The article attempts to characterize the modern Iranian elite and consider the features of its formation in comparison with the political and economic elite of the Shah's period. The article describes some religious and political clans that have the greatest influence on the policy of the Islamic state. Key words: Iran, Shiite clergy, power structure, Islamic foundations, clan-bureaucratic economy. THE FEATURES OF FORMATION OF POLITICAL ELITE IN IRAN Nina MAMEDOVA The paper aims to determine the characteristics of the contemporary Iranian elite and examine the particularities of its formation in comparison to the country's elite of the Shah period. A number of religio-political clans that exert a high degree of influence on the Islamic-Republic are described and analyzed in detail. Keywords: Iran, Shiite clergy, power structure, Islamic funds, clan-bureaucratic economy. Relations between secular and religious elites are an important factor in the political development of Islamic States. In Iran, where secular politicians have squeezed out the clergy in all spheres of public and political life since the reign of Reza Shah, these relations have been extremely tense and contradictory. The clergy who initiated the proclamation of Reza Khan as Shah expected that they would have a strong influence on the country's politics, since at the end of the XIX-beginning of the XX century they led almost all significant social and protest movements (for example, the uprising in Tabriz in 1920 under the leadership of Sheikh Khiyabani). Even the outbreak of wars, in particular with Russia in 1826-1928, required the publication of relevant fatwas by the highest Shiite clergy (ayatollahs), i.e. religious justification. The practice of ijtihad (the elaboration of legal norms based on the interpretation of the Koran and Sunnah) in Shiism has never been interrupted, while a significant role in the power structure in Iran and in Shiite communities in other countries was played by Mujahidee ... Read more