occupations
- academic
- Biography
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Mohammad Khamenei is an Iranian cleric and politician. He is the older brother of Ali Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader of Iran, and Hadi Khamenei. Currently, he is the president of Iranology Foundation, and Sadra Islamic Wisdom Foundation, he is a professor at Allameh Tabataba'i University, School of International Relations and Al-Zahra University. He was also one of the compilers of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a member for the Islamic Consultative Assembly representing Mashhad.
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Mehraveh Sharifinia
- Enrolled in the University of Tehran
- Graduated with bachelor's degree in music
- Occupations
- actorfilm actor
- Biography
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Mahraveh Sharifinia is an Iranian film and television actress. She has a Diploma in Mathematics (Physics) and has studied music education at the University of Art in Tehran. She is the daughter of Mohammadreza Sharifinia and Azita Hajian. Mehraveh Sharifinia attended a semester studying film directing, but after consulting with her father withdrew from the study in this field. She is trained in the piano as her specialised musical instrument.
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Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i
- Occupations
- religious figurejudgepolitician
- Biography
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Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i is an Iranian principlist politician, Islamic jurist and former prosecutor who currently serves as Chief Justice of Iran.
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Simin Daneshvar
- Occupations
- linguistwritertranslatoruniversity teachernovelist
- Biography
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Simin Dāneshvar was an Iranian academic, novelist, fiction writer, and translator.
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Mohammad Reza Aref
- Occupations
- university teacherengineerpolitician
- Biography
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Mohammad Reza Aref is an Iranian engineer, academic and reformist politician who is the eighth and current first vice president of Iran since 2024, under President Masoud Pezeshkian; he previously served as the first vice-president from 2001 to 2005 under Mohammad Khatami. He is also currently member of the Expediency Discernment Council since 2002.
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Ebrahim Yazdi
- Occupations
- activistpoliticianpharmacist
- Biography
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Ebrahim Yazdi was an Iranian politician, pharmacist, and diplomat who served as deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs in the interim government of Mehdi Bazargan, until his resignation in November 1979, in protest at the Iran hostage crisis. From 1995 until 2017, he headed the Freedom Movement of Iran. Yazdi was also a trained cancer researcher.
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Abbas Araghchi
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Abbas Araghchi is an Iranian diplomat and politician, who has served as the foreign minister of Iran since August 2024. He previously served as the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as the Iranian ambassador to Finland and to Japan.
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Ahmad Kazemi
- Occupations
- military leader
- Biography
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Sayyid Ahmad Kazemi was an Iranian army brigadier general and one of the most notable soldiers in the Iran–Iraq War.
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Mehdi Hashemi
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directordirectoractor
- Biography
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Mehdi Hashemi is an Iranian actor, screenwriter, and director.
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Ali Akbar Velayati
- Occupations
- politicianphysician
- Biography
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Ali Akbar Velayati is an Iranian principlist politician and physician. He is currently a member of the Expediency Discernment Council. Velayati is a distinguished professor at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, senior adviser to the Supreme Leader in international affairs and head of the board of founders and the board of trustees of the Islamic Azad University.
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Gholam Ali Rasheed
- Enrolled in the University of Tehran
- Graduated with master's degree in political geography
- Occupations
- military personnelpolitician
- Biography
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Major general Gholam Ali Rashid was an Iranian military officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who served as the commander of Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters. He was assassinated by Israeli strikes on Iran on 13 June 2025.
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Amin Tarokh
- Occupations
- actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Amin Tarokh was an Iranian actor. He has received various accolades, including a Crystal Simorgh, a Hafez Award. He also used to teach acting and was the teacher of famous actors like Taraneh Alidoosti, Gelareh Abbasi, Shabnam Moghaddami, Navid Pourfaraj, Pouria Rahimisam, Majid Vasheghani, Hedieh Bazvand and more.
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Mehdi Karroubi
- Occupations
- businesspersonentrepreneurpolitician
- Biography
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Mehdi Karroubi is an Iranian Shia cleric and reformist politician leading the National Trust Party. Following 2009–2010 Iranian election protests, Karroubi was put under house arrest in February 2011. As of 2025, he is still confined to his house.
