The story: Iran is considering scrapping a legal requirement that its intelligence minister be qualified in Islamic jurisprudence. The condition has been in place for four decades and led to one of the country’s most powerful spy organizations being led by clerics. The possible removal of the requirement could open up a key security position to non-clerical candidates.

Observers say the bigger picture is the potential opening of wider debate on the role of clergymen within the state. Such a development would reflect major change following the demise of former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The coverage: Abbas Goudarzi, a spokesman for the parliament's presiding board, said on Aug. 16 that the government had been given 45 days from Aug. 20 to nominate candidates for the defense and intelligence ministries.

  • The senior lawmaker said an idea had been raised to remove the requirement for the intelligence minister to be an Islamic jurist, or mujtahid, able to engage in ijtihad—the capability to deduce new rules from existing laws.

  • Goudarzi said such a proposal would require an amendment to existing legislation and that the government was expected to submit a bill to the parliament.

Raising eyebrows, a conservative former chief of the state broadcaster has publicly welcomed the prospect of removing the requirement.

  • "The introduction of the intelligence minister has taken too long," Ezzatollah Zarqami wrote on Twitter/X. "I hope the requirement of ijtihad for this post is removed soon so that we do not suffer from a shortage of capable people."

  • Zarqami went further, questioning whether having a mujtahid at the head of the ministry prevented a slew of intelligence failures that Iran has suffered in recent years, including the assassination of nuclear scientists.

  • The comments by the conservative figure appeared to link the debate over the intelligence minister's qualifications to broader concerns about the performance of Iran's security services.

Fariborz Kalantari, an Iranian journalist known for his reporting on corruption cases, argued that the intelligence ministry’s problems will not be resolved by keeping or dropping the scholarly religious requirements for its director.

  • “An entity with this much power, reach and impunity cannot have oversight on itself,” Kalantari wrote on X, adding that an independent body needs to be able to hold the ministry accountable. Of note, the intelligence minister must formally be confirmed by the legislature, and at least theoretically can be impeached by lawmakers.

Meanwhile, the discussion surrounding clerical qualifications has expanded beyond the intelligence ministry to include recent reshuffles within Iran's judicial system. Following new judiciary appointments on Aug. 19, commentary mounted over the broader reliance on non-clerical figures in state positions.

  • Conservative commentator Hamed Aqel framed the debate as a potential turning point for the Islamic Republic, connecting the possible removal of the ijtihad rule for the intelligence minister with non-clerical appointments in the judiciary.

  • "The likelihood that the requirement of ijtihad for choosing the intelligence minister will be removed, along with the appointment of non-clerical figures in today’s judiciary reshuffle, marks the Islamic Republic’s first major step toward fundamental changes," Aqel noted.

  • Reformist politician Mohammad Ali Abtahi—a former vice president and himself a cleric—took a more critical stance toward the historical over-representation of clerics in judicial positions that do not legally demand religious scholarship.

  • "Given the changes in the judiciary, one question arises: Why were clerical figures appointed from the very beginning to judiciary positions that do not require ijtihad?" Abtahi posted on X. He added that In judicial matters that deal directly with the public and their problems, “The fewer clerics there are, the better the dignity of the clergy is preserved.”

The context/analysis: The proposal for change at the top of the intelligence ministry comes as Iran searches for a permanent successor to Esmail Khatib, who was killed on Mar. 17 during the war with Israel and the US.

  • Reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian appointed an acting intelligence minister on Mar. 22 but he has not been publicly named, likely for security reasons.

  • The minister is the intelligence ministry's highest political and executive authority, sitting on the cabinet and the Supreme National Security Council, while also heading the Coordination Council of Intelligence Agencies.

Under a 1984 law, the intelligence minister must have an education equivalent to the level of ijtihad, a reputation for justice and piety, a sound political and managerial record as well as no affiliation with political parties or groups.

  • The president nominates the intelligence minister in coordination with, and with the approval of, the supreme leader. The selection is normally made before the nominee must secure a vote of confidence in the parliament.

The current requirement for intelligence ministers to be mujtahids is intended to give their orders a particular legitimacy and weight.

  • In addition to their administrative significance, the minister's signed orders could, in a sense, carry the character of a religious ruling.

  • The rationale has been that an intelligence minister qualified in ijtihad—the ability to deduce new rules—would be less likely to make errors or deviate from Islamic principles in his management and religious judgments.

The argument for dropping clerical management of the intelligence ministry is not entirely new. Critics increasingly argue that requiring advanced religious qualifications unnecessarily limits the pool of potential candidates for a job that demands specialized intelligence and security expertise.

  • In January this year, former lawmaker Mansour Haqiqatpour said the requirement effectively prevented the government from choosing people with professional backgrounds in the security sector.

  • "When we require the intelligence minister to be a cleric, we effectively tie our own hands when it comes to choosing specialized and professional people in the field of security," Haqiqatpour said. The ex-MP’s proposed solution was to appoint a non-clerical security professional as minister while assigning a representative of the supreme leader to the ministry to deal with religious questions.

  • Following the July 2024 assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Hesamoddin Ashna, a former senior advisor to moderate ex-president Hassan Rouhani (2013-21), argued that ijtihad was neither necessary nor sufficient for an intelligence minister and called for the requirement to be removed.

The future: The proposed change at the intelligence ministry would represent more than a technical amendment to the required qualifications for a key cabinet post.

  • Such a change could mark a shift in how Iran views the balance between religious authority and professional expertise in the leadership of its intelligence apparatus. More broadly, broader debate on the role of clergymen within the state apparatus could be initiated, marking a shift after Israel’s killing of Ali Khamenei in the opening strikes of the Israeli-US war on Iran in late February.

  • At the same time, removing the mujtahid requirement would not fundamentally alter the political chain of authority over the intelligence ministry. The minister would still be nominated by the president in coordination with the supreme leader and require parliamentary confirmation.