Country of origin information report Iran January 2010
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September - Iran admits that it is building a uranium enrichment plant near Qom, but insists it is for peaceful purposes. The country test-fires a series of medium- and longer-range missiles that put Israel and US bases in the Gulf within potential striking range. October - Iran and five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany hold talks on Iran's nuclear programme in Geneva. (BBC News, Timeline: Iran, accessed 22 October 2009) [21p] Return to contents Go to list of sources Annex B: Political organisations Europe World Online, accessed on 17 December 2009, noted:
Hezb-e Etedal va Toseh (Moderation and Development Party) Hezb-e Iran-e Sarfaraz (Proud Iran Party) Hezb-e Islami-ye Kar (Islamic Labour Party) Hezb-e Kargozaran-e Sazandegi (Servants of Construction Party) Hezb-e Motalefeh-e Islami (Islamic Coalition Party) Jamiyat-e Isargaran-e Inqilab-e Islami (Islamic Revolution Devotees' Society) Khaneh-ye Kargar (Workers’ House) Majma’-e Ruhaniyun-e Mobarez (Militant Clergy Association)
Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat (Office for Strengthening Unity) Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan Fedayin-e-Khalq (Organization of the Iranian People's Fedayeen—Majority) Fraksion-e Hezbollah Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK) Hezb-e Etemad-e Melli (National Confidence Party—NCP) Hezb-e Hambastegi-ye Iran-e Islami (Islamic Iran Solidarity Party) Hezb-e-Komunist Iran (Communist Party of Iran) Iran National Front (Jebhe Melli Iran) Jame'e-ye Eslaami-e Mohandesin (Islamic Society of Engineers) Jebbeh-ye Mosharekat-e Iran-e Islami (Islamic Iran Participation Front) Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan Marze Por Gohar (Glorious Frontiers Party) Mujahidin-e-Khalq (Holy Warriors of the People) National Democratic Front Nehzat-e Azadi-ye Iran (Liberation Movement of Iran) Pan-Iranist Party Sazeman-e Mujahidin-e Enqelab-e Islami (Organization of the Mujahidin of the Islamic Revolution) Sazmane Peykar dar Rahe Azadieh Tabaqe Kargar (Organization Struggling for the Freedom of the Working Class) Tudeh Party of Iran (Party of the Masses) [1f] (Political Organisations)
Formed 12 June 2005; London-based separatist group dedicated to the independence of Iran's Khuzestan region in southwestern Iran which is home to many of Iran’s ethnic Arab minority. The group aims to establish an independent, Marxist Arab state for the people of Khuzestan. (US Department of Homeland Security, 1 March 2008) [74a] Ansar-e Hezbollah (Helpers of the Party of God) Founded 1995; militant, ultra-conservative youth movement; pledges allegiance to the Wali Faqih (supreme religious leader) Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat (Office for Strengthening Unity) Tehran. Organisation of Islamist university students who supported Khatami in the presidential election of 1997 and reformist candidates in the Majlis elections of 2000. Spokesman: Ali Nikunesbati.
Founded 2003 to contest that year’s municipal elections; influential conservative grouping; includes members of Jame'e-ye Eslaami-e Mohandesin (Islamic Society of Engineers) and former officers of the Revolutionary Guards. Leader: Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel.
Founded 1971; Marxist; Sec. of Int. Dept: Farrokh Negahdar. Fraksion-e Hezbollah Founded 1996 by deputies in the Majlis who had contested the 1996 legislative elections as a loose coalition known as the Society of Combatant Clergy; Leader: Ali Akbar Hossaini.
Founded 2004; militant organisation which operates in mountainous areas of Iran and northern Iraq; apparently has close links with the Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan (PKK) (Kurdistan Workers' Party) of Turkey; seeks a federal, secular system of govt in Iran, in order to secure the national rights of the Kurdish people. Sec.-Gen: Rahman Haji Ahmadi.
First congress held 2002; moderate, centrist. Sec.-Gen: Muhammad Baqir Nobakht.
Tehran. Founded 2005 by Mahdi Karrubi, formerly of the Militant Clergy Association, shortly after his defeat in the presidential election of June; reformist, centrist. Sec.-Gen. Mahdi Karrubi.
Founded 1998; reformist. Sec.-Gen: Ebrahim Asgharzadeh. Hezb-e Iran-e Sarfaraz (Proud Iran Party) Reformist; Sec.-Gen: Ruzbeh Meshkin. Hezb-e Islami-ye Kar (Islamic Labour Party) Founded 1999 as splinter group of Khaneh-ye Kargar (Workers’ House); reformist. Sec.-Gen: Abolqasem Sarhadizadeh.
Founded 1996 as Servants of Iran’s Construction; authorized as political party in 1998; reformist. Sec.-Gen: Gholam Hossein Karbaschi.
Founded 1979 by dissident members of Tudeh Party; Sec.-Gen. ‘Azaryun’. Hezb-e Motalefeh-e Islami (Islamic Coalition Party) Founded 1963; also known as Jam'iyat-e Motalefeh-e Islami (Islamic Coalition Society); traditionalist conservative, includes clerics and merchants; opposed to political reforms, but some members favour economic reforms. Sec.-Gen: Muhammad Nabi Habibi.
Founded late 1940s by the late Dr Muhammad Mussadeq; secular pro-democracy opposition group, which also seeks to further religious freedom within Iran. Iran Paad Monarchist; “…claims to have been founded in London about 19 years ago, with the aim of providing an umbrella organisation that would invite all other Monarchist groups to be part of their network. Iran Paad claims to have thousands of members both inside and outside of Iran. They also organise demonstrations which take place outside Iranian Embassies in other countries of the world, to keep their campaign in the public’s eye.” (APCI Report 2008) [6a] (p24) Jame'e-ye Eslaami-e Mohandesin (Islamic Society of Engineers) Founded 1988; conservative; members incl. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Sec.-Gen: Muhammad Reza Bahonar.
Tehran. Hardline conservative; includes former officers of the Revolutionary Guards. Co-Founder: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Founded 1998; reformist, leftist. Sec.-Gen: Mohsen Mirdamadi. Jundullah (Soldiers of God) aka People’s Resistance Movement Founded in 2002 to defend the Sunni Muslim Baluchi minority in south-east Iran; its leader is Abdolmalek Rigi. The organisation was accused of carrying out the suicide bombing on 18 October 2009 which killed members of the Revolutionary Guards. (BBC News, 19 October 2009) [21ag] Khaneh-ye Kargar (Workers’ House) Reformist, leftist. Sec.-Gen: Alireza Mahjub Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, or Komaleh or, the Revolutionary Organisation of the Toilers of Iran Founded 1969; Kurdish wing of the Communist Party of Iran; Marxist-Leninist. Sec.-Gen: Abdullah Mohtadi. (Europa World Online) [1f] An earlier party, also called Komala, was formed by left-leaning Kurdish activists in Mahabad in the 1940s. In July 1945, this Komala Party changed its name to the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) [also known as the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan]. (Human Rights Watch, 9 January 2009) [8h]
Founded 1945; seeks a federal system of government in Iran, in order to secure the national rights of the Kurdish people; member of the Socialist International; 95,000 members Sec.-Gen: Mustafa Hijri [Moustapha Hedjri]. (Europe World Online) [1f] (Political Organisations) Mustafa Hijri was elected leader in July 2004. (Jane’s, 23 January 2009) [125c] (Non-state Armed Groups) Formerly known as Komala; based in Iraq since 1984; called off armed activities in 1991. (Human Rights Watch, 9 January 2009) [8h] KDPI leader, Dr Abd al-Rahman Qasemlu was assassinated in Vienna in 1989. Another leader, Dr Sadeq Sharafkandi was also assassinated in Berlin in 1992. (Chatham House, December 2007) [73a] (p6) KDPI (Revolutionary Leadership) (KDPI RL) Formed as a result of the KDPI leadership split in 1988. (Chatham House, December 2007) [73a] (p6) Majma’-e Ruhaniyun-e Mobarez (Militant Clergy Association) Founded 1988 as splinter group of the Jam’-ye Ruhaniyat-e Mobarez-i Tehran (Tehran Militant Clergy Association); reformist. Sec.-Gen: Hojatoleslam Muhammad Asqar Musavi-Khoeniha.
Founded 1998 in Tehran; nationalist party advocating a secular republic in Iran. Chair. Roozbeh Farahanipour.
The Mojahedin-E Khalq (MEK) is also known as the MKO and is an Islamist/Socialist organisation formed in 1965. Its leaders are Masud and Maryam Rajavi. The organisation has been classified as a terrorist organisation by several countries; it was removed from the UK’s list of alleged terrorist groups in June 2008. (Danish Immigration Service, April 2009) [86b](p16) Member of the National Council of Resistance; based in Paris 1981–86 and in Iraq since 1986. Leaders: Maryam Rajavi, Massoud Rajavi. (Europe World Online, accessed on 17 December 2009) [1f] (Political Organisations) National Council of Resistance (NCR) “The National Council of Resistance was formed in Paris, France, in October 1981 by former President Abolhasan Bani-Sadr and Massoud Rajavi, the leader of the Mujahidin-e-Khalq in Iran. In 1984 the Council comprised 15 opposition groups, operating either clandestinely in Iran or from exile abroad. Bani-Sadr left the Council in that year because of his objection to Rajavi’s growing links with the Iraqi Government. The French Government asked Rajavi to leave Paris in June 1986 and he moved his base of operations to Baghdad. In June 1987 Rajavi, Secretary of the NCR, announced the formation of a 10,000–15,000-strong National Liberation Army as the military wing of the Mujahidin-e-Khalq. However, the status of the Mujahidin was initially uncertain following the invasion of Iraq by the US-led coalition in March 2003 … and firmer measures being taken against the activities of the organization by the authorities in Paris in mid-2003. In July 2004 the USA declared a group of 3,800 members of the Mujahidin-e-Khalq interned in Iraq to have ‘protected status’ under the Geneva Convention. There is also a National Movement of Iranian Resistance, based in Paris.” (Europe World Online, accessed on 17 December 2009) [1f] (Political Organisations) National Democratic Front Founded March 1979; Leader Hedayatollah Matine-Daftari (based in Paris, January 1982–) Nehzat-e Azadi-ye Iran (Liberation Movement of Iran) Founded 1961; emphasis on basic human rights as defined by Islam. Sec.-Gen. Dr Ibrahim Yazdi.
