| Election Name: | October 1981 Iranian presidential election |
| Country: | Iran |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | July 1981 Iranian presidential election |
| Previous Year: | July 1981 |
| Next Election: | 1985 Iranian presidential election |
| Next Year: | 1985 |
| Election Date: | 2 October 1981 |
| Registered: | 22,687,017 |
| Turnout: | 74.26% |
| Image1: | Portrait of Ali Khamenei - 1981.jpg |
| Nominee1: | Ali Khamenei |
| Party1: | Islamic Republican Party |
| Alliance1: | Grand Coalition |
| Popular Vote1: | 16,007,072 |
| Percentage1: | 97.1 % |
| Nominee2: | Ali-Akbar Parvaresh |
| Party2: | Independent politician |
| Alliance2: | — |
| Popular Vote2: | 341,841 |
| Percentage2: | 2.1% |
| President | |
| Before Election: | Mohammad-Ali Rajai |
| Before Party: | Islamic Republican Party |
| After Election: | Ali Khamenei |
| After Party: | Islamic Republican Party |
Presidential elections were held in Iran on 2 October 1981, after the assassination of Mohammad-Ali Rajai, the previous President of Iran, during the interim premiership of Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani. It led to the uncontested victory of Ali Khamenei.
Candidates Ali Akbar Parvaresh, Hassan Ghafourifard and Reza Zavare'i publicly endorsed Khamenei for president, stating they would vote for him on television.
| October 1981 Iranian presidential election | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Nohen et al[1] | ISSDP | ||||
| Votes | % | Votes | % | ||||
| Islamic Republican Party | Ali Khamenei | 16,007,072 | 95.01 | 16,008,579 | 95.05 | ||
| Islamic Republican Party | Ali Akbar Parvaresh | 341,841 | 2.03 | 341,874 | 2.02 | ||
| Islamic Republican Party | Hassan Ghafourifard | 75,658 | 0.45 | 80,545 | 0.48 | ||
| Islamic Republican Party | Reza Zavare'i | 62,156 | 0.37 | 59,058 | 0.35 | ||
| Blank or invalid votes | 360,269 | 2.14 | 357,661 | 2.12 | |||
| Totals | 16,846,996 | 100 | 16,847,717 | 100 | |||