General Secretary Ali Movahedi-Kermani Political position Right-wing | Headquarters Tehran, Iran | |
Spokesperson Gholamreza Mesbahi-Moghadam Founded 1977; 40 years ago (1977) Ideology Clericalism
Pragmatism
Conservatism
Islamic democracy
Islamism | ||
The Combatant Clergy Association (Persian: جامعه روحانیت مبارز, Jāme'e-ye Rowhāniyyat-e Mobārez) is a politically active group in Iran, but not a political party in the traditional sense. It is a traditional conservative clerical association, and was the majority party in the fourth and fifth parliaments after the Islamic revolution. It is one of the biggest political factions of Iran. Hassan Rouhani, president of Iran since 2013, is a member of the fraction.
Contents
History
After the 15 Khordad demonstration failed in Iran, it was felt that a coherence organization was needed. The association was founded in 1977 by a group of clerics with intentions to use Islamic culture and traditions to overthrow the Shah. Although the exact founding members of the group are unsure, some of them were said to be Ali Khamenei, Morteza Motahhari, Mohammad Beheshti, Mohammad Javad Bahonar, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Fazlollah Mahallati, and Mohammad Mofatteh, and its current members include founding members Ali Khamenei and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
The Combatant Clergy Association was one of the only active republican groups before the Iran-Iraq war. A "free political atmosphere" was not provided in Iran due to the special conditions of wartime, and the Combatant Clergy Association was the only active political organisation after the dissolution of the Islamic Republican Party. By the emergence of factional differences in government of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the organization was divided, and Association of Combatant Clerics was formed.
Goals and activities
The association brought together ani-Shah clerics and bazaaris. It also aimed to preserve the revolution and its achievements. Supporting the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist and state organization are some of the group's goals. The association does not recognize itself as a political party and hence does not have any written strategy or policy. The association mostly announces its political viewpoints around election time.
Members of the association have had important positions in the different governments of Iran. By 2004, four out of eight presidents of the executive branch of the government had been selected from this association. Also, the president of the judicial branch of the government was one the members of the association, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, for two five-year periods, from 1989 to 1999.
Foreign policy
The association believes in making diplomatic relationships with all the world countries except United States and Israel, and their criteria in this regard is avoiding both being dominated by other countries and domination over others. However, they believe that there can be relationships with France and England under defined conditions. The association believes that there is an intrinsic differences between the value system of Iran and western societies.