Political Parties in Iran

Iran's political parties operate under severe structural constraints. The Guardian Council — a 12-member body of clerics and jurists — vets all candidates for elected office, routinely disqualifying reformist and moderate figures. This filter means that the Supreme Leader (Ali Khamenei since 1989) sits above the elected government, and party competition is real but bounded. The main political fault line runs between Reformists (who seek expanded civil liberties, engagement with the West, and economic opening) and Principalists (hardline conservatives aligned with the Revolutionary Guards and the clerical establishment). Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist-backed candidate, won the 2024 presidential election following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) maintains parallel economic and political power outside formal party structures.