List of political parties in Iran
(Redirected from Political parties in Iran)
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| Government of Iran • Constitution of Iran |
This article lists political parties in Iran.
The course of faction and party relations
[edit]Current composition
[edit]Major factions
[edit]| Faction | Ideology | Year founded |
Political position |
2024 presidential election |
Legislators | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parliament | Assembly of Experts |
Expediency Discernment Council | ||||||
| Reformists | Islamic democracy[1] Republicanism[2] |
1997 | Centre[5] to centre-left[8][a] |
16,384,403 (54.8%) | 43 / 290 |
1 / 88 |
7 / 48 | |
| Principlists | Islamic fundamentalism Conservatism (Iranian)[11] |
Right-wing[15] to far-right[21] |
13,538,179 (45.2%) | 198 / 290 |
59 / 88 |
38 / 48 | ||
Parties active inside Iran
[edit]Parliament members
[edit]| Party | Founded | Leader | Faction | Political position | Parliament | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coalition Council of Islamic Revolution Forces شورای ائتلاف نیروهای انقلاب اسلامی |
2019 | Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel | Principlists | Right-wing to far-right | 106 / 290 | ||
| Front of Islamic Revolution Stability جبههٔ پایداری انقلاب اسلامی |
2011 | Sadegh Mahsouli | Principlists | Far-right | 79 / 290 | ||
| Voice of the Nation ائتلاف صدای ملت |
2012 | Ali Motahari | Reformists | Centre | 43 / 290 | ||
| Combatant Clergy Association جامعه روحانیت مبارز |
1977 | Mostafa Pourmohammadi | Principlists | Right-wing | 13 / 290 | ||
| Independent politicians | 44 / 290 | ||||||
| Vacant | 5 / 290 | ||||||
Principlists
[edit]Main active parties
[edit]| Party | Founded | Secretary-General | Ideology | Political position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combatant Clergy Association جامعه روحانیت مبارز |
1977 | Mostafa Pourmohammadi | Khomeinism | Right-wing | |
| Front of Islamic Revolution Stability جبههٔ پایداری انقلاب اسلامی |
2011 | Sadegh Mahsouli | Islamic fundamentalism | Far-right | |
| Islamic Coalition Party حزب مؤتلفه اسلامی |
1963 | Asadollah Badamchian | Conservatism (Iranian) | Right-wing to far-right | |
| Society of Devotees of the Islamic Revolution جمعیت ایثارگران انقلاب اسلامی |
1997 | Mohammad Javad Ameri | Conservatism (Iranian) | Right-wing | |
| Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom جامعهٔ مدرسین حوزهٔ علمیهٔ قم |
1961 | Hashem Hosseini Bushehri | Khomeinism Ja'fari jurisprudence |
Right-wing | |
| YEKTA Front جبهه یکتا |
2015 | Hamid-Reza Haji Babaee | Far-right | ||
Other parties
[edit]| Party | Secretary-General |
|---|---|
| Islamic Society of Engineers | Mohammad-Reza Bahonar |
| Society of Pathseekers of the Islamic Revolution | Malek Shariati |
| Islamic Association of Physicians | Hossein Ali Shahriari |
| Islamic Society of Employees | Kamal Sajjadi |
| Islamic Society of Athletes | Hassan Ghafourifard |
| Zeynab Society | Azam Haji-Abbasi |
| Association of Islamic Revolution Loyalists | Hassan Ghafourifard |
| Fadayeen of Islam Society | Mohammad-Mehdi Abdekhodaei |
| Development and Justice Party | Mehdi Vakilpour |
| Green Party | Hossein Kanani Moghaddam |
| Progress and Justice Population of Islamic Iran | Mohammad Saeed Ahadian |
| Modern Thinkers Party of Islamic Iran | Amir Mohebbian |
| Islamic Iran Freedom Party[22] | Issa Kakoui |
Reformists
[edit]Main active parties
[edit]| Party | Founded | Secretary-General | Ideology | Political position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Association of Combatant Clerics مجمع روحانیون مبارز |
1988 | Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha | Islamic liberalism | Centre to centre-left | |
| Islamic Labour Party حزب اسلامی کار |
1998 | Hossein Kamali | Islamic democracy Islamic socialism |
Centre-left | |
| Executives of Construction Party حزب کارگزاران سازندگی ایران |
1996 | Hossein Marashi | Economic liberalism Technocracy |
Centre-right | |
| National Trust Party حزب اعتماد ملی |
2005 | Elias Hazrati | Populism | Centre-left | |
| Union of Islamic Iran People Party حزب اتحاد ملت ایران اسلامی |
2015 | Azar Mansouri | Islamic liberalism Liberalism (Iranian) |
Centre-left | |
| NEDA Party نسل دوم اصلاحات |
2014 | Shahabeddin Tabatabaei | Social democracy | Centre-left | |
| Moderation and Development Party حزب اعتدال و توسعه |
1999 | Hassan Rouhani | Pragmatism | Centre | |
Other parties
[edit]Banned parties
[edit]| Party | Secretary-General |
|---|---|
| Islamic Iran Participation Front | Mohsen Mirdamadi |
| Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution of Iran Organization | Mohammad Salamati |
| The Green Path of Hope | None |
Outlawed parties tolerated inside Iran
[edit]| Party | Ideology | Religion | Secretary-General |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Front | Nationalism | Secular | Seyed Hossein Mousavian |
| Iran Party (member of the National Front) | Nationalism | Secular | The party is managed by its central committee[23][24] |
| Party of the Iranian People (member of the National Front) | Left-wing nationalism | Islamic | Mohammadsadeh Maserrat |
| Pan-Iranist Party | Pan-Iranism | Secular | Zahra Gholamipour |
| Nation Party | Pan-Iranism | Secular | Khosrow Seif |
| Movement of Militant Muslims | Socialism | Islamic | Habibollah Peyman |
| Council of Nationalist-Religious Activists | Nationalism | Islamic | None |
| Freedom Movement of Iran | Nationalism | Islamic | Mohammad Tavasoli |
Opposition parties active in exile
[edit]The main Iranian opposition parties can be broadly grouped as follows: on the liberal-democratic side, the Constitutionalist Party of Iran; on the secular-religious (or Muslim democratic) side, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran; on the leftist side, the Left Party of Iran; and on the ethnic (Kurdish) side, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan.
