List of political parties in Iran

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Iran
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Political parties in Iran lists political parties in Iran. Iran is a state with regular presidential and parliamentary elections. The system as a whole is presently is a republic based on Islamic fundamentalists. Local elections have taken place in 1999 and 2003. A limited number of opposition parties are allowed, but are widely considered to have no real chance of gaining power.

[edit] The parties

It is quite difficult to get a clear view on Iranian political parties. The major Political Parties based in Iran seem to be the following:

Executives of Construction Party (Hezb-e Kaargozaaraan-e Saazandegi)
Islamic Iran Participation Front (Jebheye Mosharekate Irane Eslaami)
Islamic Society of Engineers (Jame'e-ye Eslaami-e Mohandesin)
Militant Clergy Association (Jame'e-ye Rowhaniyat-e Mobarez)
Militant Clerics Society (Majma'e Rowhaniyoon-e Mobarez)

Minor parties based in Iran include:

Association of Islamic Revolution Loyalists
E'telaf-e Khedmatgozaran-e Mostaqel-e Iran
Freedom Movement Party (Nehzat-e Azadi) now forbidden
Iranian Nation's Welfare Party
Islamic Coalition Party (Hey'at-haa-ye Mo'talefe)
Islamic Iran Solidarity Party (Hezb-e Hambastegi-e Iran-e Eslami)
Islamic Labour Party
Islam's Students (Daneshmandha-ye Eslam)
Moderation and Development Party (Hezb-e E'tedāl va Towse'e)
Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization (Sāzmān-e Mojāhedin-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi)
National Confidence Party(Hezbe Etemade Melli)
National Religious Forces(Niroohaie Melli Mazhabi)
Society of Forces Following the Line of the Imam
Workers' House (Khane-ye Kaaregar)

[edit] Opposition parties active in exile :

There are roughly 40 "parties" outside Iran which can be divided between 5 ideological branches :

- the Communists

- the Social-Democrats

- the Muslim-Democrats

- the Republican Nationalists

- the Monarchist Nationalists

What is important is that a lot of Iranians don't know the majority of these 40 exiled political parties. The parties known by all Iranians are People's Mujahedin of Iran, the Monarchists, the National Front, the Fadayan-e Khalq and the Tudeh Party (considered by many to be the "true" Communist Party). For example, few Iranians are aware of the existence of the Hekmatist Party although the latter is well active outside Iran. Only 6 parties out of the 40 could be considered powerful, in order :

- the People's Mujahedin of Iran of Maryam Rajavi, (Conservative)

- the Constitutionalist Party of Iran of Reza Pahlavi, (Democrat-Liberal)

- the United Republicans, (Social-Democratic)

- the National Front of Iran, (Center-Left)

- the Organisation of Iranian People's Fedaian (Majority), (Socialist)

- the Hekmatist Party of Koorosh Modaressi (Communist).

Only a union of the six parties cited above could be considered representative of the whole exiled Opposition Parties. There are important individuals with no parties who are also important : Ali Afshari, Amir Abbas Fakhravar or Manucher Mohammadi from the student segment, Mohsen Sazegara, a founder of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Roya Tolouee, a woman activist, Heshmat Raisi, etc.

The rest of the Opposition is insignificant, for example the "Labor Party", or the "Green Party", or the "Liberal Democratic Party", etc, are more very little associations than politial parties. But some are bigger than the other:

- The Tudeh Party and the Komalah, which were important parties in the past, exist in a very anemic state.

- The National Movement of Iranian Resistance of Shahpour Bakhtiar and the PDKI of Abdul Rahman Qasimlo, although prominent parties in the past, have almost been destroyed with the killings of their charismatic leaders by the Islamic Republic.

- The new Marze Por Gohar Party is still too small, too localized and unknown.

There are news that since September 2005 some of these exiled parties who used to be very divided (even among groups of similar philosophies) have begun to unite. Some are creating a parliament in exile : http://www.majleseshora.com/ ; For the first time, a Republican (the spokesman of the National Front of Iran) Parviz Varjavand wrote in an article in august 2006 [[1]] that Democracy is compatible with both a Constitutional Monarchy and a Republic and that the issue is not between Constitutional Monarchy and Republic.

Here are the names and the programs of all known iranian political parties based in exile (Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, and sometimes Turkey, Iraq, Dubai, Israel) :

1) the Communists

There are 18 iranian communist parties. However only three out of them could be considered active, namely the Hekmatist Party, the Organisation of Iranian People's Fedaian (Majority) and the Komalah.

The well-known Communist Party which used to be very powerful. No longer very active.

