Islamic Republican Party


The Islamic Republican Party was formed in 1979 to assist the Iranian Revolution and Ayatollah Khomeini in their goal to establish theocracy in Iran. It was disbanded in 1987 due to internal conflicts.

Founders and characteristics

The party was formed just two weeks following the revolution upon the request of Ayatollah Khomeini. Five cofounders of the party were Mohammad Javad Bahonar, Mohammad Beheshti, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Ali Khamenei, and Abdolkarim Mousavi-Ardabili. Early members of the central committee of the party, in addition to founding members, were Hassan Ayat, Asadollah Badamchiyan, Abdullah Jasbi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Habibollah Askar Oladi, Sayyed Mahmoud Kashani, Mahdi Araghi, and Ali Derakhshan. The party had three general secretaries: Beheshti, Bahonar and Khamenei.
The party has been said to be distinguished by "its strong clerical component, its loyalty to Khomeini, its strong animosity to the liberal political movements, and its tendency to support the revolutionary organizations", such as the komiteh. Policies it supported included the state takeover of large capital enterprises, the establishment of an Islamic cultural and university system, and programs to assist the poor. These revolutionary ayatollahs originally used the party to form a monopoly over the post-revolutionary theocratic Iranian state. In its struggle with civilian opponents, the party made use of its ties to the Islamic [Revolutionary Guard Corps|Revolutionary Guards] and Hezbollah.

Secretaries-general

Causes of its dissolution

In the late 1980s, factionalism in the IRP intensified, the major issues being the Iran-Iraq War, whether to open up to foreign countries or remain isolated, and economic policies. Because all rival parties had been banned, the party "did almost nothing and had little incentive to." According to Ahmad Mneisi,
"While unanimous on the idea of a theological state and united under the umbrella of one party, the Islamic Republican Party, differed on a number of issues, such as the extent to which religion is to take hold of political life.

Daniel Brumberg argued that the IRP was dissolved to weaken popular Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi, as the party had become a stronghold of radical activism backing him in his dispute with President Ali Khamenei. Another report states that it was dissolved in May 1987 due to internal conflicts, and the party was disbanded upon joint proposal of Rafsanjani and Khamenei on 2 May 1987 when their proposal was endorsed by Khomeini.

1983 congress

The party held its first congress in May 1983 and the members elected the 30-members central council as follows:
#Member Votes
1Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani 647
2Ali Khamenei 646
3Mohammad Mehdi Rabbani Amlashi 637
4Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani 634
5Ali Akbar Velayati 624
6Abbas Vaez Tabasi 623
7Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri 612
8Ali Akbar Parvaresh 589
9Abbas Sheibani 579
10Mohamma Reza Beheshti 578
11Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi 574
12Masih Mohajeri 570
13Hassan Ghafourifard 550
14Mir-Hossein Mousavi 554
15Habibollah Asgaroladi 542

#Member Votes
16Mohsen Doagou Feizabaadi 500
17Abolghasem Sarhaddizadeh 499
18Gholamhossein Sharifkhani460
19Mohammad Reza Bahonar 453
20Asadollah Lajevardi 430
21Asadollah Badamchian 428
22Javad Mansouri 414
23Reza Zavare'i 410
24Abdollah Jassbi 375
25Morteza Nabavi 372
26Saeed Amani 310
27Mohieddin Fazel Harandi 276
28Mostafa Mir-Salim 260
29Mohammad-Hossein Asgharnia231
30Javad Eje'i 223

Allied organizations

The following organizations formed an alliance with the party:

Presidential elections

Parliamentary elections