Politics of Iran
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Politics of Iran takes place in the framework of an Islamic theocratic republic. The December 1979 constitution, and its 1989 amendment, define the political, economic, and social order of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It declares that Shi'a Islam of the Twelver (Jaafari) sect is Iran's official religion.
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Political conditions
Iran's post-revolution difficulties have included an eight-year war with Iraq, internal political struggles and unrest, and economic disorder. The early days of the regime were characterized by severe human rights violations and political turmoil, including the seizure of the United States embassy compound and its occupants on November 4, 1979, by Iranian militants. As the United States no longer has formal diplomatic relations with Iran, Switzerland handles U.S. interests in Iran.
By mid-1982, a succession of power struggles eliminated first the center of the political spectrum and then the leftists, leaving only the clergy and their supporters in power. There has been some moderation of excesses both internally and internationally, although there are claims that Iran still remains a sponsor of terrorism.
The Islamic Republic Party was Iran's dominant political party until its dissolution in 1987; Iran had no functioning political parties until the Executives of Construction Party formed in 1994 to run for the fifth parliamentary elections, mainly out of executive body of the government close to the then-president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani. After the election of Mohammad Khatami in 1997, more parties started to work, mostly of the reformist movement and opposed by hard-liners. This led to incorporation and official activity of many other groups, including hard-liners. The Iranian Government is opposed by a few armed political groups, including the Mojahedin-e-Khalq, the People's Fedayeen, and the Kurdish Democratic Party.
In February, 2003, for the second time local elections had taken place since being introduced in 1999 as part of President Khatami's concept of a civil society at the grassroots level. 905 city councils and 34,205 village councils were up for election. In Tehran and some of the major cities, all of the seats were taken back by conservatives over reformists. This swing was caused by widespread abstention from the local elections. In Tehran only about 10% of the electorate voted, following appeals by reformist groups.
In February 2004 Parliament elections, the Council of Guardians banned thousands of candidates, including most of the reformist members of the parliament and all the candidates of the Islamic Iran Participation Front party from running. This led to a win by the conservatives of at least 70% of the seats. Approximately 60% of the elegible voting population participated in the elections.
The closed loop of power
According to current election laws, a body of 12 experts called the Guardian Council oversees and approves electoral candidates for most national elections in Iran. The majority of the members of this body are appointed by the Supreme Leader. According to the current law, this council vets also Assembly of Experts candidates, which in turn in supervise and elect the Supreme Leader, which ultimately creates a closed loop of power.
In addition, current elections law requires Assembly of Experts candidates to be religious mujtahids, which greatly narrows the potential field.
Neither of these two laws are mandated by the constitution and are ordinary laws passed by the Parliament or the Assembly of Experts, which therefore can theoretically be reversed. However, despite efforts of many political activists, it has proven to be practically impossible to do so until now.
Many Iranian reformists (including Abdollah Noori) consider this to be the core legal obstacle for a truly democratic system in Iran.
Political parties and elections
Template:Elect Template:Iranian presidential election, 2005
- More info: Iranian presidential election, 2005
For the parliamentary elections of February 20, 2004, the Ministry of Interior Affairs announced a 50% turnout, the lowest in any general election since 1979. It was disputed by the Guardian Council, which claimed the result was closer to 60%. Conservative forces received 54% (156 seats), reformists received 14% of the vote (40 seats), and independents (34 seats); 60 seats were up for runoff election in May 2004. In the run-up to the election many reformist candidates, including about 80 members of the outgoing parliament, were disqualified by the Guardian Council; more than a 100 MPs protested by staging a sit-in in the parliament that lasted for about 3 weeks and ended to no avail. About 120 MPs then resigned and major reformist parties and groups stated they will not take part in the election but did not boycott it. The crisis resulted in a crack in the reformist front, when the Militant Clerics Assembly, of which President Khatami is a member, announced they will participate in the election. Template:Iranian Majlis election, 2004 More info can be found at Iranian Majlis election, 2004.
Political pressure groups and leaders
Active student groups include the pro-reform "Office for Strengthening Unity" and "the Union of Islamic Student Societies'; groups that generally support the Islamic Republic include Ansar-e Hizballah, The Iranian Islamic Students Association, Muslim Students Following the Line of the Imam, Islam's Students, and the Islamic Coalition Association; opposition groups include the Liberation Movement of Iran and the Nation of Iran party; armed political groups that have been almost completely repressed by the government include Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK), People's Fedayeen, Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan; the Society for the Defense of Freedom
Military
The military is charged with defending Iran's borders, while the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (a.k.a. Sepah) is charged mainly with maintaining internal security.
Administrative divisions
Iran consists of 30 provinces (ostaan-haa, singular: ostan): Ardabil, Azarbayjan-e Gharbi, Azarbayjan-e Sharqi, Bushehr, Chahar Mahall va Bakhtiari, Esfahan, Fars, Gilan, Golestan, Hamadan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, Kermanshahan, North Khorasan, Khorasan, South Khorasan, Khuzestan, Kohkiluyeh va Buyer Ahmadi, Kordestan, Lorestan, Markazi, Mazandaran, Qom, Qazvin, Semnan, Sistan va Baluchestan, Tehran, Yazd, Zanjan. The provinces are each headed by a governor general. The provinces are further divided into counties, districts, and villages.
International organization participation
CP, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, International Maritime Organization, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO WFTU, WEF, WHO, WMO, WTO (observer)
See also
- Government of Iran
- U.S.-Iran relations
- Iranian Foreign Affairs
- Iran-Israel relations
- Iran-Contra Affair
- Iran-Iraq War
- Prime Minister of Iran
- Haghani Circle and Politics of Iran
- Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran
- Human rights in Iran
External links
- Constitution of Iran (http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/ir00000_.html), as an unofficial English translation hosted at University of Berne.
- Iran Center for Strategic Studies (http://www.css.ir/)
- Tehran International Studies and Research Institute (http://www.tisri.org/)