The 2004 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

court, and a special administrative court

      Political parties and leaders:

       formal political parties are a relatively new phenomenon in the

       Islamic Republic and most conservatives still prefer to work through

       political pressure groups rather than parties; a loose pro-reform

       coalition called the 2nd Khordad front, which includes political

       parties as well as less formal pressure groups and organizations,

       achieved considerable success at elections to the sixth Majles in

       early 2000; groups in the coalition include: Islamic Iran

       Participation Front (IIPF); Executives of Construction Party

       (Kargozaran); Solidarity Party; Islamic Labor Party; Mardom Salari;

       Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization (MIRO); and

       Militant Clerics Society (Ruhaniyun); the coalition is expected to

       participate in the seventh Majles elections in early 2004; a new

       apparently conservative group, the Builders of Islamic Iran, took a

       leading position in the new Majles afte winning a majority of the

       seats in February 2004

      Political pressure groups and leaders: political pressure groups conduct most of Iran's political activities; groups that generally support the Islamic Republic include Ansar-e Hizballah, Muslim Students Following the Line of the Imam, Tehran Militant Clergy Association (Ruhaniyat), Islamic Coalition Party (Motalefeh), and Islamic Engineers Society; active pro-reform student groups include the Organization for Strengthening Unity; opposition groups include Freedom Movement of Iran, the National Front, Marz-e Por Gohar, and various ethnic and Monarchist organizations; armed political groups that have been almost completely repressed by the government include Mujahidin-e Khalq Organization (MEK), People's Fedayeen, Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, and Komala

      International organization participation:

       CP, ECO, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory),

       ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC,

       IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,

       UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO