Editing Politics of Iran (section)

===Political factions===
{{further|Political factions in Iran}}
Iran's political parties/organizations are said to represent political factions in Iran,<ref name="sherill-orbis">{{cite journal |title=After Khamenei: Who Will Succeed Iran's Supreme Leader? |first=Clifton |last=Sherrill |journal=Orbis |year=2011 |volume=55 |issue=4 |pages=631–47 |doi=10.1016/j.orbis.2011.07.002 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Mullahs, Guards, and Bonyads: An Exploration of Iranian Leadership Dynamics |author=Thaler |display-authors=etal |publisher=[[RAND Corporation]] |location=Sacramento, CA |date=2010 |isbn=978-0-8330-4773-1 }}</ref>
and according to at least one source, "factionalism has generally been more important than constitutional process in decision making",<ref name=NSPAN2011:11>[[#NSPAN2011|Nader, ''Next Supreme Leader'', 2011]]: p.11</ref> especially under Supreme Leader [[Ali Khamenei]], i.e. after 1990, when "factional competition" grew "markedly in both intensity and
influence".<ref name=NSPAN2011:18>[[#NSPAN2011|Nader, ''Next Supreme Leader'', 2011]]: p.18</ref>

Scholars such as [[Maziar Behrooz]], [[Behzad Nabavi]], Bahman Baktiari, Maaike Warnaar, Payam Mohseni, have given different formulations of them, varying in number, usually between three and five, the basic three being [[Iranian Principlists|Principlists]] aka hard liners, [[Iranian pragmatists|Pragmatists]] and [[Iranian Reformists|Reformists]], and orientation (ideological purity vs. pragmatism; support for political and religious freedom vs. authoritarianism; support for regulation and intervention in the marketplace vs. laissez faire policies).