The Ministry of Intelligence (وزارت اطلاعات), is the primary intelligence agency of Iran. It is an important part of the Iranian government's security apparatus, and is well funded and equipped. Before a recent thorough overhaul in the organization, it has been accused of being involved in terrorist activities, specifically of training and funding Hezbollah. An intelligence agency is a governmental organization devoted to gathering of information by means of espionage (spying), communication interception, cryptoanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public sources. ... A Hezbollah militant carrying a Hezbollah Flag Hezbollah (Arabic ‮حزب الله‬, meaning Party of God) is a political and military organization in Lebanon founded in 1982 to fight Israel in southern Lebanon. ...

Information on the ministry is often difficult to obtain. The organization was intended to replace SAVAK, Iran's intelligence agency during the rule of the Shah, but it is unclear how much continuity there is between the two organizations—while their role is similar, their underlying ideology is radically different. It is suspected that the new government was initially eager to purge SAVAK elements from the new organization, but that pragmatism eventually prevailed, with many experienced SAVAK personnel being retained in their roles. Former SAVAK staff are believed to have been important in the ministry's infiltration of left-wing dissident groups and of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party. SAVAK (Persian: ساواک, short for سازمان اطلاعات و امنیت کشور Sazeman-i Ettelaat va Amniyat-i Keshvar, National Organization for Intelligence and Security) was the domestic security and intelligence service of Iran from 1957–1979. ... His Imperial Majesty Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi ( محمدرضا شاه پهلوی) (October 26, 1919 – July 27, 1980) holder of the deferential title Aryamehr (Light of the Aryans), was the last Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 until 1979. ... Baath Party flag The Ba‘ath Parties (also spelled Baath or Ba‘th; Arabic: اﻟﺒﻌﺚ) comprise political parties representing the political face of the Ba‘ath movement. ...

The formation of the ministry was proposed by Saeed Hajjarian to the government of Mir-Hossein Mousavi and then the parliament. There were debates about which branch of the state should oversee the new institution, and the other options apart from the presidency were the Judiciary system, the Supreme Leader, and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Finally, the government could get the approval of Ayatollah Khomeini to make it a ministry, but a restriction was added to the requirements of the minister, needing him to be a mujtahid. Saeed Hajjarian (Persian: سعید حجاریان), born 1954, is an Iranian political figure, intellectual, and journalist. ... Mir-Hossein Mousavi (میرحسین موسوی) (born 1941?) was the Prime Minister of Iran from 1981 to 1988, at the time of Ali Khameneis presidency. ... مجلس شورای اسلامی - The Majles; Irans Parliament. ... The Presidential Complex, Zafaraniyeh, Tehran. ... The judicial system of Iran is based on Islamic Law. ... Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran. ... Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی), often shortened to Revolutionary Guards, is a military organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran. ... Ayatollah Khomeini founded the first modern Islamic republic Ayatollah Seyyed Ruhollah Khomeini (آیت‌الله روح‌الله خمینی in Persian) (May 17, 1900 – June 3, 1989) was an Iranian Shia cleric and the political and spiritual leader of the 1979 revolution that overthrew Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the then Shah of Iran. ... ijtihad is a technical term of the Islamic law and means the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the sources of the law, the Quran and the Sunna. ...

The ministry was finally founded on August 18, 1984, abandoning many small intelligence agencies that were formed in different governmental organization. The four ministers since the founding of the ministry, have been Mohammad Reyshahri (under Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi), Ali Fallahian (under President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani), Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi (under President Mohammad Khatami, resigned after a year), and Ali Younessi (under President Khatami). August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mohammad Mohammadi Nik, famously known as Reyshahri, is an Iranian cleric and politician. ... President Rafsanjani Akbar Hashemi Bahramani (Persian: اکبر هاشمی بهرمانی), famously known as Hashemi Rafsanjani (هاشمی رفسنجانی) (born August 25, 1934) is one of the most influential Iranian politicians, and the Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran. ... Ghorbanali Dori-Najafabadi was the minister of intelligence and security in when some journalists and opponent politicians were killed in Iran by security agents. ... President Mohammad Khatami Hojjat ol-Eslam Seyyed Mohammad Khatami (حجت‌الاسلام سید محمد خاتمی; born October, 1943 in Ardakan, Yazd province) is the fifth and current President of Iran. ...