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Abdolnaser Hemmati
- Occupations
- economist
- Biography
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Abdolnaser Hemmati is an Iranian academic, politician, and economist who serves as governor of the Central Bank of Iran since 2025 for the second time. Hemmati served as the minister of economic and financial affairs from 2024 to 2025.
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Ali Mosaffa
- Occupations
- actorscreenwriterfilm director
- Biography
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Ali Mosaffa is an Iranian actor and filmmaker.
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Mina Sadati
- Enrolled in the University of Tehran
- Graduated with bachelor's degree in graphics
- Occupations
- actorfilm actor
- Biography
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Mina Sadati is an Iranian actress. She is best known for her role as Leila in Loneliness of Leila (2015).
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Mehdi Fakhimzadeh
- Enrolled in the University of Tehran
- Graduated with bachelor's degree in French literature
- Occupations
- screenwritertelevision directorfilm directorfilm produceractor
- Biography
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Mehdi Fakhimzadeh is an Iranian actor, director, screenwriter and producer.
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Ali-Akbar Dehkhoda
- Occupations
- satiristjournalistlinguistwritertranslator
- Biography
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Allamah Ali-Akbar Dehkhodā was a prominent Iranian literary writer, philologist, and lexicographer.
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Aydin Aghdashloo
- Occupations
- paintergraphic designerwriter
- Biography
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Aydin Aghdashloo is an Iranian painter, graphic artist, art curator, writer, and film critic.
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Majid Salehi
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorwritertelevision directorfilm director
- Biography
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Majid Salehi is an Iranian actor, screenwriter and producer. He has received various accolades, including a Crystal Simorgh and a Hafez Award, in addition to nominations for four Hafez Awards, an Iran Cinema Celebration Award and an Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association Award.
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Noor Ali Tabandeh
- Occupations
- Muslimlawyerummah
- Biography
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Noor-Ali Tabandeh was the spiritual leader or Qutb of the Ni'matullah (Sultan Ali Shahi) Gonabadi Order in Iran (Gonabadi Dervishes), which is the largest Sufi order in Iran. He was born in Beydokht, Gonabad, Iran and died in Mehr Hospital in Tehran on 24 December 2019 after two years of house arrest.
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Susan Taslimi
- Occupations
- theatrical directorfilm producerstage actorfilm directoractor
- Biography
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Susan Taslimi is an Iranian-Swedish film and theatre actress, director and screenwriter. She emigrated from Iran in 1987, and now lives and works in Sweden.
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Mehdi Soltani
- Occupations
- singeractorfilm director
- Biography
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Mehdi Soltani or Mehdi Soltani Sarvestani is an Iranian actor born on 23 August 1971 in Shiraz, Iran.
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Hossein Fatemi
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Hossein Fatemi was an Iranian scholar. A close associate of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, he proposed nationalization of Iranian oil and gas assets. Initially a journalist, he served as minister of foreign affairs from 1951 to 1953. After the 1953 coup d'état toppled the government of Mosaddegh, Fatemi was arrested, tortured, and convicted by a military court of "treason against the Shah", and executed by a firing squad.
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Azita Hajian
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Azita Hajian is an Iranian actress.
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Pantea Bahram
- Enrolled in the University of Tehran
- 1992-1996 graduated with bachelor's degree in screenwriting
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Pantea Bahram is an Iranian actress. She has received various accolades, including a Crystal Simorgh and an Iran Cinema Celebration Award, in addition to nominations for six Hafez Awards and four Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association Awards.
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Mohammad Javad Bahonar
- Occupations
- teacherIslamic theologianpolitician
- Biography
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Mohammad-Javad Bahonar was an Iranian theologian and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Iran for less than one month, in August 1981. On 30 August, Bahonar and other members of Mohammad-Ali Rajai's government were assassinated by Mujahideen-e Khalq.
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Parviz Sabeti
- Occupations
- intelligence officer
- Biography
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Parviz Sabeti is an Iranian lawyer and former SAVAK top deputy under the regime of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Born in Sang-e Sar, Semnan province, Sabeti received a law degree from the University of Tehran and joined the SAVAK, Iran's intelligence agency in the Shah's regime, in 1957. He quickly rose to become the acting director of the SAVAK's so-called third division, the Division of Surveillance and Pursuit, and later became its director.
