Islamic Republican Party

The Islamic Republican Party (حزب جمهوری اسلامی or IRP) was a political party in Iran, formed in mid-1979 to assist the Iranian Revolution and Ayatollah Khomeini establish theocracy in Iran. It was disbanded in May 1987 after its objectives had been achieved.

Founders and characteristics

The party was formed by Mohammad Javad Bahonar, Mohammad Beheshti, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Ali Khamenei, and Abdolkarim Mousavi-Ardabili, ayatollahs close to Khomeini in order to mobilize popular support for the Islamic Republic.

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. Bakhash, Reign of the Ayatollahs, (1984), p.67

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 Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah

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...
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