Calls for a Greater Persia; Gen. Sec. Zahra Gholamipour Sazeman-e Mujahidin-e Enqelab-e Islami (Organization of the Mujahidin of the Islamic Revolution) Reformist; Sec.-Gen: Muhammad Salamati. Sazmane Peykar dar Rahe Azadieh Tabaqe Kargar (Organization Struggling for the Freedom of the Working Class) Marxist-Leninist Tudeh Party of Iran (Party of the Masses) Founded 1941; declared illegal 1949; came into open 1979; banned again April 1983. First Sec. Central Committee Ali Khavari.
The listing as compiled is by its nature subjective and general in content and is to a degree informed by current public events and news-orientated reports. It does not purport to provide a comprehensive listing of famous Iranians. Political leadership Supreme Religious Leader (Wali Faqih): Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei Head of State: President: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (assumed office 6 August 2005; re-elected 12 June 2009). First Vice-President: Muhammad Reza Rahimi. Vice-President in charge of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs: (vacant) Vice-President and Head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization: Ali Akbar Salehi. Vice-President and Head of the Organization for the Protection of the Environment: Fatemeh Javadi. Vice-President for Strategic Planning and Supervision Affairs: Amir Mansour Borqei. Vice-President and Head of the National Youth Organization: Mehrdad Bazrpash. Vice-President and Head of the Martyrs’ and Self-Sacrificers’ Affairs Foundation: Masoud Zaribafan. Vice-President and Head of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization: Hamid Baghaei. Vice-President for Physical Training and Head of the Physical Education Organization: Muhammad Aliabadi. Vice-President for Science and Technology: Nasrin Soltankhah. Vice-President in charge of Executive Affairs: Ali Saidloo. Council of Ministers: Minister of Foreign Affairs: Manouchehr Mottaki. Minister of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics: Brig.-Gen. Ahmad Vahidi. Minister of the Interior: Mostafa Muhammad Najjar. Minister of Intelligence and Security: Heydar Moslehi. Minister of Petroleum: Masoud Mir-Kazemi. Minister of Energy: Majid Namjou. Minister of Education: Hamidreza Hajbabaii. Minister of Communications and Information Technology: Reza Taqipour. Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance: Shamseddin Hosseini. Minister of Commerce: Mahdi Ghazanfari. Minister of Health and Medical Education: Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi. Minister of Co-operatives: Muhammad Abbasi. Minister of Agricultural Jihad: Sadeq Khalilian. Minister of Justice: Morteza Bakhtiari. Minister of Roads and Transport: Hamid Behbahani. Minister of Welfare and Social Security: Sadeq Mahsouli. Minister of Industries and Mines: Ali Akbar Mehrabian. Minister of Science, Research and Technology: Kamran Daneshjou. Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance: Sayed Muhammad Hosseini. Minister of Labour and Social Affairs: Ali Nikzad. Minister of Housing and Urban Development: Abdolreza Sheikholeslami. (Europa World Online, November 2009) [1g] Prominent people AGHAJARI, Hashem A university professor twice sentenced to death for blasphemy, who was finally released from prison on 31 July 2004 following two years of legal battles and mass demonstrations by students supporting him. (Network for Education and Academic Rights (NEAR), 2009) [67a] AHMADINEJAD, Mahmoud President of Iran, assumed office 6 August 2005; re-elected 12 June 2009. (Europa World Online, November 2009) [1g] Former Revolutionary Guard; Mayor of Tehran from 2003 until he became president in 2005. [21ae] BANI-SADR, Abolhasan “Iranian economist and politician who in 1980 was elected the first president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He was dismissed from office in 1981 after being impeached for incompetence.” (Encyclopaedia Britannica.com, 2009) [69a] Batebi Ahmad Iranian student leader who shot to prominence during the Tehran University uprising of 1999. After being pictured on the front cover of the Economist waving the bloodied clothing of an injured contemporary, the 21-year-old undergraduate was sentenced to death in camera by a Revolutionary Court for sullying the name of the Islamic Republic. The tariff was subsequently commuted to 15 years in prison. Given temporary release in early 2005 following an outcry from human rights groups, Batebi skipped bail and went on the run. He was reportedly re-arrested on 27 July 2006 and taken to an undisclosed place of detention, believed to be Evin Prison in Tehran. In 2007, Batebi was released from prison for medical treatment. When ordered to return in March 2008, he escaped to Iraq with the help of Kurdish guides and now has humanitarian parole status in the US. (New York Times, 13 July 2008) [77c] BAZARGAN, Dr Mehdi Dr Bazargan was a pro-democracy activist