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Abdolhossein Zarrinkoob
- Occupations
- literary criticwritertranslatorliterary scholaressayist
- Biography
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Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub was a scholar and professor of Iranian literature, history of literature, Persian culture and history.
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Iraj Tahmasb
- Enrolled in the University of Tehran
- Graduated with bachelor's degree in theatre art
- Occupations
- television actorfilm directortelevision presenteractorpresenter
- Biography
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Iraj Tahmasb is an Iranian actor, screenwriter, and director of TV series and films. He is best known for co-creating of popular puppet character, Kolah Ghermezi.
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Nasser Taghvai
- Occupations
- writerfilm directorphotographerscreenwriter
- Biography
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Nasser Taghvai was an Iranian film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his television series, My Uncle Napoleon.
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Abbas Amir-Entezam
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Abbas Amir-Entezam was an Iranian politician who served as deputy prime minister in the Interim Cabinet of Mehdi Bazargan in 1979. In 1981 he was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of spying for the U.S., a charge critics suggest was a cover for retaliation against his early opposition to theocratic government in Iran. He was "the longest-held political prisoner in the Islamic Republic of Iran". According to Fariba Amini, as of 2006, he had "been in jail for 17 years." In July 2018, he died while serving his life sentence, serving more than 38 years as a political prisoner.
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Farimah Farjami
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Farimah Farjami was an Iranian actress. She received various accolades, including a Crystal Simorgh for The Last Act (1991). Her acting in films, especially in independent women's dramas, was repeatedly praised by critics. She was often referred to as one of the leading actors of her generation.
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Abbas Maroufi
- Occupations
- playwrightteachernovelistjournalistbookseller
- Biography
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Abbas Maroufi was an Iranian novelist and journalist. His most famous novel is Symphony of the Dead.
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Saeed Hajjarian
- Occupations
- journalistwriter
- Biography
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Saeed Hajjarian Kashani is an Iranian reformist political strategist, journalist, pro-democracy activist and former intelligence officer. He was a member of Tehran's city council, and advisor to the president Mohammad Khatami. On 12 March 2000, he was shot in the face by an assailant and severely disabled, an act many Iranians believe was in retaliation for his help in uncovering the chain murders of several dissidents in Iran and his significant help to the Iranian reform movement in general, according to the BBC.
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Esmaeel Mehrabi
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Esmail Mehrabi is an Iranian actor who is best known for his roles in Sarbadars (1983–1984), Nightingales (1988), Courtship (1989), Green House (1996), and My Favourite Cake (2024).
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Farrokhroo Parsa
- Occupations
- politicianphysician
- Biography
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Farrokhroo Parsa was an Iranian physician, educator, and parliamentarian.
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Parviz Sayyad
- Occupations
- television directorfilm directordirectoractorwriter
- Biography
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Parviz Sayyad is an Iranian-born celebrated actor, director and screenwriter of Iranian cinema. He was one of the earliest television stars in Iran.
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Saeed Poorsamimi
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Saeed Poursamimi is an Iranian actor. He has received various accolades, including three Crystal Simorgh for Best Supporting Actor, making him the only actor to have three wins in that category. Poursamimi is best known as the master of supporting roles in Iran.
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Simin Behbahani
- Occupations
- writersongwriterpoetlyricist
- Biography
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Simin Behbahani, her surname also appears as Bihbahani was a prominent Iranian contemporary poet, lyricist, and activist. Renowned for her mastery of the ghazal, a traditional poetic form, she became an icon of modern Persian poetry. The Iranian intelligentsia and literati affectionately referred to her as the "Lioness of Iran."
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Jamshid Amouzegar
- Occupations
- ministereconomistpolitician
- Biography
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Jamshid Amouzegar was an Iranian economist, politician, and the prime minister of Iran from 7 August 1977 until his resignation on 27 August 1978. Prior to that, he served as the minister of interior and minister of finance in the cabinet of Amir-Abbas Hoveida. He was the leader of Rastakhiz Party during his tenure as prime minister of Iran.
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Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani
- Occupations
- entrepreneurpolitician
- Biography
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Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani is an Iranian businessman and the fourth child of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former president of Iran. He is known as an Iranian "Aghazadeh".
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Mohammad Pakpour
- Occupations
- military personnel
- Biography
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Mohammad Pakpour is an Iranian military officer who has served as the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) since 2025.