Tudeh Party of Iran led by Ali Khavari.

http://www.tudehpartyiran.org/

The two splits of the communists who follow the teachings of Mansour Hekmat :

Worker-Communist Party of Iran led by Hamid Taqvaee.

http://www.wpiran.org

Hekmatist Party led by Koorosh Modaressi.

http://www.hekmatist.com

The 6 splits of the Fadaian Party :

Organisation of Iranian People's Fedaian (Majority)

http://www.fadai.org/

Organisation of Fedaian (Minority)

http://www.fadaian-minority.org/

Iranian People's Fadaee Guerrillas

http://www.siahkal.com/

Organisation of Iranian People Fadee Guerillas allied with the Mojaheddin-e Khalq in the National Resistance Council of Iran (NCR).

http://www.fadaian.org/

Iranian fedaian communist league

http://fedayi.org/

Union Of People's Fedaian Of Iran

http://www.etehadefedaian.org/

And the others :

Communist Party of Iran led by Azariyun. Linked with Komalah.

http://www.cpiran.org/

Komalah Communist Party totally composed by kurdish Iranians led by Secretary General Abdollah Mohtadi. Spokesman : Ebrahim Alizadeh

http://www.komalah.org or http://www.komala.org

Communist Party of Iran (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist) Maoist Party previously known as Sarbedaran.

http://www.sarbedaran.org/

Toufan Labor Party of Iran (supporting Enver Hoxha's communism).

http://www.toufan.org/

Ranjbaran-e Iran

http://www.ranjbaran.org/

Socialist Party of Iran

http://www.jonbesh-iran.com/

Organisation of Revolutionary Workers of Iran (Rahe Kargar)

http://www.rahekargar.net/

2) The Social-Democrats

Only the United Republicans could be considered as active.

United Republicans

http://www.jomhouri.com/

Green Party of Iran

http://www.iran-e-sabz.org/

Republicans of the Iran Nation

www.iran-jommelli.com/

Social Democratic Party of Iran led by Jalal Madani.

http://www.spiran.com/

Democrat Party of Iran led by Kaveh Shirzad.

http://www.irandp.org

3) The Muslim-Democrats (Conservatives)

Neither secular nor islamist, whereas they claim to be secular. They are against the application of the Sharia but at the same time oppose everything opposed to the main principles of Islam. Note : they believe in the equality between men and women. Recently opposed terrorism. Used to have an "army" in Iraq. Considered to be the best organized opposition group of Iran.

People's Mujahedin of Iran led by Maryam Rajavi (the sole woman leader of the Opposition).

http://www.mojahedin.org/

4) The Republican Nationalists

Among them, the National Front and the Marze Por Gohar are the most active. The Republican Nationalists have many contacts inside Iran and can be divided between two factions : the historical "Mossadeghists" and the new-born Liberals.

> The "Mossadeghists", united in an organization called "Melliun" [[2]]. They have the particularity of being the only opposition parties to be openly present in Iran (with the Pan-Iranist Party):

National Front Spokesman : Parviz Varjavand (based in Iran)

http://www.jebhemelli.net/ or http://www.jebhemelli.org/ or http://www.jebhe.org/

Iran Party

http://www.melliun.org/hezbeir02.htm or http://www.hezbeiran.persianblog.com/

Iran Nation Party led by Khosrow Seif

http://www.melliun.org/hezbemel02.htm or https://hezbemellateiran.com/

> The Liberals : (they were created after the 1979 Revolution and thus were not present during the Mossadegh era)

Iranian National Secular Party led by Aryo Pirouznia (the newest iranian political party in exile)

???

Marze Por Gohar Party led by Roozbeh Farahanipoor

http://www.marzeporgohar.org

Liberal Democratic Party of Iran

http://www.iranliberal.com/ linked with http://www.liberaldemocrat-ir.net/

Azadegan

http://www.azadeganiran.com/

5) The Monarchist Nationalists

The Constitutionalist Party of Iran (CPI) : the main Monarchist Party led by Darius Homayoun

http://irancpi.net/

Constitutional Movement of Iran-Front Line led by Mehrdad Khonsari

http://www.cmi-fl.com/

Flag of Freedom Organization of Iran led by Manouchehr Ganji. Known in his persian name : Derafshe Kaviyani

http://www.derafsh.org/

Iranian Motherland Party (Mihan Party)

http://www.hezbemihan.org/

Pan-Iranist Party led by Mohsen Pezeshkpour

http://www.paniranist.org/ or http://www.paniranism.org/ or http://www.paniranist.com/

National Movement of Iranian Resistance used to be very active before the assassination of Shahpour Bakhtiar and his Secretary Soroush Katibeh. This Party is a member of the "Melliun".

http://www.melliun.org/nehzatm.htm or http://impact.users.netlink.co.uk/namir/namirm.html

6) Kurdish Parties