This is a list of notable Iranians:
In the news
- Nazanin Afshin-Jam, Actress, Singer/Songwriter, Human Rights Activist, Miss World 2003 1st runner up; Miss Canada 2003.
- Shohreh Aghdashloo, Iranian American actress
- Goli Ameri, Republican nominee for U.S. House of Representatives
- Ramona Amiri, Miss Canada 2005.
- Anousheh Ansari, first female space tourist, leading telecommunication entrepreneur, and namesake of the * * X Prize
- Farzan Athari, Model
- Camila Batmanghelidjh, UK's Women of the Year 2006 Award winner, founder of London-based children's charity Kids Company
- Ladan and Laleh Bijani
- Sohrab Esmail Shahmir, Chairman and CEO, E&I Group
- Jimmy Delshad, Mayor of Beverly Hills
- Ali Dizaei, Senior officer in the London Metropolitan Police
- Shirin Ebadi, Nobel prize in Peace
- Akbar Ganji
- Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
- Alireza Jafarzadeh, FOX News Channel Foreign Affairs Analyst
- Kia Joorabchian, businessman
- Zahra Kazemi
- Nasser David Khalili, Billionaire, Art Collector.[1]
- Mohammad Khatami, former president of Iran
- Rosie Malek-Yonan
- Ross Mirkarimi
- Pierre Omidyar, founder of ebay
- Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran. Last original heir to the throne.
- Shermine Shahrivar, Miss Europe 2005.[2]
- Bahar Soomekh, Iranian - American actor
Artists
- See also: List of Iranian artists
Calligraphists
Cartoonists
Cinema artists
Actors and actresses
Directors and filmmakers
- Behrouz Afkhami
- Kiarash Anvari
- Kami Asgar
- Kianoush Ayyari
- Morteza Avini
- Shoja Azari, director. [4]
- Rakhshan Bani-Etemad
- Bahram Beizai
- Mahdi Bemani Naeini
- Ahmad Reza Darvish
- Abolhassan Davoudi
- Saeed Ebrahimifar
- Bahman Farman-Ara
- Ramin Farahani
- Sadaf Foroughi
- Iraj Ghaderi
- Farokh Ghaffari [5]
- Rabeah Ghaffari, director. [6]
- Behrooz Gharibpoor
- Bahman Ghobadi, director of A Time for Drunken Horses
- Akbar Golrang
- Ali Hatami
- Ebrahim Hatamikia
- Hassan Hedayat
- Ardeshir Irani, director of first Indian Talkie, Alam Ara
- Abolfazl Jalili
- Darius Khondji
- Samuel Khachikian
- Abbas Kiarostami, director of Taste of Cherry
- Masoud Kimiai
- Parviz Kimiavi
- Esma'il Kooshan
- Mohsen Makhmalbaf, director of Kandahar
- Samira Makhmalbaf, director of At Five in the Afternoon
- David Mahmoudieh
- Majid Majidi, director of Children of Heaven
- Darius Mehrjui, director of Leila
- Reza Mirkarimi, director of So Close, So Far
- Mehran Modiri, director of Pavarchin, Noghtechin, Shabhaye Barareh
- Jalal Moghaddam
- Rasoul Mollagholipour
- Amir Naderi
- Jafar Panahi, director of The Circle
- Babak Payami, director of Silence between Two Thoughts
- Amir Fardin Sadeghi Nedjad, director of No War, No Bomb, No Famine, PEACE
- Abdolhossein Sepanta
- Parviz Shahbazi
- Sohrab Shahid-Sales
- Kamran Shirdel
- Khosrow Sinai
- Kamal Tabrizi
- Nasser Taghvai
- Iraj Tahmasb
Film score composers
Designers
Fashion designers
Graphic designers
Entertainers
Comedians
Dancers
Music video directors
Musicians and Singers
Classical
- See also: List of Iranian composers
Iranian Classical/Traditional
Western Classical
Electronic
Pop
(Sorted according to the first letter of the most famous name)
Lyricists
Rock/Metal
Painters, Illustrators and Sculptors
- See also: List of Iranian painters
Photographers
Theatre artists
Stage actors and actresses
Theatre directors
Journalism/Media
Bloggers
Journalists
Television personalities
- Christiane Amanpour, television journalist, CNN
- Shahram Aslani
- Zia Atabay
- Rudi Bakhtiar, news anchor, formerly with CNN and FOX News
- Mehrdad Esmaili Kia, founder and CEO, Persian Music Channel
- Adel Ferdosipour, football announcer, Navad program
- Tehran Ghasri
- Farzad Hassani
- Bahram Moshiri
- Alireza Meybodi
- Reza Rashidpour
- Hamid Shabkhiz, founder, Iran TV Network
Leaders and politicians
The list here excludes the royalty. An extensive list of Persian royalty appears further down in this page.