Constitutional monarchists/liberal democratic parties
[edit]All constitutional monarchist organizations are secular and support restoring the Pahlavi dynasty:
| Party | Leader | Base |
|---|---|---|
| Constitutionalist Party of Iran – Liberal Democrat | Foad Pashaie |  United States |
| Iran-Novin Party | Dr. Hamed Sheibanyrad |  France |
| Iranian Secular Democratic Party | Esmail Nooriala | United States |
Ethnic-based parties
[edit]| Party | Ethnicity | Leader | Base |
|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan | Kurdish | Mustafa Hijri |  Iraq |
| Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan | Abdullah Mohtadi | ||
| Komalah Organization of the Communist Party of Iran | Ibrahim Alizade | ||
| Komala - Reform Faction | Omar Ilkhanizade | ||
| Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan - Reunification Faction | Abdulla Konaposhi | ||
| Kurdistan Freedom Party | Hussein Yazdanpanah | ||
| Organization of Iranian Kurdistan Struggle | Baba Sheikh Hosseini | ||
| Kurdistan Free Life Party | Siamand Moini and Zîlan Vejîn |  Turkey | |
| Qashqai freedom path party | Qashqai | Ruhollah moradi qashqai |  Switzerland |
| Lorestan Party of Iran | Lurs | Faramarz Bakhtiar |  Germany |
| Southern Azerbaijan National Awakening Movement | Azeri | Mahmudali Chehregani |  Azerbaijan |
| Azerbaijan National Resistance Organization | Unknown | ||
| South Azerbaijan National Liberation Movement | Piruz Dilanchi |
Muslim Democrats
[edit]| Party | Leader | Base |
|---|---|---|
| People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran | Maryam Rajavi | France Albania |
Socialists and Communists
[edit]| Party | Leader | Base |
|---|---|---|
| Tudeh Party of Iran | Mohammad Omidvar | Germany United Kingdom |
| Communist Party of Iran | Unknown | Unknown |
| Communist Party of Iran (Marxist–Leninist–Maoist) | Unknown | Unknown |
| Laborers' Party of Iran | Unknown |  Sweden |
| Labour Party of Iran (Toufan) | Unknown | Germany |
| Worker-communist Party of Iran | Hamid Taqvaee | |
| Worker-communist Party of Iran – Hekmatist | Rahman Hosseinzadeh | Sweden |
| Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas | Ashraf Dehghani | United Kingdom |
| The Organization of People's Fadaian of Iran(Majority) | Tahmaseb Vaziri | Germany |
| Fedaian Organisation – Minority | Akbar Kamyabi |  Netherlands |
| Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas – Identity[citation needed] | Mehdi Same | France |
| Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas[citation needed] | Hossein Zohari | Germany |
| Worker's Way | Unknown | |
| Socialist Workers' Party of Iran | Unknown | United Kingdom |
Social Democrats
[edit]| Party | Leader | Base |
|---|---|---|
| Left Party of Iran | Behrouz Khaliq | Germany |
| Green Party of Iran | Kazem Moussavi | |
| Social Democratic and Laïc Party of Iran | Farhang Ghasemi | France |
List of parties by political position
[edit]Political position key
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ↑ Factions:
Centre-right[9] or left-wing[10]
References
[edit]- ↑ Ahmad Ashraf and Ali Banuazizi (2001), "Iran's Tortuous Path Toward "Islamic Liberalism"", International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, 15 (2): 237–256, doi:10.1023/A:1012921001777, S2CID 141387320
- ↑ Mohseni, Payam (2016). "Factionalism, Privatization, and the Political economy of regime transformation". In Brumberg, Daniel; Farhi, Farideh (eds.). Power and Change in Iran: Politics of Contention and Conciliation. Indiana Series in Middle East Studies. Indiana University Press. pp. 201–204.