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Mohammad Esfahani
- Occupations
- physiciansingercomposer
- Biography
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Mohammad Mahdi Vaezi Esfahani, better known as Mohammad Esfahani, is an Iranian pop and traditional music singer and composer. He holds a first-degree artistic certificate in Iranian traditional singing. Born in Tehran to a family originally from Isfahan, Esfahani graduated from Iran University of Medical Sciences in 1997. He studied Iranian music under the guidance of masters such as Mohammad Reza Shajarian and Ali Jahandar. Esfahani began his singing career by performing works based on poems by contemporary poets like Fereydoun Moshiri and by recording theme songs for television series. He was named the Best Pop Singer of the 2000s by Taraneh Mah magazine and the Best Theme Song Singer of 2012 by Musicema for his work on the series Ye Tikke Zamin.
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Alireza Kamali
- Enrolled in the University of Tehran
- Studied acting
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Alireza Kamalinezhad is an Iranian actor. He is best known for his roles in Breath (2017), The Moment of Twilight (2019), and Abadan Eleven 60 (2020). Kamali gained wide recognition and critical acclaim after portraying Reza Parvaneh in the web series The Lion Skin (2022–2023) and earned a Hafez Award for his performance.
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Hassan Ali Mansur
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Hasan Ali Mansur was an Iranian politician who served as Prime Minister from 1964 to 1965. He served during the White Revolution of the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and was assassinated by a member of the Fada'iyan-e Islam.
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Mahaya Petrosian
- Enrolled in the University of Tehran
- Graduated with bachelor's degree in theatre art
- Occupations
- actorfilm director
- Biography
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Mahaya Petrosian is an Iranian actress of Armenian descent. She is also a director, A Beautiful Snowy Day being her first movie as director.
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Javad Hashemi
- Occupations
- composerpresenterfilm directortelevision actoractor
- Biography
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Seyed Javad Hashemipour Asl, better known as Seyed Javad Hashemi (سید جواد هاشمی), is an Iranian actor, film director, writer, and composer.
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Mohammad Kassebi
- Occupations
- actorscreenwriterfilm director
- Biography
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Mohamad Kasebi was an Iranian actor and film director.
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Marzieh Boroumand
- Occupations
- television directorfilm directorpuppeteeractor
- Biography
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Marzieh Boroumand is a film director, actress, screenwriter and puppeteer of TV series and films. She is best known for Alo!Alo! Man joojoo-am (1994), Barbershop Ziba (1989) and City of Mice (1985). She began her career in cinema by playing in The Cycle directed by Dariush Mehrjui.
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Hossein Dehghan
- Occupations
- military personnelengineerpolitician
- Biography
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Hossein Dehghani Poudeh, commonly known as Hossein Dehghan, is an Iranian politician and former military officer. He currently serves as the head of the Mostazafan Foundation since 2023.
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Mehraneh Mahin Torabi
- Occupations
- actorfilm actor
- Biography
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Mehraneh Mahintorabi is an Iranian actress. She gained popularity for her portrayal of Mahin in TV series, "Hamsaraan (Spouses)" and her role as Atefeh in "Khaneye Sabz (The Green House)".
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Akbar Ganji
- Occupations
- essayistwriterjournalist
- Biography
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Akbar Ganji is an Iranian journalist, writer and a former member of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He has been described as "Iran's preeminent political dissident", and a "wildly popular pro-democracy journalist" who has crossed press censorship "red lines" regularly. A supporter of the Islamic revolution as a youth, he became disenchanted in the mid-1990s and served time in Tehran's Evin Prison from 2001 to 2006, after publishing a series of stories on the murder of dissident authors known as the Chain Murders of Iran. While in prison, he issued a manifesto which established him as the first "prominent dissident, believing Muslim and former revolutionary" to call for a replacement of Iran's theocratic system with "a democracy". He has been described as "Iran's best-known political prisoner".
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Roya Mirelmi
- Enrolled in the University of Tehran
- Graduated with bachelor's degree in scenic design
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Roya Mirelmi is an Iranian actress. She is best known for her roles in Pelargonium (2015) and Bachelors (2016–2018), the latter earned her a Hafez Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Television Series.
