List of Famous people born in Iran

Mohsen Makhmalbaf is an Iranian film director, writer, film editor, and producer. He has made more than 20 feature films, won some 50 awards and been a juror in more than 15 major film festivals. His award-winning films include Kandahar; his latest documentary is The Gardener and latest feature The President.

Prince Khosrow Mirza (1811–1883), Persian Prince of Qajar Dynasty, was the 7th son of Abbas Mirza and brother of Djahangir Mirza.

Leila Hatami is an Iranian actress. She is known for her work in Iranian cinema, including her performance in the Academy Award-winning film A Separation, for which she won the Silver Bear Award for Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival.

David II also known as Imām Qulī Khān, of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was a king of Kakheti in eastern Georgia from 1709 to 1722. Although a Muslim and a loyal vassal of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, he failed to ensure his kingdom’s security and most of his reign was marked by Lekianoba - incessant inroads by the Dagestani mountainous clansmen.

Sayyid Ahmad Khomeini was the younger son of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and father of Hassan Khomeini. He was the "right-hand" of his father before, during and after the Iranian Revolution. He was a link between Ruhollah Khomeini and officials and people. He had several decision-making positions.

Shaykh Haydar or Sheikh Haydar was the successor of his father as leader of the Safavid order from 1460-1488. Haydar maintained the policies and political ambitions initiated by his father. Under Sheikh Haydar, the order became crystallized as a political movement with an increasingly extremist heterodox Twelver Shi'i coloring and Haydar was viewed as a divine figure by his followers. Shaykh Haydar was responsible for instructing his followers to adopt the scarlet headgear of 12 gores commemorating The Twelve Imams, which led to them being designated by the Turkish term Qizilbash "Red Head".

Mohammad Karim Khan Zand was the founder of the Zand Dynasty, ruling from 1751 to 1779. He ruled all of Iran (Persia) except for Khorasan. He also ruled over some of the Caucasian lands and occupied Basra for some years.

Khayr al-Nisa Begum was an Iranian Mazandarani princess from the Marashi dynasty, who was the wife of the Safavid shah (king) Mohammad Khodabanda and mother of Abbas I. During the early part of her husband's reign she was a powerful political figure in her own right and governed Iran de facto between February 1578 and July 1579.

Malek Jahan Khanom was the wife of Mohammad Shah Qajar of Persia and the mother of Naser al-Din Shah. She was the de facto regent of Persian Empire for one month, from 5 September until 5 October in 1848, between the death of her husband and the accession to the throne of her son.

Mohammad Hassan Mirza Qajar was the brother of Ahmad Shah Qajar of Iran, and former Crown Prince of the Qajar dynasty. Soon after Reza Shah deposed the Qajar dynasty and made himself Shah of Iran in 1925, Prince Mohammad Hassan and his family were sent into permanent exile to England. In 1930, he declared himself the rightful heir to the crown as pretender to the throne. He died on 7 January 1943 in Maidenhead, England and was buried in Kerbala, Iraq.