Events in the year 2020 in Iran.

Incumbents Supreme Leader of Iran: Ali Khamenei President of Iran: Hassan Rouhani Chairman of the Parliament: Ali Larijani (until 28 May), Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (from 28 May) Judiciary System of Iran: Ebrahim Raisi

Events January

January 3 – A U.S. coordinated airstrike near Baghdad International Airport kills Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani. January 7 – A stampede at the burial procession of Qasem Soleimani killed at least 56 people and injured over 200. January 8 Ballistic missiles from Iran strike two United States military bases in Iraq. Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashes after being shot down by Iranian missiles near Tehran shortly after take-off with 176 passengers and crew on board. All 176 passengers and crew died. January 9 – A bus crashes in Mazandaran province, killing at least 20 passengers and injuring 24 others. January 11 – the British Ambassador to Iran is arrested and released shortly after. January 12 Hundreds of Iranians attend anti-government protest after government admits shooting down a Ukrainian airplane due to human error.Anti-government protests as Iran admits downing Ukraine plane. Iran admitted on Saturday that 'human error' led to shooting down flight 752, Jan 12, 2020. Kimia Alizadeh, who won a bronze medal in Taekwondo during the 2016 Summer Olympics, has defected to an undisclosed country. It is unclear if she will compete in the 2020 Summer OlympicsIran's only female Olympic medalist appears to defect, criticizes regime By Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 12 Jan 2020 Iran’s Only Female Olympic Medalist Says She Has Permanently Left The Country By Sanjana Karanth, HuffPost, 12 Jan 2020 January 22 Masked gunmen kill local security leader, Abdolhossein Mojaddami, head of a unit of the Revolutionary Guard.Masked gunmen kill local commander of Iran's security forces, Associated Press, January 22, 2020.

February 19 February – The first case of COVID-19 is confirmed in Qom, marking the beginning of the pandemic in the country. 21 February – Scheduled date for the 2020 Iranian legislative election. 23 February – 2020 Khoy earthquake 29 February – 43 people have died and 593 are infected with COVID-19.Iran's coronavirus death toll rises to 43, 593 people infected Reuters, 29 Feb 2020

May 10 May – an anti-ship missile fired from the hit the support vessel , killing 19 and wounding 15 of the crew of the Konarak.

June 25 June – The first of the 2020 Iran explosions occurs 26 June – An explosion occurred at a Shahid Bakeri Industrial Group facility outside of Tehran, which houses the Khojir missile facility.

July 2 July – The Natanz incident occurred, wherein the centrifuge assembly center at the Natanz nuclear site was destroyed.

December 3 December – Iran surpasses 1 million cases of COVID-19.

