Iran Rooznameh Gazette

Iran’s Official Gazette (روزنامه رسمی جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Rooznameh Rasmi) is a publication issued by the government of Iran detailing company formation and change announcements, intellectual property filings, and relevant decrees and legislation.

Of greatest value to due diligence and other investigations are the company announcements, which provide key information such as shareholders, directors, addresses, and other identifiers.

Iran Gazette Announcement Dates

Every Iran gazette filing represents an announcement of a change or decision for a particular company. Each result is a piece of that company’s history over time.

The dates of gazette announcements are represented in the Jalali or Persian calendar, a solar observation-based calendar used in Iran. The months and years shown on these announcements are not comparable to the Gregorian calendar. The entry date, or the day that the announcement was published in the Gazette, typically is written in YYYY/MM/DD format in the Jalali calendar. Sayari Graph automatically parses this date into its own field, labeled “Entry Date,” and converts it to MM/DD/YYYY format in the Gregorian calendar.

Besides the entry date, additional relevant dates often appear throughout the text of the announcement. For example, the meeting date is the date of the actual meeting at which the decisions detailed by the announcement were made. This is usually the first date mentioned in the main text of the announcement. Though it is most often represented in DD/MM/YY format in the Jalali calendar, it can also be written in words, depending on the secretary putting the minutes together. Sayari Graph does not automatically convert dates that appear in the main text of the announcement to the Gregorian calendar.

Titles of Iran Gazette Announcements

The title provides summary information about the announcement to follow. Corporate announcements usually include the type of announcement (e.g. formation, change) and the name of the company with its corporate extension, Registration Number and National ID Number.

For non-Farsi speakers, the table below provides some common terms that indicate the type of announcement:

 

English

Farsi

Definition

Announcement

آگهی

All announcements

Founding

تأسیس

This announcement describes the foundation of a company.

Decisions

تصمیمات

This announcement details decisions that were made at a meeting.

Changes

تغییرات

This announcement details changes that were made at a meeting.

Understanding ID Numbers in Gazette Announcements

The two most common types of identification numbers disclosed in the Gazette for Iranian companies are the Registration Number (شماره ثبت, shomareh sabt) and the National ID Number (شناسه ملی, shenaseh melli). The most common identification number disclosed for natural persons is the National ID Number (شناسه ملی, shenaseh melli).

Registration numbers are unique within—but not across—Iran’s 31 provinces; therefore, multiple different Iranian companies registered in different provinces can have the same registration number. Prior to 1989, this was the primary identification number for Iranian companies. You may see older filings that only disclose this number.

The National ID Number was introduced in 1989 to provide a single national-level unique identifier for legal entities and individuals. It is always 11 digits for entities and 10 digits for individuals. National IDs with the wrong number of digits are usually typos.

ID numbers are an essential tool in researching Iranian companies, since company names can be written differently across different announcements. Use the National ID Number and Registration Number together to confirm the company’s identity. Even without the unique National ID Number,  you can confirm this is the right company using the Registration Number, company name, and individuals listed as control parties. 

For more details on how to interpret and use Iranian identification numbers, see our in-depth article here.

Finding Company Owners and Directors in Gazette Announcements

The Iranian Gazette provides valuable information on owners and directors of both private and public companies. The specific information disclosed depends on the type of company.

 

How to Determine Corporate Type

The three most common types of Iranian companies are public and private joint-stock companies (JSCs) and limited liability companies (LLCs). You can determine the company type by looking at the corporate extension, usually found in the Gazette announcement title, either before or after the company name.

 

Type Corporate Extension Transliteration
Public Joint Stock  سهامی عام Sahami Aam
Private Joint Stock  سهامی خاص Sahami Khass
Limited Liability با مسئولیت محدود Ba Masooliat Mahdood


For more information on these and other less common corporate types, see our article on Company Structures in Iran.

 

Ownership and Control of Iranian Joint-Stock Companies

JSCs are required to disclose board members in the Iranian Gazette. They often, but not always, provide National ID Numbers as well as names.

JSCs are not required to disclose shareholders in the Gazette, but you can still use it to learn about a company’s ownership structure. JSC board members must be elected from amongst the shareholders, so anyone listed as a board member must be a shareholder unless otherwise specified. However, you won’t be able to determine their exact shareholding percentages, and there may be other undisclosed shareholders.

Note that legal entities, not just individuals, can serve as board members. A legal entity elected to the board of another company often will appoint a specific individual as its representative at board meetings. In these cases, the individual is also a member of the board, but only the legal entity is necessarily a shareholder.

 

Ownership and Control of Iranian Limited Liability Companies

LLCs also disclose board members in the Iranian Gazette, but, unlike JSCs, LLC board members are not necessarily shareholders. Sometimes LLCs will disclose shareholders and their shareholding percentages separately.

 

Useful Terms for Non-Persian Speakers:

Key Word Persian Interpretation
Meeting of the Extraordinary General Assembly مجمع عمومی فوق العاده Type of meeting
Meeting of the Ordinary General Assembly مجمع عمومی عادی Type of meeting
Meeting of the Board of Directors مجمع عمومی هیئت مدیره Type of meeting
Date in Announcement Text DD/MM/YY usually preceded by مورخ (dated) DD/MM/YY 
Board of Directors هیئت‌ مدیره Names being appointed to the board of directors
Chairman of the Board رئیس هیئت‌ مدیره Title of member chairman of the board of directors
Vice Chairman of the Board نائب رئیس هیئت Title of member vice chairman of the board of directors
Managing Director مدیرعامل Title of member managing director/CEO
Main Inspector بازرس اصلی
Alternate Inspector بازرس علی البدل Inspector alalbadl
Shareholder(s)/Partner سهام دارندگ(ان) / شرکا *JSC all board members are also shareholders of unspecified amounts.

 

Keep in mind that Persian text is written from right to left, but Persian numbers are written from left to right. See the table below:

 

0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
۰ ۱ ۲ ۳ ۴ ۵ ۶ ۷ ۸ ۹


For example, the national ID number 
10101471388 is written in Persian numerals as:

۱۰۱۰۱۴۷۱۳۸۸

Thanks for Reading!