See also List of Prime Ministers of Iran.
Historical (pre-Pahlavi Dynasty)
- Abu Muslim, Leader of the Persian upraising against Arabs.
- Babak Khorram Din, Leader of the Persian upraising against Arabs
- Bozorgmehr Sage and Grand Vizier of Sasanids.
- Fazl ebne Sahl, Abbasid Grand Vizier
- Amir-Kabir, Grand Vizier.
- Heidar Khan Amughli, Secretary-General of the Communist Party of Iran during the Constitutionalist Revolution of Gilan.
- Dr Talequani Heshmat, jangali leader and ally of Mirza Kuchek Khan.
- Bagher Khan, constitutionalist leader
- Hosein Dadgar, parliament speaker.
- Ghaem Magham Farahani, prime minister
- Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma, prime minister, multiple other roles.
- Hassan-e-Sabbah, sectarian political leader.
- Kaveh the Blacksmith, Legendary Leader and Liberator against the rule of Zahhak, an Arab king.
- Maziar son of Karan,Leader of the Persian upraising against Arabs.
- Mirza Kuchek Khan, constitutionalist leader of Guilan.
- Mirza Reza Kermani, assassinated Nasereddin Shah.
- Mohammad Khiabani, popular leader during Constitutionalist Revolution.
- Prince Moahammad Ali Mirza Dowlatshah, Dowlatshah carried the last, and the most successful, attack on the Ottoman Empire in Iraq at 1821.
- Mostowfi ol-Mamalek, Prime Minister.
- Nezam al-Molk, statesman and vizier.
- Ostadsis,Leader of Persian uprising against Arabs
- Fazlollah Noori, conservative clergy opposing Constitunalists, hanged.
- Nosrat Dowleh Firouz Mirza, provincial governor.
- Colonel Pesian
- Mahmud Khan Puladeen, senior military general.
- Safi Al-Din, Spiritual founder of Safavid dynasty.
- Sattar Khan, constitutionalist leader.
- Mirza Mehdi Khan Astarabadi, Nader Shah's Chief Minister.
- Mirza Ahmad Khan Motazed-Dowleh Vaziri, deputy of the first Majles and minister of economy.
Modern (post-Qajar)
Pahlavi period
- Bahram Aryana, military commander
- Mehdi Agili, minister of education
- Dr Ahmad Ahmadi, notorious prison interrogator
- Mohammad Hosein Airom, senior military leader
- Sepahbod Ahmad Amir-Ahmadi, military leader
- Jahangir Amouzegar, former minister, and former Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund.[10]
- Hushang Ansary, Minister of Finance, President of NIOC
- Hasan Arfa, Army General, Ambassador to Russia, Ambassador to Turkey
- Heidar Arfaa, Conseiller d'État, Minister of Agriculture, Député-Majlis Fars Province
- Ramzi Abbas Attaie, Admiral and Commander in Chief, Imperial Iranian Navy
- Shapour Bakhtiar, prime minister
- Teymour Bakhtiar, head of SAVAK
- Bahman Batmanghelidj, Prominent Businessman and Developer
- Fereydoon Batamanghelidj (Correctly spelt Batmanghelidj), Doctor and Prominent Businessman
- Nader Batmanghelidj, Lt. General and Interior Minister
- Karim Buzarjomehri, Army General military aide of Reza Shah, Mayor of Tehran
- Ali Akbar Davar, Minister, and founder of Iran's modern Judiciary system.
- Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari
- Hossein Fardoust, deputy head of SAVAK
- George Malek-Yonan, procured a seat in Iran's Parliament for Assyrians as a recognized minority
- Abbas Mirza Farman Farmaian, Minister of Parliament
- Firouz Mirza Nosrat-ed-Dowleh Farman Farmaian, Minister of Finance
- Manucher Mirza Farman Farmaian, Director of Sales for NIOC and Ambassador to Venezuela
- Sattareh Farman Farmaian, Established first social worker schools in Iran.
- Hossein Fatemi, Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Amanullah Jahanbani, senior military leader, and father-in-law of Christiane Amanpour's father.
- Nader Jahanbani, air force general, pilot
- Mohammad Khatami, four-star General, Commander of Iranian Air Force
- Mahmoud Khayami, leading industrialist.
- Kazem Kouros, Senator, Industrialist, Philanthropist
- Mahmud Mahmud, politician
- Qazi Mohammad, Kurdish politician, first (and only) Kurdish president of the 1946 Republic of Kurdistan
- Hassan Modarres, member of parliament
- Nasser Moghaddam, head of SAVAK
- Nematollah Nassiri, head of SAVAK
- Hassan Pakravan, head of SAVAK
- Farokhroo Parsa, minister of education
- Colonel Pesian, military leader
- Abdollah Riazi, first speaker of parliament
- Seyyed Zia'eddin Tabatabaee
- Seyyed Jalal Taghavi Laridjani or (Taghavi Larigani), senior politician, Member of Parliament ("Majlis Shoraayeh Melli")
- Amir Abdollah Tahmasebi, military leader
- Abdolhossein Teymourtash, Iranian Statesman
- Hasan Toufanian, four-star army general
- Ardeshir Zahedi
Served in Islamic Republic government
- Mohammad Abaee-Khorasani, member of parliament
- Ali Abdolalizadehh, minister of housing and urban development
- Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabi-Fard, vice speaker of parliament
- Mohammad Ali Abtahi, vice president
- Seyed Mohammad Hossein Adeli, Head of Central Bank of Iran, Ambassador to United Kingdom
- Emad Afrough, member of parliament
- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, mayor of Tehran, now president of Iran
- Abbasali Alizadeh
- Hossein Allah-Karam
- Ayatollah Amini, deputy chair of Assembly of Experts
- Majead Ansari, member of parliament
- Hossein Ansari-Rad, member of parliament
- Mohammad Reza Aref, first vice president
- Mohsen Armin, member of parliament
- Habibollah Asgarowladi, member of parliament
- Ebrahim Asgharzadeh
- Hamid Reza Assefi, foreign affairs spokesman
- Ayatollah Azari-Ghomi
- Hassan Ayat
- Asadollah Badamchian
- Mohammad Javad Bahonar, prime minister
- Mohammad Reza Bahonar, vice speaker of parliament
- Abolhassan Banisadr, president
- Mehdi Bazargan, prime minister
- Mohammad Beheshti, head of judiciary
- Ala'eddin Boroujerdi, member of parliament
- Mostafa Chamran, Minister of Defense
- Maoud Dehnamaki
- Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi, minister of intelligence
- Masoumeh Ebtekar, vice president
- Gholam Hossein Elham
- Manuchehr Eliasi, Jewish member of parliament
- Saeed Emami, vice minister of intelligence
- Mohammad Emami-Kashani
- Ali Fallahian, minister of intelligence
- Nafiseh Fayyazbakhsh, parliament representative
- Iraj Fazel, minister of health
- Hassan Ghafourifard, minister of energy
- Sadegh Ghotbzadeh, minister of foreign affairs
- Shahabeddin Gonabadi, minister of housing and urban development
- Saeed Hajjarian, Tehran council member
- Hassan Habibi, first vice president
- Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel, speaker of parliament
- Fatemeh Haghighatjou, member of parliament
- Morteza Haji, minister of education
- Mehdi Hashemi
- Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, president
- Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, member of parliament
- Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani
- Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, current head of judiciary
- Gholamreza Hassani, Friday Prayer Imam of Urmia
- Elias Hazrati, member of parliament
- Mahmoud Hojjati, minister of roads and transportation