Deaths

3 January – Qasem Soleimani, 62, major general, commander of the Quds Force (b. 1957) 19 February – Yervand Manaryan, 95, actor (b. 1924) 27 February – Hadi Khosroshahi, 81, cleric and diplomat (b. 1939) 28 February Mahmoud Khayami, 90, industrialist and philanthropist (b. 1930) Malakeh Ranjbar, 81, actress, (b. 1939) 1 March – Siamand Rahman, 31, powerlifter, paralympic champion (b. 1988) 3 March – Ahmad NikTalab, 85, poet, author, and linguistic (b. 1934) 5 March – Hossein Sheikholesam, 67, politician, (b. 1952) 4 March – Eskandar Firouz, 93, environmentalist and politician (b. 1926)Eskandar Firouz, father of Iran’s environment protection, dies at 93 7 March Fatemeh Rahbar, 55, politician, member-elect of the parliament, (b.  1964) Houshang Zarif, 81, tar player, heart failure (b. 1938) 13 March – Nasser Shabani, 62–63, brigadier general, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (b. 1957) 15 March – Mohammad Ami-Tehrani, 84, olympic weightlifter (b. 1935) 16 March – Hashem Bathaie Golpayenagi, 78–79, cleric, member of the Assembly of Experts (b. 1941) Fariborz Raisdana, 75, economist (b. 1948) 19 March – Hamid Kohram, 61–62, politician (b.  1958) 22 March – Behrouz Rahbar, 74, olympic racing cyclist (b. 1945) 23 March – Hassan Akbarzadeh, 93, researcher and mathematician (b. 1927) 24 March – Abbasgholi Daneshvar, 95, physician and surgeon (b. 1925) 25 March – Edman Ayvazyan, 87, painter (b. 1932) Farzaneh Taidi, 74, actress (b. 1945) 27 March – Daniel Gevargiz, 79, olympic weightlifter (b. 1940) 30 March – Kioumars Darembakhsh, 74, writer and photographer (b. 1945) 5 April – Homayoun Khosravi, 66, musician (b. 1953) 11 April – Pari Mansouri, 85, writer and translator (b. 1935) 15 April – Siamak Shayeghi, 65, film director and producer (b. 1954) 24 April – Ebrahim Amini, 94, cleric and politician, member of the Assembly of Experts (b. 1925)Ayatollah Amini passes away at 95 26 April – Abolfazl Salabi, 95, basketball player (b. 1924) 4 May – Najaf Daryabandari, 90, writer (b. 1929) 16 May – Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, 67–6, politician and diplomat (b. 1952)Iran’s OPEC governor Kazempour Ardebili dies of brain hemorrhage 25 May – Sedigheh Kianfar, 87, actress (b. 1933) 5 June – Marjan, 71, singer and actress (b. 1948)Marjan, Iranian actress and singer who became symbol of rebellion, dies at 71 6 June – Mehdi Nikbakht, 40, poet and daf player (b. 1970) 9 June – Parviz Aboutaleb, 77–78, footballer and coach (b. 1942) 14 June – Mohammad-Ali Keshavarz, 90, actor (b. 1930)Actor Mohammad-Ali Keshavarz dies at 90 19 June – Alborz Zarei, 38, climber and environmentalist (b. 1982) 19 June – Gholamreza Mansouri, 54, judge (b. 1966) 27 June – David Stronach, 89, archaeologist of ancient Iran (b. 1931)Scottish archaeologist David Stronach, famed for intensive Iranian studies, dies at 89 1 July – Sirous Gorjestani, 75, actor (b. 1944) 8 July – Houshang Seddigh, 72, pilot and commander of the Air Force (b. 1948) 14 July – Abolghasem Sarhaddizadeh, 75, politician (b. 1945) 18 July – Ali Mirzaei, 91, weightlifter (b. 1929) 18 July – Saeed Ghaemmaghami, 76, journalist (b. 1944) 20 July – Ahmad Pourmokhber, 79, actor (b. 1940) 28 July – Badr al-Zamān Qarīb, 90, linguist (b. 1929) 1 August – Khosrow Sinai, 79, film director (b. 1941)Iranian film director Khosrow Sinai dies of COVID-19 3 August – Mohammad Reza Navaei, 71, wrestler (b. 1948)Ex-Iran wrestler Navaei passes away 7 August – Mahchehreh Khalili, 43, actress (b. 1977) 16 August – Bahman Mofid, 78, actor (b. 1942)“Qeisar” star Bahman Mofid passes on at 78 18 August – Mohammad-Ali Taskhiri, 75, cleric and politician, member of the Assembly of Experts (b. 1944) 25 August – Ruhollah Hosseinian, 64, cleric and politician (b. 1956) 27 August – Siah Armajani, 81, sculptor and architect (b. 1939)Siah Armajani, Ceaselessly Imaginative Artist with a Belief in the Power of Public Art, Is Dead at 81 29 August – Serjik Teymourian, 46, footballer (b. 1974) 31 August – Farhad Ahmadi, 69, architecture (b. 1950) 12 September – Yousef Saanei, 82, cleric (b. 1937) 12 September – Navid Afkari, 26–27, wrestler (b. 1993) 18 September – Talat Basari, 97, writer and academic (b. 1923) 30 September – Abbas Javanmard, 91, actor and director (b. 1928) 1 October – Manouchehr Ashtiani, 89, sociologist (b. 1929) 6 October – Nosratollah Vahdat, 95, actor and director (b. 1925) 8 October – Mohammad Reza Shajarian, 80, singer (b. 1940) 12 October – Sadegh Malek Shahmirzadi, 80, archaeologist (b. 1940) 13 October – Akbar A'lami, 75, TV presenter (b. 1944) 16 October – Gholam-Abbas Tavassoli, 85, sociologist (b. 1935) 18 October – Laleh Bakhtiar, 82, translator (b. 1938) 24 October – Abbas Moayeri, 81, painter (b. 1939) 29 October – Karim Akbari Mobarakeh, 67, actor (b. 1953) 31 October – Jalal Malaksha, 69, poet (b. 1951) 8 November – Heidar Shonjani, 74, swimmer (b. 1945) 10 November – Mahmoud Yavari, 81, football coach (b. 1939) 10 November – Amir Yavari, 88, boxer (b. 1931) 22 November – Changiz Jalilvand, 82, dubler (b. 1938) 24 November – Kambuzia Partovi, 65, film director (b. 1955) 24 November – Mohammad Khadem, 85, wrestler (b. 1935) 27 November – Parviz Poorhosseini, 79, actor (b. 1941) 27 November – Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, 59, physician (b. 1961) 28 November – Mohammad-Ali Shahidi, 71, cleric and politician (b. 1949) 29 November – Ramesh, 74, singer and actress (b. 1946) 1 December – Ali-Asghar Shahbazi, 98, actor (b. 1922) 1 December – Mohammad Maleki, 87, writer and human rights activist (b. 1933) 9 December – Mohammad Yazdi, 89, cleric and politician (b. 1931) 12 December – Ruhollah Zam, 42, journalist (b. 1978)

References