Consolidated Internal Regulations of Government Council
Passed November 29, 1989
Chapter One: Manner of Constitution of Council of Ministers and Commissions
- The Council of Ministers
Article 1
(As amended February 14, 2001)
A session of Council of Ministers will form a quorum, when attended by two-third of the members with the right to vote in the Council of Ministers; and, decisions will be valid where adopted by an absolute majority.
Article 2
(As amended January 24, 2010)
The following persons shall have the permanent right to be present in the Council of Ministers:
The President;
The First Vice-President;
The Vice-President for Legal Affairs;
The Vice-President for Parliamentary Affairs;
The Vice-President for Executive Affairs;
Head of the State Management and Planning Organization;
Head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Organization;
Governor of the Central Bank; and,
Council of Ministers Secretary.
Participation of other persons shall be subject to permission of chairman of the session.
Article 3
Government Members with the right to vote are the President; the Ministers; and the First Vice-President where chairing the session.
Article 4
(As amended May 01, 1991)
The chairmanship of the Council of Ministers is vested in the President and with his consent in the First Vice-President.
Article 5
All the duties and powers entrusted to the First Vice-President under the present Internal Regulations are among the duties and powers of the President, and shall be discharged and exercised by the President, where no First Vice-President has been appointed or where he or she is not present.
B. The Commissions
Article 6
(As amended June 14, 2023)
The permanent commissions of the Council of Ministers are as follows:
- Economic Commission
The Economic Commission consists of Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance; Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade; Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare; Minister of Energy; Minister of Road and Urban Development and Minister of Petroleum; Head of the State Plan and Budget Organization; Vice-President for Scientific, Technology and Science-Based Economics Affairs; and, Governor of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
- Management and Human Resources Commission
The Management and Human Resources Commission consists of Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare; Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance; Minister of Education; Minister of Health and Medical Education; Minister of Interior; Head of the State Plan and Budget Organization; Head of the State Administrative and Employment Organization; and the Director of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs.
- Cultural and Social Commission
The Cultural and Social Commission consists of Minister of Science, Research and Technology; Minister of Education; Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance; Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare; Minister of Interior; Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts; Minister of Sport and Youth; Head of the State Administrative and Employment Organization; Director of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs; Vice-President for Women and Family Affairs; and, Head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Organization.
- Infrastructure, Industry and Environment Commission.
The Infrastructure, Industry and Environment Commission consists of Minister of Agricultural Jihad; Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade; Minister of Energy; Minister of Defense and Support of Armed Forces; Minister of Communication and Information Technology; Minister of Road and Urban Development; Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts; Head of the State Plan and Budget Organization; Head of Environment Protection Organization; Head of Iran Atomic Energy Organization; and the Vice-President for Executive Affairs.
- Legal and Judicial Commission
The Legal and Judicial Commission consists of Minister of Justice Administration; Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance; Minister of Agricultural Jihad; Head of Environment Protection Organization; Vice-President for Legal Affairs; Vice-President for Parliamentary Affairs; Vice-President for Women and Family Affairs.
- Political and National Security Commission
The Political and National Security Commission consists of Minister of Interior; Minister of Foreign Affairs; Minister of Defense and Support of Armed Forces; Minister of Intelligence; Head of the State Plan and Budget Organization; Head of Administrative and Employment Organization; and, Vice-President for Parliamentary Affairs.
- Scientific, Technology and Intelligent Automation Commission
The Scientific, Technology and Intelligent Automation Commission consists of Minister of Science, Research and Technology; Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade; Minister of Communication and Information Technology; Minister of Health and Medical Education; Minister of Education; Head of the State Plan and Budget Organization; Head of Administrative and Employment Organization; Head of Environment Protection Organization; Head of Iran Atomic Energy Organization; and, Vice-President for Scientific, Technology and Science-Based Economics.
- Housing and Development Commission
The Housing and Development Commission consists of Minister of Road and Urban Development; Minister of Energy; Minister of Interior; Head of the State Plan and Budget Organization; Governor of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran; and, Vice-President for Executive Affairs.