who was imprisoned several times in the 1960s and 70s due to his non-violent opposition to the Shah. Co-founder of the Liberation Movement of Iran in 1961 and the Iranian Human Rights Association in 1977; briefly appointed Provisional Prime Minister by Ayatollah Khomeini when the Shah was forced out of Iran in 1979 “…but he resigned within a year, complaining that radical clerics were undermining his government.” Died in early 1995. (Iran Chamber Society, 2009) [58c] EBADI, Shirin “Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer and former judge, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her pioneering efforts to promote democracy and human rights, particularly for women and children. She was the first person from Iran and the first Muslim woman to receive the award. Ms Ebadi's outspoken campaigns have often brought her into conflict with the Iranian government and the country's conservative clerics, particularly since the disputed presidential election in June 2009. Though she has not been arrested since becoming a Nobel laureate, many of her close associates have been targeted, and last year the authorities closed the Human Rights Defenders Centre in Tehran, a leading non-governmental organisation she founded in 2001. Ms Ebadi left Iran for a conference the day before President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election and has not returned since. She says she has been sent ‘threatening messages’ warning her to stop working for human rights and calling for reform, while her husband was recently arrested in Tehran and ‘severely beaten’. She has nevertheless criticised the authorities for their suppression of opposition protests, and urged the international community to reject the outcome and called for a new election monitored by the UN.” (BBC News, 27 November 2009) [21l] KARBASCHI, Gholamhossein Former mayor of Tehran from 1988 to 1998, instrumental in Mohammad Khatami’s presidential victory in 1997; tried on corruption charges in 1998, sentenced to two years in prison and banned from holding office for ten years. Mr Karbaschi supported Mehdi Karrubi in the June 2009 presidential election. [77b] KARRUBI (KAROUBI), Mehdi Reformist candidate in the June 2009 presidential elections. He polled 0.85% of the vote. (Congressional Research Service, 2 July 2009) [78b] KHAMENEI, Sayed Ali “Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is Iran's spiritual leader and highest authority. His veto is final in Iranian political affairs.” He was also President from 1981 to 1989 when he succeeded Ayatollah Khomeini as Supreme Leader. “As Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei has the power to select directly and indirectly members of the Guardian Council. The council is in charge of elections, both the supervision of the polls and the confirming of candidates.” (BBC News, 17 June 2009) [21ad] KHATAMI, Mohammed President 1997-2005. “He has been a lifelong supporter of the [Islamic] revolution, but he represents the more liberal wing, espousing greater political and intellectual openness and a strengthening of Iran's democratic institutions within the context of the state's Islamist constitution.” (Economist Intelligence Unit, 1 October 2008) [24c] He initially said that he would stand as a candidate in the June 2009 presidential election against President Ahmadinejad; however, he reversed this decision and supported another moderate candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi. (CNN.com, 16 March 2009) [60b]
The Shi’ite cleric who led the revolution that overthrew the Shah in 1979. He was Iran’s ultimate political and religious authority for the next 10 years. Died 3 June 1989. (Encyclopaedia Britannica.com, 2009) [69b] LARIJANI, Ali Former chairman of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council “…which directs the defence and security policy of the country. Following a falling-out with Mr Ahmadinejad over Iran's nuclear negotiation strategy with the West, however, Mr Larijani resigned in October 2007. His focus shifted to challenging the president on wider political and economic policy, as a result of which he stood in the Majlis election in March 2008, winning a seat in the Shia holy city of Qom. Mr Larijani's strong domestic standing and credibility among the conservative establishment enabled him to win the position of Majlis speaker at the beginning of the new session of parliament in May [2008].” (Economist Intelligence Unit, 1 October 2008) [24c] LARIJANI, Sadeq (Ayatollah) A member of the Guardian Council, appointed by Ayatollah Khamenei to be the new head of the judiciary in August 2009 to replace Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi. [53b] Sadeq Larijani is the younger brother of Majlis speaker, Ali Larijani. (Payvand News, 16 August 2009) [53b] Yüklə 4,37 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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