Companies in Iran are registered by the اداره کل ثبت شرکت‌ها و مؤسسات غیرتجاری (Directorate General for the Registration of Companies and Non-Commercial Institutions), a department of the سازمان ثبت اسناد و املاک کشور (State Organization for Registration of Deeds and Properties) which sits under the Judiciary rather than under a ministry. Registration is filed electronically through the سامانه جامع ثبت شرکت‌ها (Comprehensive Company Registration System) and becomes legally effective on publication in the روزنامه رسمی (Official Gazette). Individual traders are not entered in this register at all: they hold a guild licence issued through a separate system run by the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade.

The official company register in Iran

The register of legal persons is kept by the اداره کل ثبت شرکت‌ها و مؤسسات غیرتجاری (Directorate General for the Registration of Companies and Non-Commercial Institutions) within the سازمان ثبت اسناد و املاک کشور (State Organization for Registration of Deeds and Properties). Its institutional site is sherkat.ssaa.ir and all filings — incorporation, amendments, minutes of general meetings, dissolution — are submitted through the سامانه جامع ثبت شرکت‌ها (Comprehensive Company Registration System) at irsherkat.ssaa.ir.

Two further national systems belong to the same register. The سامانه جامع پایگاه اطلاعات اشخاص حقوقی (Comprehensive Database of Legal Persons) at ilenc.ssaa.ir assigns and publishes the شناسه ملی اشخاص حقوقی (national identification number of legal persons), the eleven-digit code by which every Iranian legal entity is identified in tax, banking and customs records. The روزنامه رسمی جمهوری اسلامی ایران (Official Gazette of the Islamic Republic of Iran) at rrk.ir publishes the آگهی تأسیس (notice of incorporation) and every آگهی تغییرات (notice of changes); publication, not filing, is what makes a change effective against third parties.

Iran therefore keeps separate registers for legal entities and for individual entrepreneurs. A natural person trading on his own account does not appear in the companies register. Instead he obtains a پروانه کسب (guild or business licence) from the competent اتحادیه صنفی (trade guild) under the قانون نظام صنفی کشور (Guild System Act), and that licence is recorded in the national guild services system at iranianasnaf.ir, operated under the وزارت صنعت، معدن و تجارت (Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade), which also offers a public استعلام پروانه کسب (business licence inquiry).

There is also a second, territorial layer. Companies established inside the مناطق آزاد تجاری-صناعتی (free trade-industrial zones) — such as Kish, Qeshm and Chabahar — are not registered by the State Organization but by the واحد ثبت شرکت‌ها و مالکیت‌های صنعتی و معنوی (Companies and Industrial and Intellectual Property Registration Unit) of the relevant free zone authority, under a separate set of registration rules that permits full foreign ownership. A zone company appears in that zone’s register, not in the national one, which is a frequent source of confusion in due diligence.

Legal forms that can be registered in Iran

The قانون تجارت (Commercial Code) lists seven types of commercial company in its Article 20, and the لایحه قانونی اصلاح قسمتی از قانون تجارت (Legal Bill Amending Part of the Commercial Code) of 1347 divided the joint stock company into public and private versions. The full list of forms that can be registered is as follows.

Commercial companies under the Commercial Code:

  • شرکت سهامی عام (Public Joint Stock Company) — capital divided into transferable shares which may be offered to the public; requires a minimum number of founders and a statutory minimum capital, a board of directors and statutory inspectors. The form used by listed and large companies.
  • شرکت سهامی خاص (Private Joint Stock Company) — the same share-based structure but without any public offering; a smaller minimum number of shareholders and lower minimum capital. Widely used for medium-sized business and joint ventures.
  • شرکت با مسئولیت محدود (Limited Liability Company) — capital divided into سهم‌الشرکه (participation interests) which are not freely negotiable; partners are liable only up to their contribution and transfers require the consent of the other partners. The most common Iranian corporate form.
  • شرکت تضامنی (General Partnership) — all partners are jointly and severally liable without limit for the partnership’s debts; used where personal standing matters more than capital.
  • شرکت نسبی (Proportional Liability Partnership) — partners are liable for the debts in proportion to their share of the capital rather than jointly for the whole.
  • شرکت مختلط غیر سهامی (Mixed Partnership not Divided into Shares) — combines at least one general partner with unlimited liability who manages the business and one or more limited partners whose liability is capped at their contribution.
  • شرکت مختلط سهامی (Mixed Joint Stock Partnership) — one or more general partners with unlimited liability alongside shareholders whose liability is limited to their shares.
  • شرکت تعاونی تولید و مصرف (Production and Consumption Cooperative Company) — the cooperative form named in the Commercial Code, in which members are both owners and users of the enterprise.

