Iranian Political Organizations
Throughout history, Iran has seen many difficulties including an eight year long war with Iraq, internal political unrest and much economic disorder. The earlier days of the regime were shadowed by human rights violations and political turmoil.
The seizure of the United States Embassy and the holding of 52 hostages for 444 days beginning in November 1979 only added to the turmoil within the country.
By the middle of 1982, the clergy had won a series of post-revolutionary power struggles that eliminated the center of the political spectrum as well as the leftists, including the communist Tudeh party and the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization, which is viewed as a cult.
Violence such as assassinations, throwing acid in women’s faces when they refused to wear the veil and many other horrible acts punctuated this period of time in Iran. Since the earlier days of the revolution, there has been some moderation of the extreme and the country has experienced a partial gain with regards to political and social freedoms during the service of former president Khatami.
Several of the more serious problems, however, remained. The administration of President Ahmadi-Nejad has seen a serious pressure on the Iranian civil society, continuing human rights violations and many constraints on freedom of the press and other civil liberties.
Until it was dissolved in 1987, the Islamic Republican Party or IRP was the only political party in Iran. The country now has a large variety of political groups. Some are oriented more along the lines of ideology or based on a specific group identity.
Others are more closely directed to professional political parties which seek out members and recommend candidates for government offices. Some have been known to actively participate in the Revolution’s political life while still others completely reject the state.
Conservatives constantly thwarted the reformists’ efforts during the Khatami period and have now consolidated their control.
The Iranian government has seen armed opposition from a large number of groups which include the MEK which the United States added to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations in 1999, the People’s Fedaveen and the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran, or KDPI.
Ansar-e-Hezbollah is a militant ultra-conservative Islamic group who represent the Islamic Republic’s hold over power and the use of violent repression.
The Fadayen-e Islam was a secret society that was founded in 1946 by Navab Safavi. Safavi’s goal was to purify Islam in Iran by completely ridding it of any corrupting individuals by means of assassination.