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Jafar Sharif-Emami
- Occupations
- railway engineerengineerpolitician
- Biography
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Jafar Sharif-Imami was an Iranian politician who was prime minister from 1960 to 1961 and again in 1978. He was a cabinet minister, president of the Iranian Senate, president of the Pahlavi Foundation and the president of the Iran chamber of industries and mines during the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
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Morteza Avini
- Occupations
- writerfilm directorjournalistphotographer
- Biography
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Sayyid Morteza Avini was an Iranian documentary filmmaker, author, and theoretician of "Islamic Cinema." He studied Architecture at Tehran University in 1965. During the Iranian Revolution, Avini started his artistic career as a director of documentary films, and is considered a prominent war filmmaker. He made over 80 films on the Iran–Iraq War. According to Agnes Devictor, Avini invented original cinematography methods, depicting the esoteric side of the Iran–Iraq War in terms of Shia mystical thought. Most of his work was devoted to reflecting on how bassijis, a paramilitary volunteer militia within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, perceived the war and their role in it. His most famous work is the documentary series Ravayat-e Fath (Narration of Victory), which was filmed during the Iran–Iraq War. He was killed by a landmine explosion in 1993, while filming. He was described as a Shahid (martyr) after his death, and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared him "the master of martyred literati" (Persian: سید شهیدان اهل قلم). The 20th day of Farvardin is entitled the day of "Islamic Revolution art" in his honor.
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Caucher Birkar
- Occupations
- mathematician
- Biography
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Caucher Birkar FRS is a UK-based Iranian Kurdish and British mathematician (born in Iran) and a professor at Tsinghua University. He is also an Honorary Professor at the University of Nottingham.
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Ghazaleh Alizadeh
- Occupations
- writerpoetnovelistshort story writer
- Biography
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Ghazaleh Alizadeh was an Iranian poet and writer. Her mother, Monirosadat Seyedi, shared her literary talents as both a poet and writer. Alizadeh was married twice, and with her husband Bijan Elahi, she had a daughter named Salma. Additionally, she adopted two girls who had survived the 1961 Qazvin earthquake.
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Mostafa Tajzadeh
- Occupations
- activistpolitical punditpolitician
- Biography
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Mostafa Tajzadeh is an Iranian reformist politician and a senior member of Islamic Iran Participation Front, as well as Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution of Iran Organization.
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Bijan Namdar Zangeneh
- Occupations
- engineerbusinesspersonpolitician
- Biography
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Bijan Namdar Zangeneh is an Iranian politician, who served as minister, at different cabinets after the Islamic Revolution, for 30 years. He lately served as Minister of Petroleum from 2013 to 2021 in the cabinet led by Hassan Rouhani.
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Rakhshan Bani-E'temad
- Occupations
- film producerscreenwriterfilm director
- Biography
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Rakhshān Banietemad is an Iranian film director and screenwriter. She is often referred to as the "First Lady of Iranian Cinema" due to her prominent role in the country's film industry and her ability to merge political themes with personal and family narratives in her work. Banietemad is known for exploring societal issues through characters, who often represent various segments of Iranian society.
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Mohammad-Reza Lotfi
- Occupations
- conductorcomposerrecording artist
- Biography
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Mohammad-Reza Lotfi was an Iranian classical musician renowned for his mastery of the tar and setar. He collaborated with singers such as Mohammad-Rezā Shajarian, Hengameh Akhavan, Shahram Nazeri and Alireza Shahmohammadi.
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Ali Motahari
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Ali Motahhari is an Iranian principlist politician. He is also named as a sort of conservative reformist, who represented Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr electoral district in the Parliament of Iran from 2008 to 2020. He was Second Deputy of the Parliament of Iran from 2016 until 2019.
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Kambuzia Partovi
- Occupations
- film directorscreenwriter
- Biography
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Kambuzia Partovi was an Iranian film director and screenwriter.
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Mostafa Mohaqeq Damad
- Occupations
- theologianuniversity teacherakhoondwriterphilosopher
- Biography
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Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad is an Iranian Shia cleric and scholar.
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Payam Dehkordi
- Enrolled in the University of Tehran
- Graduated with master's degree in theatre art
- Occupations
- actorfilm director
- Biography
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Payam Naderi Dehkordi is an Iranian actor and theater director. He is best known for his role as Michael Hashemian in Gando (2019–2021).