Other entities registered by the same office:

  • مؤسسه غیرتجاری (Non-Commercial Institution) — a legal person whose object is not trade; registered in either an انتفاعی (profit-seeking) or غیرانتفاعی (non-profit) variant and used for professional practices, cultural, scientific and charitable activity.
  • شرکت تعاونی (Cooperative Company) — formed under the قانون بخش تعاونی اقتصاد جمهوری اسلامی ایران (Law on the Cooperative Sector of the Economy of the Islamic Republic of Iran); it requires the prior approval of the وزارت تعاون، کار و رفاه اجتماعی (Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare) before it can be entered in the register.
  • شرکت دولتی (State-Owned Company) — an enterprise established by or under statute with state capital, registered in the joint stock form.
  • شعبه شرکت خارجی (Branch of a Foreign Company) — a dependent establishment of a foreign company permitted under the قانون اجازه ثبت شعبه یا نمایندگی شرکت‌های خارجی (Law Permitting the Registration of Branches or Representative Offices of Foreign Companies); it carries on the parent’s business in Iran in the parent’s name and at the parent’s risk.
  • نمایندگی شرکت خارجی (Representative Office of a Foreign Company) — a person or entity acting for a foreign company under the same law, typically for marketing, after-sales service and contract preparation.

Registered outside the companies register:

  • شخص حقیقی با پروانه کسب (Individual trader holding a guild licence) — a natural person trading in his own name, personally liable without limit, licensed by his trade guild rather than registered as a company.
  • Free zone company — any of the corporate forms above may also be established inside a free trade-industrial zone, where it is registered by the zone’s own registration unit under the zone rules.

Information available from the register

The Comprehensive Company Registration System publishes a public company information search, so the existence and identity of a registered entity can be verified without an account. The core public data set comprises the registered name, the شماره ثبت (registration number), the شناسه ملی (national identification number of the legal person), the legal form, the date of registration, the registered office and its province, the موضوع فعالیت (declared objects), the capital, and the current status of the entity — active, dissolved or in liquidation.

The substantive corporate history is public through the Official Gazette. The آگهی تأسیس sets out the founders, the initial capital, the objects, the first directors and inspectors and the signing authority; every later آگهی تغییرات records changes of directors, of signature rights, of address, of name, of objects, of capital, and the opening of liquidation. Because Iranian practice treats the Gazette notice as the authoritative public statement of who may bind a company, the notice on signing authority (حق امضا) is the single most requested item in Iranian corporate due diligence.

The national identification number of legal persons can be verified independently through the Comprehensive Database of Legal Persons, which matches the entity name, national ID and registration particulars — the standard first step before contracting with an Iranian counterparty.

For companies admitted to the securities market, disclosure is far wider: the سازمان بورس و اوراق بهادار (Securities and Exchange Organization) operates the سامانه جامع اطلاع‌رسانی ناشران (Comprehensive Issuer Disclosure System) at codal.ir, which publishes audited and interim financial statements, monthly activity reports, board and general meeting decisions, dividend notices and material contracts.

What the register does not disclose

Accounts are not filed. An ordinary Iranian company does not lodge annual financial statements with the companies register, so there is no public filing history of accounts; financial data are public only for issuers on the securities market, through Codal.

There is no public register of beneficial owners. The founders and, for a limited liability company, the partners and their participation interests are recorded at incorporation and appear in the Gazette notice, but subsequent transfers of shares in a private joint stock company are entered in the company’s own share register and are not systematically published. Nominee and layered holdings are therefore not resolvable from the register alone.

Personal identifiers of shareholders and directors are shown only in the abbreviated form used in Gazette notices, and the full پرونده ثبتی (registration file) is not an open download: copies are obtained from the registration office by the entity itself or by a person able to show a legal interest. Several of the ministry portals also require an Iranian authentication credential for anything beyond public search, and international access to these portals is often restricted, which limits verification from abroad.

Documents that can be obtained from the register

  • آگهی تأسیس (Notice of Incorporation) — the Official Gazette notice recording the company’s name, registration number, national ID, objects, capital, first officers, signing authority and registered office. In practice this is the Iranian certificate of incorporation.
  • آگهی تغییرات (Notice of Changes) — the Gazette notice for each amendment: new directors, new signature rights, change of name, objects, address or capital, and entry into liquidation. Used to establish the chain of authority over time.
  • اساسنامه (Articles of Association) — the constitution of the company, setting out organs, decision thresholds, financial year, transfer rules and dissolution. Required to verify whether an act was within a director’s powers.
  • اظهارنامه ثبت شرکت (Company Registration Declaration) — the founding declaration of a joint stock company, listing subscribers, shares taken up and payments made.
  • شرکتنامه (Partnership Deed) — for a limited liability company and the partnership forms, the official instrument naming the partners and the size of each participation interest; the primary evidence of ownership in an Iranian limited liability company.
  • تقاضانامه (Registration Petition) — the formal application on which the registration was granted, containing the particulars submitted to the registrar.
  • صورتجلسه مجمع عمومی و هیئت مدیره (Minutes of the General Meeting and of the Board) — the filed minutes underlying each registered change, showing quorum, votes and the resolution actually adopted.
  • رونوشت مصدق سند ثبتی (Certified Copy of the Registration Record) — an authenticated extract of the registration file, issued by the registration office for use before courts, banks and foreign authorities.
  • گواهی شناسه ملی (National Identification Number Certificate) — confirmation of the eleven-digit identifier of the legal person, used in tax, customs and banking procedures.
  • تأییدیه نام (Name Approval) — the registrar’s confirmation that a proposed company name has been reserved and is not confusingly similar to an existing one.
  • صورت‌های مالی حسابرسی‌شده (Audited Financial Statements) — available for securities-market issuers only, through the Comprehensive Issuer Disclosure System rather than from the companies register.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the official business register in Iran?

