Editing Politics of Iran (section)

===Political parties, organizations, pressure groups===
{{further|Political parties in Iran}}
After the revolution, the [[Islamic Republic Party]] was Iran's ruling and only legal political party until its dissolution in 1987. Its abolition has been attributed to Ayatollah Khomeini's well founded belief that leftist, monarchists and nationalists had been suppressed, and his network's place in power was secure. Supporters of the [[Islamic Republic Party]] reorganised themselves as "[[Iranian Principlists|principalist]]s", and along with the "[[Iranian Reformists|reformist]]s", became two of the major political factions in the country.<ref name=NSPAN2011:12/>

The [[Executives of Construction Party]] was formed in 1994 to run for the fifth parliamentary elections, made up mainly of executives in the government close to the then-president [[Rafsanjani|Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani]]. There are several other legal political parties or associations operating in Iran. Legal political groups, must  support the Ayatollah Khomeini, his Islamic Revolution, and the Islamist political system (''nezam'') created by the revolution, the exclusion of “nonrevolutionary” and secular parties from political participation, and agree Iran's fundamental security interest is the survival and strengthening of the ''nezam''.<ref name=NSPAN2011:12>[[#NSPAN2011|Nader, ''Next Supreme Leader'', 2011]]: p.12</ref>

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. The conservative power base has been said to be made up of a "web of Basiji militia members, families of war martyrs, some members of the Revolutionary Guard, some government employees, some members of the urban and rural poor, and conservative-linked foundations."<ref>Molavi, Afshin, ''The Soul of Iran'', Norton, (2005), p.353</ref>
:''see: [[List of political parties in Iran]].''
;Anti-government groups
There are many nationalist, leftist and monarchist dissident parties and militias including [[National Front (Iran)|National Front]], the [[Constitutionalist Party of Iran|Constitutionalist Party]], the [[Tudeh Party of Iran|Tudeh Party]], [[People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran]] (MEK), [[Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas]] (IPFG), and the [[Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan]].