- ↑ Marianna Charountaki, ed. (March 30, 2018). Iran and Turkey: International and Regional Engagement in the Middle East. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78673-380-1.
- 1 2 Ali M. Ansari, ed. (May 15, 2019). Iran, Islam and Democracy: The Politics of Managing Change. Gingko. ISBN 978-1-909942-95-0.
Many of the reformist groups which occupied the centre and centre-left of the political spectrum were no less surprised than their opponents by the scale of their victory.
- ↑ [3][4]
- ↑ Barry Eidlin; Michael A. McCarthy, eds. (September 30, 2020). Rethinking Class and Social Difference. Emerald Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-83982-022-9.
The center-left, self-identified "reformist" faction of the Iranian political elite that claimed leadership of the protestors failed to mobilize popular groups outside of this middle class into a more sustained movement (Maljoo, 2010).
- ↑ "Battle of the factions: How populists triumphed in Iran's IRGC". The New Arab. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
With the help of the armed forces and the judiciary, both constitutionally appointed and overseen by the Supreme Leader, Khamenei began undermining the centre-left, who had rebranded as the 'reform movement' and were quickly liberalising both internal and external policies as well as the economy.
- ↑ [4][6][7]
- ↑ Ann Lane; David Martin Jones; Paul Schulte, eds. (2010). Terrorism, Security and the Power of Informal Networks. Edward Elgar. p. 116.
- ↑ "Profile: Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran". BBC News. 20 May 2017. Archived from the original on 20 January 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
For a president who began his first term in the centre of the Islamic political spectrum, Hassan Fereydoun Rouhani, 68, has now moved firmly to the left, placing himself with the reformists.
- 1 2 "Iran's political shake-up and Ebrahim Raisi as president". Responsible Statecraft. 23 August 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
- ↑ Randjbar-Daemi, Siavush (2012). "Glossary of the most commonly-used Persian terms and abbreviations". Intra-State Relations in the Islamic Republic of Iran: The Presidency and the Struggle for Political Authority, 1989–2009 (Ph.D. thesis). Martin, Vanessa (Supervisor). Royal Holloway, University of London. p. 11.
Open access material licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. - ↑ Haddad Adel, Gholamali; Elmi, Mohammad Jafar; Taromi-Rad, Hassan (2012-08-31). "Jāme'e-ye Rowhāniyyat-e Mobārez". Political Parties: Selected Entries from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam. EWI Press. p. 108. ISBN 9781908433022.
- ↑ Robin B. Wright, ed. (2010), The Iran Primer: Power, Politics, and U.S. Policy, US Institute of Peace Press, p. 37, ISBN 978-1601270849
- ↑ [12][13][14]
- ↑ "Threading the Needle: How President Pezeshkian Could Reshape Iranian Politics". Harvard International Review. 30 December 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
His election to the presidency solidified the rule of the Principlist faction of the Iranian parliament, a far-right, conservative coalition that aligns with the hardline positions of Khamenei and supports the original ideological tenets of the 1979 revolution.
- ↑ Barbara Ann Rieffer-Flanagan, ed. (March 22, 2013). Evolving Iran: An Introduction to Politics and Problems in the Islamic Republic. Georgetown University Press. p. 69.
On the political spectrum neoconservatives, also sometimes referred to as hard-line conservatives or principlists, are on the far right. Reformists, sometimes called the Islamic left, are the furthest away from the neoconservatives, with pragmatic conservatives falling somewhere in between the two.
- ↑ Matthias Maass, ed. (November 7, 2017). The World Views of the Obama Era: From Hope to Disillusionment. Springer International Publishing. p. 199. ISBN 978-3-319-61076-4.
Hardline conservatives or principlists occupy the far right of the Iranian political spectrum. When it comes to foreign policy, hardline conservatives often articulate an anti-Western and anti-American perspective.
- ↑ "U.S. Must Be Wary as Iran's Parliament Veers Hard Right". Critical Threats Project. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
Principlists' victory in the parliamentary elections last Friday is part of a larger shift in Iran's political environment toward the far-right conservative camp.
- ↑ "Iran's Moderate Conservatives Might Make A Comeback In 2024". Iran International. 3 April 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
Meanwhile, even among the conservatives, there are many voters who would welcome the Larijani-led right-of-center faction to replace the far right "principlists" who currently control the Majles.
- ↑ [16][11][17][18][19][20]
- ↑ Rohollah Faghihi (9 September 2015), "Tehran's ever-ambitious mayor", Al-Monitor, retrieved 1 June 2017
- ↑ "درگذشت دکتر باقر قدیری اصل دبیرکل فقید حزب ایران و عضو شورای مرکزی جبهه ملی ایران – تارنماي رسمي جبهه ملي ايران- تهران" (in Persian). Retrieved 2023-11-22.
- ↑ "اطلاعیه درباره مدیریت شورایی حزب ایران سال ۱۳۹۷". حزب ایران (in Persian). 2020-09-04. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
Further reading
[edit]Abrahamian, Ervand (1982). Iran Between Two Revolutions. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-10134-7
