[4] Initially, the organization was known as SAVAMA,[5] and intended to replace SAVAK, Iran's intelligence agency during the rule of the Shah, but it is unclear how much continuity there is between the two organizations—while their role is similar, their underlying ideology is radically different.

There were debates about which branch of the state should oversee the new institution, and the other options apart from the presidency were the Judiciary system, the Supreme Leader, and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The ministry was finally founded on 18 August 1983, either abandoning, silently subsuming, or relegating to hidden existence many small intelligence agencies that had been formed in different governmental organizations.

[10] Massoud Molavi Verdanjani, an online opposition activist, was shot and killed on a street in Istanbul's Şişli neighborhood on Thursday, 14 November 2019.

[11][12] On 20 April 2022, According to a statement issued by the semi-official Fars news agency, Iran's intelligence ministry stated it had captured three Mossad spies.