- Plan and Budget Commission
(Added June 14, 2023)
The Plan and Budget Commission consists of Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance; Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade; Minister of Justice Administration; Head of the State Plan and Budget Organization; Head of Administrative and Employment Organization; Vice-President for Legal Affairs and Governor of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Note
Where necessary and/or in respect of the matters that relate to several commissions, a special commission will be set up upon approval of the Council of Ministers. Members of the Special Commission will be designated by the Council of Ministers.
Article 7
Each Special and Permanent Commission will have a chairman and a vice-chairman. The Chairmen and vice-chairmen will be elected by the members of the commissions in their first sessions. Each commission will have a secretary, whom the Secretary of the Council of Ministers will appoint from among the experts knowledgeable of the respective matters of the Commission.
Article 8
Permanent commissions of the Council of Ministers, should they have a matter on agenda, will convene once per week, at the least; and the Special Commissions and the Particular Commissions constituting the subject matter of Principle 138 of the Constitution, will hold sessions where required, at the Presidency premises, and will form a quorum, upon attendance of two-thirds of the members.
Article 9
The times for holding ordinary sessions will be set in the first session of the commission and will be advised to the members of the government.
Article 10
(Amended June 14, 2023)
Sessions of government commissions may not be cancelled without notice. Where the chairman of the commission is not present, the vice-chairman will chair the session. Where both the chairman and the vice-chairman are absent, the commission will be chaired by the eldest member of the commission. Members of the commission, where unable to attend ordinary sessions of the commission, shall advise the office of the commission, 48 hours in advance of the time the session will be held.
Note
(Added June 14, 2023)
Where no notice has been given, it will not be barred, if the commission is held with the presence of absolute majority of the members. And, decisions in that session will be valid if adopted unanimously.
Article 11
It shall be agreed in each session if the next session is to be cancelled or if an extraordinary session is to be held. And, the Secretary of the Council of Ministers shall inform all members of the government of the matter, by the end of the week.
Note
There shall be excluded from the ambit of this Article, the instances where upon determination of the President or his First Vice a commission session is cancelled or an extraordinary session of the commission is set.
Article 12
Members of commissions shall attend the Council of Ministers' commissions in person and regularly. In exceptional instances where a member has plausible excuse, the deputy or the locum tenens of the member may participate without a right to vote.
Note 1
Occasional presence of experts in a session, accompanying the members of the commission or the invited ministers, as the case might be, and with prior notice shall not be barred.
Note 2
Members of the Council of Ministers may participate in the commission and will enjoy voting right.
Note 3
(Added June 1, 2003; abrogated by the resolution dated December 9, 2007 of the Council of Ministers)
Note 4
(Added July 16, 2003; abrogated by the resolution dated December 9, 2007 of the Council of Ministers)
Note 5
(Added October 22, 2008)
Absence from four sessions of any of the Council of Ministers' commissions by the ministers, on implausible excuse, will result in his or her deletion from the respective commission.
Article 13
Matters referred to a commission for urgent consideration will be propounded in the commission in the same order in terms of date that the matters of that sort have been referred; and other matters will also be propounded in the commission according to the order in which they are received.
Article 14
The Secretary of each commission will prepare the agenda in coordination with the chairman of the commission.
Note 1
The Office of the Council of Ministers shall inform the members of the government of the agenda of each commission, at least 48 hours prior to the time the session will convene.
Note 2
Announcement of the agenda and the time of the session of a commission shall be tantamount to invitation of the members of the commission and the proposers. In case the proposer or the minister to whom the subject relates is unable to attend the session of the commission, he or she shall so inform the Office of the Council of Ministers 24 hours before the time the session will convene, so to allow the matter to be put aside from the agenda once, and to be propounded in next sessions.
Article 15
(Amended December 13, 2009)
The Secretary of each commission shall be required to prepare a report on any of the matters to be discussed thereat, which shall include a brief statement of the issue, views of the respective government bodies, the opinion of the Vice-President for Legal Affairs and the consolidated opinions of the experts submitted in sub-commissions (which may have been set up in line with the views of the commission and the responsibility of which lies upon the Secretary of the Commission), and to propound it in the commission session.
Article 16
The chairman of the commission will announce the result of deliberations; and a vote will be taken thereon. The opinion of the commission together with signatures of the assenting and dissenting members of the commission will be mentioned in the minutes of the meeting. The majority vote of those present in the session will be controlling.
Note
In each commission only the ministers, vice-presidents, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Organization and the governor of the Central Bank shall have the voting right.
Article 17
(Amended May 23, 2007)
Decisions of commissions including matters approved, disapproved or held in abeyance shall be posed in the Council of Ministers’ sessions, and the Council of Ministers shall comment on them. In the instances where a commission decides that a government body or a special council or commission should discharge a duty or where it decides that the matter should be referred to another entity, the decision of the commission shall be communicated directly, and only the final and conclusive opinion of the commission shall be put on the agenda of the Council of Ministers. The instances where certain specific issues are referred to commissions consisting of a number of ministers are excluded from the ambit of this Articles. Proposals that are rejected in a commission will be communicated to the respective government body; and, where the proposing government body has objection to the commission’s opinion, it shall bring the matter to the attention of the First Vice-President, who if needed, may raise the matter in the Council of Ministers.
Article 18
In the instances where the commissions are assigned the task of approving certain government related matters, the majority vote of the ministers who are members of the commission shall be required for approval of the said matters.
Chapter Two: Office of the Council of Ministers and Legal Review
- The Office of the Council of Ministers
Article 19
(Amended June 14, 2023)
An office titled Office of the Council of Ministers is established under the First Vice-President, for the purpose of scheduling and preparing minutes of deliberations in and arranging all the matters relating to holding of sessions of the Council of Ministers and of the commissions; registering, maintaining and communicating the resolutions of the Council of Ministers, decisions of the special representative(s) designated pursuant to Principle 127 of the Constitution, and, the resolutions of the commissions set up pursuant to Principle 138 of the Constitution; as well as preparing the drafts of the bills and resolutions. This Office is managed by the Secretary of the Council of Ministers, who will be appointed by the order of the First Vice- President. The detailed chart of the Office of the Council of Ministers, the Offices of the Commissions, the Office Deputies and the Affairs thereunder, in addition to the existing chart, to which the provisions of Resolution No. H 41324 T/M/87/21460 dated December 15, 2008, as amended, applies by extension of the scope thereof to the said chart, will be approved by the State Administrative and Employment Organization, in coordination with the Presidency.
Note
(Added June 14, 2023)
The government bodies under the Executive Branch shall be required to submit to the Office of the Council of Ministers a report on their performance with reference to the duties, competences and strategic matters, in specified time intervals and within the frameworks communicated by the Office of the Council of Ministers, together with documents and with statistics and comparisons in terms of various dimensions, for submission to the Government.
Article 20
The Secretary of the Council of Ministers is responsible for proper implementation of the regulations pertaining to the commissions, and shall report every month to the President and the First Vice-President on formation of commissions, matters on the agenda and presence or absence of the members of commissions.
- Legal Review
Article 21
(Amended December 13, 2009)
A commission titled “Legal Commission”, the responsibility of which lies with the Vice-President for Legal Affairs, is set for checking conformity of the proposed resolutions and bills and providing legal consultation to the government commissions and the special representatives, the subject matter of Principle 127 of the Constitution. The members of the said commission are appointed by the order of the Vice-President for Legal Affairs from among experienced lawyers; and, each of them shall have the task of advising one of the government commissions.
Chapter Three: The Procedure for Considering and Approving Proposals
Article 22
Only matters that have been referred to by the President, vice-presidents and ministers to the First Vice-President may be propounded in the sessions of commissions and ultimately in the Council of Ministers. In term of urgency, those matters may be of ordinary importance and urgency, urgent or very urgent. And, it lies with the President or the Vice-President to decide of which category those matters are.
Note 1
The Office of the Council of Ministers shall be required to prepare a list of the matters to be propounded in each week in three categories of ordinary, urgent and very urgent, and place it at the disposal of the members of the Council of Ministers.
Note 2
(Added June 14, 2023)
Government bodies shall send their proposals in various areas electronically and in compliance with the contents of the manuals prepared by the Office of Council of Ministers, e.g. the requirement of having supporting documents, a feasibility study introduction, and an assessment of the effects.
Note 3
(Added June 14, 2023)
Government bodies shall prepare at the request of the Office of Council of Ministers, a surveillance and assessment report on the effects of implementation of the resolutions pertaining to themselves in the framework of specific models, and send them to the Office of the Council of Ministers for presentation to the Government, the President or the First Vice-President.
Article 23
(Amended February 14, 2001)
Where the subject matter of a proposed bill and/or of a resolution is relevant to direct duties of other ministries or the State Management and Planning Organization or is statutorily subject to their consent and/or has financial burden, the Office of the Council of Ministers shall obtain the view of the said ministry or organization in advance and shall put forward the same to the respective commission(s). Government bodies whose views are sought under this Article shall give their opinions on ordinary issues within two weeks and on urgent matter within one week, at the latest. As regards the bills and basic and important resolutions that require more time, the time limit set will be doubled upon approval of the Office of Council of Ministers. Where the views of the government bodies, as signed by the minister or the Vice-President is not received, the non-receipt thereof will be considered as consent; and, the proposal will be submitted to the respective commission for consideration.
Note 1
Very urgent matters shall have been received to the Office of the Council of Ministers, at least 48 hours prior to the time they will be propounded in the respective forum.
Note 2
(Added July 05, 2000)
Proposals with financial burden of government bodies shall be reviewed by the State Management and Planning Organization, and shall be presented for consideration in the Council of Ministers, before submission of the State Annual Budget Bill.
Article 24
(Amended December 13, 2009)
The procedure for considering the matters depending on their type shall be as follows:
- Ordinary matters will be referred to the Office of Council of Ministers for registration and inclusion in the list, after having been noted by the First Vice-President who will give orders for consideration thereof. The Office of Council of Ministers will place the proposal at the disposal of the Vice-President for Legal Affairs for consideration from a legal perspective, who shall submit his/her opinion in writing, within one week. The said proposal together with the opinion of the Vice-President for Legal Affairs will then be referred to the respective commission and will be considered in the commission in the order received and within 20 days at the latest.
- Urgent matters, after having been noted and so categorized by the First Vice-President, will be sent by the Office of Council of Ministers to the Vice-President for Legal Affairs of the President and the respective commission, concurrently. The Vice-President for Legal Affairs will send his/her opinion to the respective commission within 48 hours; and, the commission, after having received the opinion of the said Vice-President will consider them in the same order that they have been received.
- Very urgent matters, after having been noted by the First Vice-President, and confirmed by him/her to be a very urgent matter, will be made available to the chairman of the respective commission and the Vice-President for Legal Affairs, where possible, within 24 hours prior to the time the Council of Ministers is convened, in order for them to state their views at the time the proposal is propounded in the first session of the Council of Ministers.
- Emergency proposals may be raised in any of the sessions of the Council of Ministers, at any time that the Chairman of the Council of Ministers so determines.
Note
(Added June 14, 2023)
In emergency instances, as found by the Office of Council of Ministers, the research centers and institutes affiliated to the government bodies under the Executive Branch shall be required to conduct the respective study and research on assessing the proposals including assessment of social, cultural and environmental effects thereof or place their researchers at the service of the Office of the Council of Ministers, on interim basis. The Office of the Council of Ministers, upon making coordination with Iran National Elites Foundation, will use the services of the elites for considering and advancing matters raised in the Government.
Article 25
The results of the consideration by the commissions will be placed on the agenda of the Council of Ministers in the order that they are received by the Office of the Council of Ministers and by sorting out very urgent, urgent and ordinary types. Where the commissions have the permission to approve under Principle 138 of the Constitution, the approved text will be ratified by the President through the Vice-President, so to be sent to the Office of the Council of Ministers for communication, after ratification.
Article 26
Members of the Council of Ministers may attend Permanent and Special Commissions at the time their proposals are being considered; and, they are required to attend, should the said commissions so require. Furthermore, the commissions shall invite any of the members of the Council of Ministers, to whose duties the proposal or the subject matter of order relates, to the commission.
Where the invited persons have not attended in spite of invitation, the resolution of the commission will be deemed to have been adopted after full consideration and shall be final; and the proposing member may state his/her views only in the Council of Minister's session.
Article 27
(Amended June 14, 2023)
The Office of the Council of Ministers will draw up the agendas of the Council of Minister's sessions on weekly basis, in compliance with the First Vice-President's view, and will have the members of the Council of Ministers advised of the agenda of the ensuing week, on or before the Thursday of the previous week. Reports and issues that according to the ministers ought to be propounded in the Council of Ministers are brought to the attention of the President or the First Vice-President, so that, if so allowed, it would be raised in the session at appropriate time with due observance of the procedure set forth in Article 22 of the present Regulations.
Article 28
It lies upon the chairmen, vice-chairmen or one of the members of the commissions to expound the reports of the commissions in the Council of Ministers. After the explanation, the proposing member will explain the reasons for and the necessity of having the proposal approved. As regards ordinary matters, voting will take place, after comments of three members in favor and three members against the proposal are heard. In case there is no proponent for the proposal, the opponents, and where there is no opponent, the proponents may, as determined by the chairman of the session, comment thereon. Where, as determined by the chairman of the session, comments by other members of the Council of Ministers are required, the deliberations will continue until the time the closure of debate is announced by the Chairman.
Chapter Four: Drawing up and Communicating the Resolutions
Article 29
Decisions of the Special Representatives, the subject matter of Principal 127 of the Constitution, will be sent to the Office of Council of Ministers.
Note
(Added August 01, 2001)
Delegation of powers of the government, the subject matter of Principle 127 of the Constitution to Special Representative(s) of the President shall be restricted to executive affairs.
Article 30
Resolutions of the Council of Ministers and of the commissions constituting the subject matter of Principle 138 of the Constitution, where only creating rights or duties for ministries and governmental and government affiliated institutions, even where they are not yet promulgated in the official journal (gazette) or will not be promulgated, also classified (confidential, very confidential, secret) resolutions will come into force, immediately after they are notified to the ministry or the government organization to which the resolution has been issued and is addressed.
Note
Resolutions that create rights and duties for the people in addition to government bodies and their employees shall come into force 15 days after promulgation in the official journal (gazette) of the Islamic Republic of Iran, save where the resolution itself has set special time or manner for their implementation.
Chapter Five: Bills and How to defend Them
Article 31
(Amended January 24, 2010)
In view of the provision of Article 88 of the Internal Bylaw of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (“the Parliament”), bills will be submitted to the Parliament through the Vice-President for Parliamentary Affairs, after having been cosigned by the President and the minister(s) or heads of the respective government bodies.
Article 32
Considering the provisions of the Internal Bylaw of the Parliament, the respective minister or the deputy-minister for parliamentary affairs, the executive officer or the head of the respective governmental organization shall be the Government representatives for defending and commenting on government bills and legislative bills that are specifically pertaining to the matters within the competence of any of the members of the Government, which representatives in each case will only state the views of the Government. As to the bills submitted by the Government, none of the officials and representatives of government bodies who attend the commissions and public sessions of the Parliament, at the time the bills are being considered, shall be allowed to oppose the contents of the government bill.
