| Document Name: | Iranian passport |
| Using Jurisdiction: | Iranian Immigration & Passport Police Office |
| Date First Issued: | c. 1925 (original) 1979 (current version) (1st biometric passport)[1] (2nd biometric passport)[2] |
| Document Type: | Passport |
| Purpose: | Identification |
| Eligibility: | Iranian citizen (men over 19 require proof of compulsory military service). |
| Expiration: | 5 years less than a day after issued date for adults over age of 18, or 10 years for some special cases |
| Cost: | 1,500,000 IRR |
| Website: | https://egozar.epolice.ir/passport/ |
Iranian passports are issued to nationals of Iran for the purpose of international travel. The passport serves as a proof of Iranian citizenship. The Iranian passports are burgundy, with the Iranian emblem emblazoned on the top of the front cover.
The words "Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ایران" (Persian) meaning Islamic Republic of Iran and "Persian: گذرنامه" (Persian) meaning passport are inscribed to the right side of the coat of arms. Iran started issuing diplomatic and service biometric passports in July 2007. Ordinary biometric passports began to be issued on 20 February 2011. These passports contain 32 pages. 2014 passports have 16 pages.
On the inside of the back-cover, Iranian passports bear the inscription: "The holder of this passport is not entitled to travel to occupied Palestine", referring to Israel.[3]
In the past, prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, passports issued by Pahlavi Iran were visually different, with the inscription "Empire of Iran" being used, and translations into French rather than English. Iran's passport is ranked one of the worst in the world for global mobility.[4]
The Iranian passport includes the following data:
The passport number is the serial number that uniquely identifies a passport. The passport number changes every time a person has issued a new passport, with the previous passport number noted in an endorsement on the last page of the new passport.
The passport number is alphanumeric, with a letter followed by an eight-digit number, e.g. A00000000.In the Persian letters on top of the passport, the passport number does not have the first English letter.
The national identity number for Iranians is a unique 10-digit number allocated to each citizen of Iran; & it is used widely for identity confirmation in many places.The unique number is in the following format:
XXX-YYYYYY-C
The control number is calculated from the previous 9 digits and verifies if the ID number is valid.
In the June-July 2023 FARAJA police shortly made it possible to order a passport online for Iraq in "My police" for those who have Iranian identity card, it has since taken down people have to go to offices of Police + 10, Iraqi travel passport called "Pilgrim" is 20% - 30% cheaper than real passport.[5] [6]
For each item in the passport, captions are provided in Persian and nearly all of them are also provided in English.
As Iran (the Islamic Republic of) does not recognize or have diplomatic relations with the state of Israel (like some other Muslim countries and North Korea), people using an Iranian passport are not permitted to travel to Israel under Iranian law (although Israel itself does admit Iranian citizens holding a visa).On the inside of the back-cover, Iranian passports bear the inscription: "The holder of this passport is not entitled to travel to occupied Palestine", referring to Israel.
See main article: Visa requirements for Iranian citizens.
As of February 2020, Iranian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 41 countries and territories, ranking the Iranian passport 98th in terms of travel freedom (tied with passports from Bangladesh, Dem. Rep. of Congo and Eritrea) according to the Henley Passport Index.[7]
Iranians were also temporarily denied admission by former US President Donald Trump in early 2017 as part of the Trump travel ban. Exemptions for academic visas and waivers from consular officials were eventually allowed before being lifted in its entirety by Trump's successor Joe Biden upon assuming office in 2021.[8] [9] [10]
The first Persian passport was issued during the reign of Nasereddin Shah around 1885.[11] It used to be called 'Tazkereh-ye Safar' (Travel Document) and the text was entirely in Persian. During the reign of Ahmad Shah (early 20th-century) the French titles were added to the document "Passeport du passage: au nom de Sa Majeste Imperiale le Shahinschah de Perse" (Passport of the Passage: in the name of His Imperial Majesty the Shahanshah of Persia). After 1935 the title was changed to "Empire de l'Iran".