- Ruhollah Hosseinian
- Nasrollah Jahangard, chair of Supreme Council of ICT
- Ahmad Jannati, chair of Council of Guardians
- Gholamhossein Karbaschi, mayor of Tehran
- Mehdi Karroubi, speaker of parliament
- Sadegh Khalkhali, Sharia ruler
- Kamal Kharrazi, minister of foreign affairs
- Ali Khamenei, supreme leader
- Hadi Khamenei, member of parliament
- Ahmad Khatami
- Mohammad Khatami, president
- Mohammad Reza Khatami, deputy speaker of parliament
- Abolghasem Khaz'ali
- Ahmad Khomeini
- Ruhollah Khomeini, supreme leader, founder of the Islamic Republic
- Elaheh Koulai, member of parliament
- Asadollah Lajevardi
- Ali Larijani, president of IRIB
- Mohammad Javad Larijani, member of parliament
- Sadegh Larijani
- Mohammad Reza Mahdavi-Kani
- Alireza Mahjoub
- Hossein Mahlouji, minister of mining and metals
- Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi
- Ali Meshkini, chair of Assembly of Experts
- Mohsen Mirdamadi, member of parliament
- Ata'ollah Mohajerani, minister of culture and Islamic guidance
- Ayatollah Mohammadi-Gilani
- Mohseni-Ezhe'i
- Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, member of parliament
- Rasoul Montajebnia, member of parliament
- Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri
- Saeed Mortazavi
- Morteza Motahhari
- Ahmad Motamedi, minister of communications
- Mir-Hossein Mousavi, prime minister
- Abdolkarim Mousavi-Ardabili
- Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari, minister of interior
- Hossein Mousavi-Tabrizi
- Ali Movahhedi-Kermani
- Behzad Nabavi, vice speaker of parliament
- Morteza Nabavi
- Elias Naderan, Majlis Representative
- Mohammad Reza Naghdi
- Mohammad Ali Najafi, minister of education
- Hadi Namazi
- Bizhan Namdar-Zangeneh, minister of oil
- Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri, speaker of parliament
- Mohammad Niazi
- Mohammad Bagher Nobakht
- Abdollah Noori, minister of interior
- Alireza Noori, member of parliament
- Mohsen Nourbakhsh, head of Central Bank of Iran
- Ali Parvaresh
- Masoud Pezeshkian, minister of health
- Mohsen Rafighdoust
- Ebrahim Raisi, first deputy of head of judiciary system
- Mohammad Ali Rajai, president
- Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, government spokesman
- Ali Razini
- Mohammad Reyshahri
- Mohsen Rezaee, member of Expediency Discernment Council
- Hassan Rowhani, deputy speaker of parliament
- Mohammad Saeedikia, minister of roads and transportation
- Mohsen Safaee-Farahani, member of parliament and head of Iranian Football Federation
- Rahim Safavi
- Mohammad Salamati
- Ali Akbar Salehi
- Ayatollah Sane'i
- Abolghasem Sarhaddizadeh, member of parliament
- Mohammad Sattarifar, vice president
- Ali Shamkhani, minister of defence
- Hossein Shariatmadari
- Arman Sadeghi
- Jalaleddin Taheri
- Hamid Reza Taraghghi
- Mostafa Tajzadeh, deputy minister of interior
- Ahmad Tavakkoli, minister of labour
- Akbar Torkan, minister of roads and transportation
- Ayatollah Va'ez-Tabasi
- Mohammad Yazdi, head of judiciary
- Ebrahim Yazdi, foreign minister of interim government
- Ali Younessi, minister of information
- Ezzatollah Zarghami, president of IRIB
- General Zolghadr
See also: List of current Iranian officials
Not served or opposition
Other Nations
- Goli Ameri, United States Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs
- Benazir Bhutto, Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, half-Iranian (mother)
- Nusrat Bhutto, Former first lady of Pakistan
- Dan Halutz, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces
- Moshe Katsav, Former President of Israel
- Shaul Mofaz, Current Israeli Minister of Transport and a Deputy Prime Minister, and former Minister of Defense
- Reza Moridi, member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada
Literature figures
Authors and poets
-
Translators
Religious figures
See List of Marjas.
See List of Ayatollahs.
Royalty
See comprehensive list of Persian/Iranian royalty.
Scientists, Scholars, and Academics
See comprehensive