It is the register kept by the اداره کل ثبت شرکت‌ها و مؤسسات غیرتجاری (Directorate General for the Registration of Companies and Non-Commercial Institutions) of the سازمان ثبت اسناد و املاک کشور (State Organization for Registration of Deeds and Properties), filed through the Comprehensive Company Registration System at irsherkat.ssaa.ir and published in the Official Gazette.

Which authority does the Iranian company register belong to?

Unusually, to the judicial branch. The State Organization for Registration of Deeds and Properties operates under the Judiciary, not under a ministry of justice or commerce, and registration of companies is one of its statutory functions alongside land and deeds registration.

What is the شناسه ملی of an Iranian company?

It is the national identification number of a legal person: an eleven-digit code assigned to every registered Iranian entity and used across tax, banking, customs and procurement systems. It can be verified through the Comprehensive Database of Legal Persons at ilenc.ssaa.ir.

Are the financial statements of Iranian companies public?

Only for companies on the securities market. Ordinary companies do not file accounts with the register; issuers publish audited and interim statements through the Comprehensive Issuer Disclosure System of the Securities and Exchange Organization at codal.ir.

Do sole traders appear in the Iranian company register?

No. A natural person trading on his own account is licensed by his trade guild under the Guild System Act and recorded in the national guild services system at iranianasnaf.ir; only legal persons are entered in the companies register.

Are free zone companies in the national register?

No. A company established in a free trade-industrial zone is registered by that zone’s own companies registration unit under the free zone registration rules, so it will not be found in the mainland register maintained by the State Organization.

Sources

  • سازمان ثبت اسناد و املاک کشور (State Organization for Registration of Deeds and Properties) — https://ssaa.ir/
  • اداره کل ثبت شرکت‌ها و مؤسسات غیرتجاری (Directorate General for the Registration of Companies and Non-Commercial Institutions) — https://sherkat.ssaa.ir/
  • سامانه جامع ثبت شرکت‌ها (Comprehensive Company Registration System) — https://irsherkat.ssaa.ir/
  • سامانه جامع پایگاه اطلاعات اشخاص حقوقی (Comprehensive Database of Legal Persons, national ID of legal persons) — https://ilenc.ssaa.ir/
  • روزنامه رسمی جمهوری اسلامی ایران (Official Gazette of the Islamic Republic of Iran) — https://www.rrk.ir/
  • قانون تجارت (Commercial Code), Islamic Parliament Research Center — https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/92349
  • لایحه قانونی اصلاح قسمتی از قانون تجارت (Legal Bill Amending Part of the Commercial Code, joint stock companies) — https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/96314
  • قانون راجع به ثبت شرکت‌ها (Law on the Registration of Companies) — https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/97737
  • قانون اجازه ثبت شعبه یا نمایندگی شرکت‌های خارجی (Law Permitting Registration of Branches or Representative Offices of Foreign Companies) — https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/93015
  • قانون بخش تعاونی اقتصاد جمهوری اسلامی ایران (Law on the Cooperative Sector of the Economy) — https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/91933
  • ضوابط ثبت شرکت‌ها و مالکیت‌های صنعتی و معنوی در مناطق آزاد تجاری-صناعتی (Rules on registration of companies and industrial and intellectual property in free trade-industrial zones) — https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/116068
  • قانون نظام صنفی کشور (Guild System Act) — https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/94011
  • سامانه ایرانیان اصناف (National guild services system), وزارت صنعت، معدن و تجارت — https://iranianasnaf.ir/
  • سامانه جامع اطلاع‌رسانی ناشران کدال (Codal issuer disclosure system), سازمان بورس و اوراق بهادار — https://www.codal.ir/

Keywords

business register Iran, company registry Iran, ثبت شرکت, State Organization for Registration of Deeds and Properties, irsherkat ssaa, national ID of legal persons Iran, legal forms Iran, joint stock company Iran, limited liability company Iran, company documents Iran, Official Gazette Iran, free zone company registration Iran