1.
(Ali-Akbar Hashemi) Rafsanjani: the conservative president of Iran from 1989-1997
2.
(Ali) Khamenei: the current Leader of Iran, elected by the Assembly of Experts after serving as president for eight years
3.
(Mohammad-Reza Shah) Pahlavi: the last Shah (ruler) of Iran's monarchy (1941-1979)
4.
(Mohammad) Khatami: the reformist president of Iran from 1997-2005
5.
(Mohammad) Mossadegh: the leader of the National Front between 1941 and 1953
6.
(Ruhollah) Khomeini: the leader of the 1979 revolution
7.
(Shirin) Ebadi: the first woman to become a judge under the Shah, who received a Nobel prize for her fight for Women's rights
8.
Assembly of Experts: a popularly elected body of 86 clerical members that elects the Leader
9.
Basij: pro-regime volunteer militia that monitor political activities in education
10.
Council of Guardians: a body consisting of six ulema as chosen by the leader and six lay Muslim lawyers who are nominated by the head of the Judiciary
11.
Expediency Council: a council of Leader-elected members who arbitrate conflicts between the Majles and the Council of Guardians and advise the Leader
12.
Islamists: people who consider Islam a political ideology that addresses private and public life
13.
Leader: the highest authority in the Islamic Republic of Iran, who combined religious and temporal authority
14.
Majles: Iran's unicameral parliament, consisting of 290 elected representatives
15.
multiple power centers: revolutionary-created institutions that overlap with, or supplement, traditional state institutions
16.
parastatal foundation: a company, agency, or intergovernmental organisation, that possesses political clout and is separate from the government, but whose activities serve the state, either directly or indirectly
17.
Pasdaran: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
18.
rentier states: states which depend upon natural resources for the majority of their revenues
19.
shari'a: the divine code of law derived from the Koran
20.
Sunnis: Muslims belonging to the majority religion in most Islamic countries (a branch of Islam believing that the community should select its own leadership)
21.
theocracy: the belief in government by divine guidance
22.
Tudeh Party: the pro-Soviet communist party of Iran between 1941 and 1953
23.
Twelver Shiism: the official state religion in Iran and belief in the coming of a "Twelfth Imam"
24.
ulema: the religious scholars in the Muslim world
25.
velayat-e faqih: "guardianship of the jurispundent"