Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Senate of Iran

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Type
  
Upper house

Seats
  
100

Senate of Iran

Speaker
  
Ebrahim Hakimi (1951-1957) Hasan Taqizadeh (1957-1960) Mohsen Sadr (1960-1964) Jafar Sharif-Emami (1964-1978) Mohammad Sajadi (1978-1979)

The Senate of Iran (Persian: مجلس سنا‎‎) was the upper house legislative chamber in Iran from 1949 to 1979. A bicameral legislature had been established in the 1906 Persian Constitutional Revolution but the Senate was not actually formed until after the Iran Constituent Assembly, 1949, as an expression of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's desire for more political power. The Senate was filled mainly with men who were supportive of the Shah's aims, as intended by Pahlavi.

Contents

The Senate was disbanded after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, when the new constitution established a unicameral legislature. As of 2015 the former Senate building was used by the Assembly of Experts.

Constitution

Established as per Chapter 3, Article 45 of the Persian Constitution of 1906,

The Building

The Senate House of Iran was designed by architect Heydar Ghiaï in 1955. The construction was led by Rahmat Safai, the dome being one of the most technically challenging projects in the entire endeavor.

The building is depicted on the reverse of the Iranian 100 rials banknote.

Members

  • Mahmoud Hessaby (1951–1963).
  • Ali Dashti for 1954-1979.
  • Jafar Sharif-Emami, Prime Minister of Iran (1960-1961 & 1978), was a member of the Iranian Senate. He was its President for a number of years.
  • Jamshid Aalam (1973–1979)

    • Dissolution

    Following the Iranian revolution in 1979, the government became unicameral, the senate was dissolved and the new Majlis convened in the senate building.

    Major events

  • 1950 (February 9), first inaugural session presided over by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
  • 1952, Mohammad Mosaddegh managed to obtain power to rule by decree — first, for a six-month period and then extended — due to his popularity. Later, he organized a plebiscite in 1953, won the votes, and dissolved both the Majlis and Senate. Upon Mossadeq's ouster, the legislative bodies were revived.
  • 1961, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi dissolved both the Majlis and Senate; some time later they were restored.
  • 1979 Senate approves the government of Shapour Bakhtiar.

    • References

    Senate of Iran Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA