List of Iranians

This is an alphabetic list of notable people from Iran or its historical predecessors.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

In the news

Akbar Ganji
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former President of Iran
Ali Dizaei, senior officer in the London Metropolitan Police
Alireza Jafarzadeh, Fox News Channel foreign-affairs analyst
Anousheh Ansari, first female space tourist, telecommunication entrepreneur and namesake of the Ansari X Prize
Bahar Soomekh, Iranian-American actor
Camila Batmanghelidjh, UK's Women of the Year 2006 Award winner; founder of London-based children's charity Kids Company
Daryush Shokof, artist Maximalism, film director, Iran Zendan, philosopher Yekishim, singer
Farzan Athari, international model
Goli Ameri, Republican nominee for U.S. House of Representatives
Jimmy Delshad, Mayor of Beverly Hills, California
Kamshad Kooshan, Iranian-American film director
Kia Joorabchian, businessman
Ladan and Laleh Bijani
Mohammad Khatami, former President of Iran
Nasser David Khalili, billionaire and art collector
Nazanin Afshin-Jam, actress, singer-songwriter, human-rights activist; Miss World 2003 first runner up; Miss Canada 2003
Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay
Ramona Amiri, Miss Canada 2005
Reza Pahlavi, son of the deposed Shah of Iran
Rosie Malek-Yonan
Ross Mirkarimi
Shermine Shahrivar, Miss Europe 2005
Shirin Ebadi, recipient 2003 Nobel Peace Prize
Shiva Nazar-Ahari, human-rights activist
Shohreh Aghdashloo, Iranian-American actress
Zahra Kazemi
Zeynab Jalaliyan, Kurdish prisoner

Artists

Calligraphists

Cartoonists

Barbers

· Alireza Makandy

Cinema artists

Actors

Directors and filmmakers

Abbas Kiarostami, director of Taste of Cherry
Abdolhossein Sepanta
Abolfazl Jalili
Ali Ardekani
Ali Hatami
Amir Naderi
Ardeshir Irani, director of first Indian sound film, Alam Ara
Asghar Farhadi, director of A Separation
Babak Payami
Bahman Farman-Ara
Bahman Ghobadi, director of A Time for Drunken Horses
Bahman Maghsoudlou
Bahram Beizai
Behrooz Gharibpoor
Darius Khondji
Darius Mehrjui
Daryush Shokof, director of Seven Servants and Iran Zendan
Ebrahim Hatamikia
Emud Mokhberi, Academy Award-nominated director/animator
Esma'il Kooshan
Iraj Ghaderi
Jafar Panahi, director of The Circle
Kamal Tabrizi
Kami Asgar
Kamran Shirdel
Kamshad Kooshan
Khosrow Sinai
Kiarash Anvari
Mahdi Bemani Naeini
Majid Majidi, director of Children of Heaven
Masoud Kimiai
Mehran Modiri
Mohsen Makhmalbaf, director of Kandahar
Nasser Taghvai
Parviz Kimiavi
Parviz Nouri
Shabnam Rezaei
Parviz Shahbazi
Parviz Sayyad
Pouran Derakhshandeh, award-winning film director and producer
Rakhshan Bani-Etemad
Ramin Farahani
Rasoul Mollagholipour
Reza Badiyi
Sadaf Foroughi
Samira Makhmalbaf, director of At Five in the Afternoon
Samuel Khachikian
Sohrab Shahid-Sales
Tina Gharavi

Film score composers

Babak Bayat

Designers

Fashion designers

Graphic designers

Entertainers

Comedians

Musicians and singers

Classical

Iranian Classical/traditional

Modern / traditional

Western Classical

Electronic

Pop

(Sorted according to the first letter of the most famous name)

Rap music

Lyricists

Rock/metal

Amir Derakh, from the band Orgy
Angband
Barad
Kiosk

Painters, illustrators and sculptors

Photographers

Theatre artists

Stage actors and actresses

Theatre directors

Journalism/media

Bloggers

Journalists

Akbar Ganji
Ali Akbar Abdolrashidi, television, radio, @Print Media (columnist, correspondent)
Ali Akbar Dehkhoda
Alireza Jafarzadeh
Alireza Nourizadeh
Arash Markazi
Azadeh Ensha, The New York Times
Azadeh Moaveni
Christiane Amanpour
Ebrahim Nabavi
Emadeddin Baghi
Farrokhi Yazdi, Pahlavi era
Hashem Aghajari
Hossein Shariatmadari
Kaveh Golestan, BBC
Kioumars Saberi Foumani
Mahshid Amirshahi
Masih Alinejad
Masih Farzaneh
Masoud Dehnamaki
Massoud Behnoud
Mehran Ghassemi
Mirzadeh Eshghi
Mohammad Ghouchani
Mohammad Taghi Bahar
Nikahang Kowsar
Omid Memarian
Rudi Bakhtiar
Saeed Hajjarian
Saeed Kamali Dehghan
Shadi Sadr
Sina Motallebi
Youness Shokrkhah
Maziar Bahari
Saeed Kamali Dehghan

Television personalities

Adel Ferdosipour, football announcer, Navad program
Ali Akbar Abdolrashidi, correspondent, commentator, anchorman
Alireza Jafarzadeh, Foreign Affairs Analyst, Fox News
Asieh Namdar, news anchor at CNN
Christiane Amanpour, television journalist, CNN
Fereydoun Farrokhzad, TV personality and opposition figure
Jian Ghomeshi, musician, writer, and former CBC radio broadcaster
Maryam Namazi, news anchor at Al Jazeera (English section)
Reza Fazeli, actor, film director and opposition figure
Rudi Bakhtiar, news anchor, formerly with CNN and Fox News
Zia Atabay, TV presenter at NITV United

Leaders and politicians

The list here excludes the royalty. An extensive list of Persian royalty appears further down in this page.

Historical (pre-Pahlavi Dynasty)

Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma, prime minister, multiple other roles
Abu Muslim, leader of the Persian uprising against Arabs
Amir-Kabir, Grand Vizier
Babak Khorram Din, leader of the Persian uprising against Arabs
Bagher Khan, constitutionalist leader
Bozorgmehr, sage and Grand Vizier of Sasanids
Colonel Pesian
Dr Talequani Heshmat, Jangali leader and ally of Mirza Kuchek Khan
Fazlollah Noori, conservative clergy opposing Constitutionalists; hanged
Ghaem Magham Farahani, prime minister
Hassan-e-Sabbah, sectarian political leader
Kaveh the blacksmith, mythical leader and liberator against the rule of Zahhak, an Arab king
Mahmud Khan Puladeen, senior military general
Maziar, son of Karan; leader of the Persian uprising against Arabs
Mirza Kuchek Khan, constitutionalist leader of Guilan
Mirza Mehdi Khan Astarabadi, Nader Shah's Chief Minister
Mirza Reza Kermani, assassinated Nasereddin Shah
Mohammad Khiabani, popular leader during Constitutionalist Revolution
Mohammad Mossadegh, prime minister
Mostowfi ol-Mamalek, prime minister
Nosrat Dowleh Firouz Mirza, provincial governor
Safi-ad-din Ardabili, spiritual founder of Safavid dynasty
Sattar Khan, constitutionalist leader

Modern (post-Qajar)

Pahlavi period

Abdol Karim Ayadi, personal physician to Reza Pahlavi
Ali Akbar Davar, minister, and founder of Iran's modern Judiciary system
Amanullah Jahanbani, senior military leader, and father-in-law of Christiane Amanpour's father
Amir Abdollah Tahmasebi, military leader
Ardeshir Zahedi
Bahram Aryana, military commander
Dr Ahmad Ahmadi, prison interrogator
Farokhroo Parsa, minister of education
George Malek-Yonan, procured a seat in Iran's Parliament for Assyrians as a recognized minority
Hasan Arfa, Army General, Ambassador to Russia, Ambassador to Turkey
Hassan Modarres, member of Parliament
Hassan Pakravan, head of SAVAK
Heidar Arfaa, Conseiller d'État, Minister of Agriculture, Député-Majlis Fars Province
Hossein Fardoust, deputy head of SAVAK
Hossein Fatemi, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hushang Ansary, Minister of Finance, President of NIOC
Karim Buzarjomehri, Army General military aide of Reza Shah, Mayor of Tehran
Mahmoud Jafarian, head of National Iranian Radio & Television and Pars News Agency
Mahmoud Khayami, industrialist
Mahmud Mahmud, politician
Abbas Salour, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Head of the Land Reform, General Governor of Kermanshah, General Governor of Khoozestan, Board of directors of The National PetroChemical Company
Manucher Mirza Farman Farmaian, director of sales for NIOC and Ambassador to Venezuela
Mohammad Hosein Airom, senior military leader
Nader Jahanbani, air force general, pilot
Nasser Moghaddam, head of SAVAK
Nematollah Nassiri, head of SAVAK
Abbas Mirza Farman Farmaian, Minister of Parliament
Sattareh Farman Farmaian, established first social worker schools in Iran
Sepahbod Ahmad Amir-Ahmadi, military leader
Seyyed Zia'eddin Tabatabaee
Shapour Bakhtiar, prime minister
Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari
Teymour Bakhtiar, head of SAVAK
Abdolhossein Teymourtash, Iranian statesman
Mirza Javad Khan Ameri, Minister, MP

Served in Islamic Republic government

Abdolkarim Mousavi-Ardabili
Abdollah Noori, minister of interior
Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, government spokesman
Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari, minister of interior
Abolhassan Banisadr, president
Ahmad Jannati, chair of Council of Guardians
Ahmad Khatami
Ahmad Khomeini
Ahmad Tavakkoli, minister of labour
Akbar Torkan, minister of roads and transportation
Ala'eddin Boroujerdi, member of parliament
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, president
Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, member of parliament
Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri, speaker of parliament
Ali Akbar Salehi
Ali Fallahian, minister of intelligence
Ali Khamenei, supreme leader
Ali Larijani, president of IRIB
Ali Meshkini, chair of Assembly of Experts
Ali Movahhedi-Kermani
Ali Shamkhani, minister of defence
Ali Younessi, minister of information
Alireza Noori, member of parliament
Asadollah Lajevardi
Ata'ollah Mohajerani, minister of culture and Islamic guidance
Ayatollah Amini, deputy chair of Assembly of Experts
Ayatollah Mohammadi-Gilani
Ayatollah Sane'i
Ayatollah Va'ez-Tabasi
Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi
Behzad Nabavi, vice speaker of parliament
Bizhan Namdar-Zangeneh, minister of oil
Ebrahim Asgharzadeh
Ebrahim Yazdi, foreign minister of interim government
Elaheh Koulai, member of parliament
Emad Afrough, member of parliament
Ezzatollah Zarghami, president of IRIB
Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, member of parliament
Fatemeh Haghighatjou, member of parliament
Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel, speaker of parliament
Gholam Hossein Elham
Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi, minister of intelligence
Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri
Hadi Khamenei, member of parliament
Hamid Reza Assefi, foreign affairs spokesman
Hassan Habibi, first vice president
Hassan Rouhani, current president
Hossein Shariatmadari
Iraj Fazel, minister of health
Kamal Kharrazi, minister of foreign affairs
Kazem Jalali, politician
Kazem Rajavi, politician
Kazem Seddiqi, politician
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former president
Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, former chief justice
Majid Ansari, member of parliament
Manuchehr Eliasi, Jewish member of parliament
Masoud Pezeshkian, minister of health
Masoumeh Ebtekar, vice president
Mehdi Bazargan, prime minister
Mehdi Hashemi
Mehdi Karroubi, speaker of parliament
Mir-Hossein Mousavi, prime minister
Mohammad Abaee-Khorasani, member of parliament
Mohammad Ali Abtahi, vice president
Mohammad Ali Najafi, minister of education
Mohammad Ali Rajai, president
Mohammad Beheshti, head of judiciary
Mohammad Emami-Kashani
Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani
Mohammad Javad Bahonar, prime minister
Mohammad Javad Larijani, member of parliament
Mohammad Khatami, president
Mohammad Reyshahri
Mohammad Reza Aref, first vice president
Mohammad Reza Bahonar, vice speaker of parliament
Mohammad Reza Khatami, deputy speaker of parliament
Mohammad Reza Mahdavi-Kani
Mohammad Sattarifar, vice president
Mohammad Yazdi, head of judiciary
Mohsen Armin, member of parliament
Mohsen Mirdamadi, member of parliament
Mohsen Nourbakhsh, head of Central Bank of Iran
Mohsen Rezaee, member of Expediency Discernment Council
Mohsen Safaee-Farahani, member of parliament and head of Iranian Football Federation
Mohseni-Ezhe'i
Morteza Motahhari
Mostafa Chamran, Minister of Defense
Mostafa Tajzadeh, deputy minister of interior
Nasrollah Jahangard, chair of Supreme Council of ICT
Rahim Safavi
Rasoul Montajebnia, member of parliament
Ruhollah Hosseinian
Ruhollah Khomeini, supreme leader, founder of the Islamic Republic
Sadegh Ghotbzadeh, minister of foreign affairs
Sadegh Khalkhali, Sharia ruler
Sadegh Larijani
Saeed Emami, vice minister of intelligence
Saeed Hajjarian, Tehran council member
Saeed Mortazavi
Seyed Mohammad Hossein Adeli, head of Central Bank of Iran, Ambassador to United Kingdom

Not served or opposition

Abbas Amir-Entezam
Abdolrahman Ghasemlou
Abolghasem Kashani
Ahmad Zirakzadeh
Ali Shariati, sociologist
Alireza Rajaei
Asghar Parsa
Azam Taleghani
Bijan Jazani
Dariush Forouhar
Daryush Shokof, director of films Iran Zendan and Hitler's Grave
Ezzatollah Sahabi
Gholam-Hossein Sadighi
Habibollah Peiman
Hashem Aghajari
Jafar Pishevari
Mahmoud Taleghani
Mansoor Hekmat
Maryam Rajavi
Masoud Rajavi, militant opposition leader
Mohsen Kadivar
Mousa Sadr
Nasser Zarafshan
Navvab Safavi, militant cleric
Parviz Varjavand
Reza Alamouti, Central Committee Member of the Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas; founder of Radio Aras
Roozbeh Farahanipour, founder of Marze Por Gohar
Shirin Ebadi, recipient 2003 Nobel Peace Prize
Yadollah Sahabi

Other nations

Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan; half-Iranian (mother Nusrat Bhutto)
Dan Halutz, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces
Goli Ameri, United States Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs
Maryam Yazdanfar, member of the Swedish parliament (Riksdag), Sweden
Moshe Katsav, former President of Israel
Tahia Kazem, former first lady of Egypt, wife of President Gamal Abdel Nasser
Nusrat Bhutto, former first lady of Pakistan
Omid Nouripour, member of the German parliament (Bundestag), Germany
Reza Moridi, member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada
Shaul Mofaz, Israeli Minister of Transport and a Deputy Prime Minister, and former Minister of Defense

Literature figures

Authors and poets

Main article: Persian literature

See main list: List of Persian poets and authors

Translators

Ali Akbar Abdolrashidi, author and translator
Karim Emami, author and translator
Majid M. Naini, author and translator
Mohammad Ghazi, translator
Shahrokh Meskoob, author and translator

Religious figures

See List of Marjas.
See List of Ayatollahs.

Majlesi
The Báb, Prophet-Founder of the Bábi Faith
Bahá'u'lláh, Prophet-Founder of the Bahá'í Faith
'Abdu'l-Bahá, Centre of the Covenant of the Bahá'í Faith
Haik Hovsepian Mehr, bishop and Christian martyr
Jamal al-Din Asadabadi
Mani, founder of Manichaeism
Mazdak, Religious and Social Reformer
Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master born to Iranian immigrant parents
Muhammad ibn Ismail ad-Darazi
Mulla Sadra
Safi-ad-din Ardabili
Salman the Persian
Zahed Gilani
Zoroaster, prophet

Royalty

See comprehensive list of Persian/Iranian royalty.

Scientists, scholars, and academics

See comprehensive List of Iranian scientists and engineers of the pre-modern age.

See comprehensive List of Iranian scientists and engineers of the modern age.

Architects and Mi'mars

Explorers and travellers

Ahmad ibn Rustah, 10th-century Persian explorer of Russia, Scandinavia and Arabia
Naser Khosrow, traveller, writer and poet

Historians, archaeologists and Iranologists

Linguists

Intellectuals and philosophers

Technology

Data Center Technologies

Saman Naeen, Infrastructure Manager, Computer Engineer

Video game, visual effects, computer imagery

Reza Mohammady, Human–computer interaction engineer
Habib Zargarpour, visual effects specialist, video game art director

Sports

* Yu Darvish, MLB baseball player for the Texas Rangers

Abbas Jadidi, wrestler, Olympic silver medalist
Abdollah Movahed, wrestler, Olympic gold medalist
Adel Kolahkaj, football player
Alex Agase, American football player
Ali Daei, football player, top international goalscorer, world record holder
Ali Karimi, football player
Ali Parvin, football player and coach
Alireza Dabir, wrestler, Olympic gold medalist
Alireza Heidari, wrestler, Olympic bronze Mmdalist
Alireza Rezaei, wrestler, Olympic silver medalist
Amir Reza Khadem, Olympic Bronze Medalist wrestler
Andre Agassi, tennis player; his father was Assyrian-Armenian
Arash Miresmaili, judo world champion
Aravane Rezaï, tennis player
Arian Ramezani,teenager basketball player and runner
Behdad Salimi, weightlifter World Champion
Ebrahim Javadi, wrestler, Olympic bronze medalist
Ehsan Ghaemmaghami, chess grandmaster
Ehsan Hadadi, discus thrower, Asian record holder
Elshan Moradi, chess grandmaster
Emamali Habibi Goudarzi, wrestler, first Iranian Olympic gold medalist (Melbourne 1956)
Emmanuel Agassi, boxer at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics, father of Andre Agassi
George Issabeg, boxer at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics
George Malek-Yonan, Iran's Champion of Champions in track & field and pentathlon
Ghasem Dehnavi, football player
Ghasem Hadadifar, football player
Ghasem Rezaei, wrestler
Hossein Rezazadeh, weightlifter, double Olympic champion (Sydney 2000, Athens 2004)
Javad Nekounam, football player
Khodadad Azizi, football player
Kianoush Rostami, weightlifter, world champion
Kimia Alizadeh, Taekwondo player, the first Iranian woman to win a medal at the Olympic Games (Rio de Janeiro 2016)
Mahmoud Namjoo, weightlifter, Olympic silver medalist
Mahyar Monshipour, World Super Bantamweight Boxing Champion
Mansour Bahrami, tennis player
Mansour Barzegar, wrestler, Olympic silver medalist
Masoud Jokar, wrestler, Olympic silver medalist
Mehdi Mahdavikia, football player
Mohammad Ali Fardin, wrestler and actor
Mohammad Khadem, wrestler
Mohammad Mousavi, volleyball player
Mohammad Nassiri, weightlifter, Olympic gold medalist
Mohammad Reza Heidarian, futsal player
Rahman Rezaei, football player
Rasoul Khadem, Olympic gold medalist wrestler
Ruhollah Bigdeli, football player
Saeid Marouf, volleyball player
Shadi Paridar, chess Woman Grandmaster
Shawn Daivari, professional wrestler
Shoura Osipov, boxer at 1948 Olympics
T.J. Houshmandzadeh, NFL player
Vahid Hashemian, football player
Yossef Karami, Taekwondo world champion, Olympic bronze medalist
Andranik Teymourian, football player
Fereydoon Zandi, football player
Gholamreza Takhti, wrestler, Olympic gold medalist
Hadi Saei, taekwondo world champion, Olympic gold medalist
Hossein Tavakoli, weightlifter, Olympic gold medalist
Jaber Rouzbahani, basketball player
Khosrow Vaziri, professional wrestler
Leila Vaziri, swimmer, World Champion, world record holder
Vahid Shamsaei, futsal player, top international futsal goalscorer
Mika Zibanejad, ice hockey player for Ottawa Senators of the NHL
Daniel Rahimi, ice hockey player for San Jose Sharks of the NHL

Iranian women

See separate articles: Persian woman and List of Persian women.

Other

Ali Dashti
Alireza Afzalipour, businessman and philanthropist; founder of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman
Bijan Pakzad, designer
Farah Karimi, Iranian female Dutch Member of Parliament^[1]
George Deukmejian, former Governor of California
Mehran Karimi Nasseri
Moshe Katsav, President of Israel
Ross Mirkarimi, former member of San Francisco City Council from Green Party
Saadat Khan, first Nawab of Oudh in India
Shahram Entekhabi, Iranian-born artist and architect^[2]
Shahram Jazayeri
Shahram Dabiri, lead producer responsible for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft
Shaul Mofaz, Israeli Defense Minister
Wajid Ali Shah, last Nawab of Oudh, disposed of by the British East India Company
Zahra Eshraghi, granddaughter of Ayatollah Khomeini and wife of Mohammad Reza Khatami

Famous Iranians of Armenian Descent

Famous Iranians of Assyrian Descent

Emigrants and immigrants

Famous Americans in Iran

Howard Baskerville, Iran's first American martyr
Joseph Cochran, second-generation American missionary in Urmiah; established first Iranian medical college
Arthur Millspaugh, Treasury General, Persia
Arthur Pope and Phyllis Ackerman, Persian culture revivalists
David Stronach
Elgin Groseclose, Treasury General, Persia
John Limbert
Justin Perkins, first American resident of Iran (1835)
Morgan Shuster, Treasury General, Persia
Richard Nelson Frye
Samuel M. Jordan, namesake of "Jordan Ave." in Tehran
William M. Miller

Famous Germans in Iran

Annemarie Schimmel, German-born Harvard expert on Iranian literature
Wilhelm Wassmuss, German diplomat, spy and military hero, Iran, World War I

Famous Iranians in America

See separate article: List of Iranian Americans.

Famous Iranians in Canada

See article: Iranian-Canadian

Famous Iranians in Britain

List of British Iranians

Famous Iranians in Germany

Iranians in Germany

Iranians in Australia

Iranian Australian

Iranians in the Netherlands

Iranians in Sweden

Iranians in Egypt

Tahia Kazem, wife of president Gamal Abdel Nasser; born in Egypt to Iranian parents

Famous Iranians in Pakistan

Nusrat Bhutto, Iranian father and mother moved with family to Karachi, British India, before partition; married Zulfikar Ali Bhutto; father of Benazir Bhutto

Persian Roman Catholic saints

See article List of Persian Roman Catholic saints

References

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