Article 33
Considering the provisions of the Internal Bylaw of the Parliament, where a government bill or legislative bill is relevant to a number of government bodies, the representatives of the said government bodies may comment on the bill, only if their statements will be in line with the Government’s position. Otherwise, the representative of the government body who is in agreement with the Government will speak as the representative of the government.
Article 34
(Amended January 24, 2010)
The Vice-President for Parliamentary Affairs will inform the President, members of the government and the Office of the Council of Ministers of the legislative bills regularly, so that in case the respective government commission finds any of those legislative bills fundamental and critical, he or she would be able to submit for consideration the commission’s report that includes the opinion, a summary of arguments and the financial burden of the legislative bill, to the Council of Ministers. In those cases, the government’s view will be submitted to the Parliament by the government representative(s). As regards very urgent and emergency legislative bills, the required report will be directly prepared by the Vice-President for Parliamentary Affairs and will be submitted to the Government for decision.
Note 1
(Added October 1, 1997; and Amended January 24, 2010)
In case government views regarding the legislative bills are not presented in the public session one day before consideration thereof in the public session of the parliament, the Vice-President for Parliamentary Affairs will submit the Government’s view to the Parliament through appropriate means, after having made coordination with the President or the First Vice-President and the respective minister.
Note 2
At the time legislative bills are being considered in the public session of the Parliament and where the Government or the President is of specific position, none of the representatives of the Government may speak against the Government’s or the President’s view.
Article 35
(Amended January 24, 2010)
It is for the Vice-President for Parliamentary Affairs to harmonize the statements of the representatives of the Government in respect of the legislative bills and government bills in the public session of the Parliament (in such manner that no statement contrary to the Government view will be made).
Article 36
(Amended January 24, 2010)
Where for any reason the respective official(s) is (are) not present, the Vice-President for Parliamentary Affairs shall be the representative of the Government for defending and commenting on the respective government bills and legislative bills.
Article 37
(Amended February 14, 2001)
The Head of the State Management and Planning Organization shall be the representative of the Government and the coordinator for harmonizing views of the members of the Government.
Article 38
Considering the provision of Article 56 of the Internal Bylaw of the Parliament, requests of government bodies for referring bills in compliance with Principal 85 of the Constitution to the Parliament’s commissions shall be subject to approval of the Council of Ministers.
Article 39
The authority to determine if the bills to be submitted are of urgent nature and to entitle the treaties, protocols, international contracts and agreements as important, as well as to request cancellation of urgency nature of government bills is vested in the Council of Ministers and in emergency cases in the President.
Article 40
Application for interpretation from the Guardian Council by government bodies shall be subject to coordination with the President.
Article 41
(Amended May 01, 1991)
Request for holding in camera sessions of the Parliament by each minister, given the power vested in the President under Principle 134 of the Constitution in harmonizing decisions of ministers, may be made after having brought the matter to the attention of the President.
Chapter Six: Resolutions and Bills Deferred
Article 42
(Amended January 24, 2010)
Where the government has been changed or a new government has come to power, the Vice-President for Parliamentary Affairs shall prepare a list of the government bills of the previous government that have not yet reached the stage of submission to the Parliament and also those government bills that have been submitted to the Parliament, which bills will be propounded for final decision in the new government. The same procedure will be followed in respect of the government bills and legislative bills not yet passed by the Parliament in a previous legislative session (the subject matter of Article 60 of the Internal Bylaw of the Parliament).
Article 43
The Office of the council of Ministers will make a list of the resolutions that have not yet reached that stage of promulgation in the previous government or its commissions and will bring them to the attention of the First Vice-President for making the final decision.
Article 44
Where the new government has decided to continue with the process of passing the stages required for adoption of the resolutions and bills, the subject matter of Articles 42 and 43 of the present Regulations, due actions will be taken by the authorities mentioned in the present Regulations. Otherwise, the bill and the resolution that have not yet reached the stage of submission or promulgation will be returned to the respective ministry for reconsideration, and the submitted bills will be withdrawn from the Parliament.