All 195 countries · Southern Asia

Iran

91.6 million people

Iran requires a smart national card from age 15 and is the only country in this group with a public digital currency pilot, the digital rial. Iran abstained on the WHO Pandemic Agreement in May 2025.

+1Sovereignty scorePushing backHow it adds up ↓

Digital ID · Goal 16.9

Digital ID in Iran

Program
Smart national card
Status
Not confirmed
National ID card
ID card compulsory
Biometrics
Not confirmed

Issuance of the smart card began in 2015 and stalled because of sanctions-related shortages. Citizens aged 15 and older must apply. Expired cards were extended to 20 March 2027. The card was planned to replace bank debit cards from August 2023. No official source was reached.

Digital money · Goal 8.10

Central bank digital currency

Status
Pilot
Name
Digital rial

The pilot started on 12 September 2022 with two stores and limited users on a Hyperledger Fabric platform. In November 2024 the governor said a launch for everyone was planned. The tracker says it is unclear whether the central bank can legally launch it publicly.

On the record

What has happened, newest first

  1. 2025-05-20Pushback

    Iran abstained when the WHO Pandemic Agreement was adopted at the World Health Assembly. Third World Network — Pandemic Agreement vote ↗

  2. 2024-11Rolling it out

    The central bank governor confirmed plans to launch the CBDC for everyone. Human Rights Foundation CBDC Tracker — Iran ↗

UN and WHO

How Iran has voted

WHO
Rejected the 2024 rule changes
Pandemic Agreement (May 2025)
Abstained
Migration compact (Dec 2018)
Voted yes
Paris climate deal
Signed, not ratified
SDG Index 2026
68.8 · rank 89 of 169
Progress reports to the UN (VNRs)
0

Rejected 2024 IHR amendments in March 2026. Abstained on Pandemic Agreement; Paris Agreement signatory, not ratified.

Sovereignty score

How the +1 adds up

  • +1Rejected the WHO's 2024 health-rule changes source ↗
  • +1Abstained on the WHO Pandemic Agreement (May 2025) source ↗
  • -1Running a CBDC pilot source ↗

Points come only from public, sourced actions we track, scored the same way for every country. It isn't a grade of a whole government. How scoring works →

Nobody runs this from the top

Start a group in Iran

A free, self-run kit: your first meeting, your first 30 days, ten campaigns and copy-ready letters. Bring this page to your first meeting.

Open the free kit →

Country research checked Oct 2026. Tracker data checked 11 Oct 2026. Every claim links to its source.