Iran's Regime: Answers and Sources

How many members sit on Iran's Assembly of Experts, the body that formally selects the supreme leader?

1. 88 (correct)
2. 48
3. 12
4. 290

Answer: 88. The Assembly of Experts is a body of 88 senior clerics (mujtahids). It formally chooses a new supreme leader.

Source: Will Iran's Coming Leadership Transition Be as Smooth as the Presidential One? (June 6, 2024)
https://www.meforum.org/will-iran-coming-leadership-transition-be-as

"the Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 Mujtahids, theoretically selects a new supreme Leader"

Ali Khamenei served as Iran's supreme leader from which year?

1. 1979
2. 1989 (correct)
3. 1981
4. 1997

Answer: 1989. Khamenei became supreme leader in 1989. Before that he had been Iran's president, from 1981.

Source: The Strongman's Sunset? Khamenei's Reign of Fear (June 24, 2025)
https://www.meforum.org/mef-online/the-strongmans-sunset-khameneis-reign-of-fear

"Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader since 1989"

On April 1, 2024, Israel killed IRGC general Mohammad-Reza Zahedi. What was his role?

1. Commander of Iran's navy
2. Head of Iran's nuclear program
3. Coordinating Iran's proxies in the Levant (correct)
4. Commander of the Basij

Answer: Coordinating Iran's proxies in the Levant. Zahedi was the IRGC general tasked with coordinating Iran's proxies in the Levant, including Syria and Lebanon.

Source: Biden Prevented Israel from Deterring Iran (May 13, 2024)
https://www.meforum.org/biden-prevented-israel-from-deterring-iran

"On April 1, 2024, Israel killed Mohammad-Reza Zahedi, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general tasked to coordinate Iran's proxies in the Levant."

In which year did the United States designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a foreign terrorist organization?

1. 2001
2. 2007
3. 2015
4. 2019 (correct)

Answer: 2019. Washington designated the IRGC a foreign terrorist organization in 2019.

Source: The Hormuz Crisis Was Hiding in Plain Sight (September 9, 2026)
https://www.meforum.org/mef-online/the-hormuz-crisis-was-hiding-in-plain-sight

"Washington had already designated it a foreign terrorist organization in 2019"

Which paramilitary force, used against nationwide protests, is controlled by the IRGC?

1. The Basij (correct)
2. The Artesh
3. Hezbollah
4. The Popular Mobilization Forces

Answer: The Basij. The IRGC controls the Basij paramilitary group, which has been used to crush nationwide protests inside Iran.

Source: Benjamin Weinthal on Iran's Shifting Relations with Europe (March 10, 2023)
https://www.meforum.org/benjamin-weinthal-on-iran-shifting-relations-with

"also controls the Basij paramilitary group that has been crushing the ongoing nationwide protests"

On what date did a U.S. strike kill IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani?

1. September 11, 2011
2. January 3, 2020 (correct)
3. June 13, 2025
4. October 7, 2023

Answer: January 3, 2020. Soleimani was killed on January 3, 2020, on the road from Baghdad airport.

Source: Iran's Four Options for Revenge against Israel (April 9, 2024)
https://www.meforum.org/iran-four-options-for-revenge-against-israel

"the US killed former Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani on the road from Baghdad Airport on 3 January, 2020"

How did Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi die in May 2024?

1. In an Israeli airstrike
2. Of a heart attack
3. In a helicopter crash (correct)
4. In a bombing in Kerman

Answer: In a helicopter crash. Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash on May 19, 2024, which triggered a snap presidential election.

Source: Iran's New President Is a 'Reformist'; Will It Matter? (July 19, 2024)
https://www.meforum.org/iran-new-president-is-a-reformist-will-it-matter

"Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash on May 19"

Who was elected Iran's president in July 2024?

1. Saeed Jalili
2. Mohammad Javad Zarif
3. Ali Larijani
4. Masoud Pezeshkian (correct)

Answer: Masoud Pezeshkian. Masoud Pezeshkian was elected in July 2024, after Raisi's death, on promises to lift internet censorship.

Source: Facing Unrest and Humiliation, Tehran Tightens Control over Speech (July 30, 2025)
https://www.meforum.org/mef-observer/facing-unrest-and-humiliation-tehran-tightens-control-over-speech

"Pezeshkian, elected in July 2024 on promises to lift internet censorship and enact reforms"

Mahsa Amini died in September 2022 in the custody of which force, after being detained over her hijab?

1. The morality police (correct)
2. The Quds Force
3. The army
4. Border guards

Answer: The morality police. Amini died in morality police custody after being picked up for not wearing her hijab properly. Her death set off the Woman, Life, Freedom protests.

Source: McGill University's Deep Ties with Iran's Murderous Regime (March 9, 2023)
https://www.meforum.org/mcgill-university-deep-ties-with-iran-murderous

"who died while in the custody of the state's infamous morality police after being picked up for not wearing her hijab properly"

In December 2024 the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned that Iran was sharply accelerating uranium enrichment to what level?

1. 3.67 percent
2. 60 percent (correct)
3. 20 percent
4. 90 percent

Answer: 60 percent. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi warned of accelerated enrichment to 60 percent, close to the roughly 90 percent used for a weapon.

Source: Time to Take the Iranian Nuclear Bull by the Horns (March 1, 2025)
https://www.meforum.org/meq/time-to-take-the-iranian-nuclear-bull-by-the-horns

"Iran was “dramatically” accelerating its enrichment of uranium to the 60 percent level"