08.2005 - Source: Freedom House

Political developments from the past until today ("Freedom in the World 2005") [#41317], [ID 8236]

For details see "Freedom in the World 2005" by Freedom House, pages 299-302

Document(s): Open document

04.2005 - Source: UK Home Office

Student unrest in june 2003 / Parliamentary elections in 2004 ("Country Report - April 2005") [#31980], [ID 8237]

"[...]Student Unrest - June 2003.
4.21 According to the June 2004 Human Right Watch Report - "Like the Dead in Their Coffins", "The current pressure for democratic reform in Iran changed dramatically after the student protests at Tehran University in 1999, protests that marked the beginning of the contemporary student movement. The protests began over the closure of the well known newspaper Salam. Black-clad thugs attacked the students, beating many and killing at least one student. President Khatami called for an investigation and trial of those responsible, but no convictions were ever returned. Every year on the anniversary of the 1999 event, students have gathered at Tehran University and other major campuses throughout the country. The date has been a flashpoint for violence and tension, and as recently as July 2003 the authorities have tried to keep large crowds from gathering at the university campus in Tehran." [8j](pg32)
4.22 Thousands of Iranians took to the streets on 10/11 June 2003 and again on the following 10 nights. Ostensibly they were protesting against draft proposals to privatise universities in Iran. They were joined by local residents and the demonstration reportedly escalated and became increasingly politicised, with slogans being chanted against political leaders. Militant supporters of religious leaders opposed to social reform began to attack the demonstrators and police rapidly intervened to end the clashes. As the demonstrations grew over the following nights, Tehran's Special Forces (Nirou-ye Vijeh) were deployed to disperse demonstrators. There were reports, however, that the Special Forces permitted some militants to attack peaceful demonstrators and that in certain instances excessive force may have been used to break up the demonstrations. Some demonstrators were reportedly attacked by unknown individuals on motorcycles wielding iron bars. [9w]
4.23 The demonstrations were part of countrywide unrest which began on 11 June and lasted for ten days. Hundreds of people have reportedly been arrested and according to a statement made by the head of the Tehran Justice Department Abbas Ali Alizadeh on 24 June "the judiciary is intent on dealing firmly with the main perpetrators". [9w] Around 4,000 people were reportedly arrested, up to 2,000 of whom were still held in mid-July. At least 65 have been charged, but the charges have not been made public. [9x]
4.24 Few students were reported among those arrested during the clashes which indicated that the dissent was by no means confined to the campuses where the trouble began. Many of those taking part in the protests, which later took the form of horn-sounding in traffic jams, were ordinary people, often families, who wanted to register their dismay that so little of the change they have been voting for since 1997 has been brought about. [21bi]
4.25 About 4,000 people were arrested all over the country before and after the protests. Although many of those have since been released, there are still scores of students behind bars. [21bj] Some of these have been in prison since they were arrested as a result of similar disturbances in 1999/2000/2001. For the moment however it appears that the various students’ organisations can go about their business unperturbed. There has been a certain depoliticisation of the student population. Students are losing interest because the political situation is not changing, and the centre of gravity of their activities has shifted towards cultural and social initiatives. [43](pg17)
4.26 According to a Documentation, Information and Research Branch, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada (DIRB) report of December 2000 it had been reported that some persons, including non-students, were still in danger of arrest because of their involvement in the student demonstrations of July 1999 and that police used published photographs and film to identify participants in these demonstrations. It was further stated that it was possible that persons involved with the July 1999 demonstrations could still be arrested. However, it was also stated that, if they were arrested, they would likely be charged with something else, such as a drug offence, rather than on the grounds of their involvement in the July 1999 demonstrations. [2u]

Parliamentary Elections - February 2004.
4.27 Iranians went to the polls on 20 February 2004 to elect a new parliament. Like previous elections, the battle was expected to be an ideological one between the elected reformists and the largely unelected hardliners who dominate the important institutions of the state. The reformists who form a majority in the parliament are led by President Mohammad Khatami, the hardliners control the judiciary, armed forces and constitutional oversight bodies such as the Council of Guardians. The hardliners, or conservatives, are led by Ayatollah Khamenei, who is the ultimate decision-maker and Supreme Leader. [21cf]
4.28 As part of the process leading up to the election Iran's Guardian Council failed to approve hundreds of reformist candidates in the parliamentary elections and by doing so provoked a political crisis. The move was generally seen as part of the power struggle in Iran between the conservatives who want to maintain a strict Islamic approach and reformers, backed by the elected government, who want greater liberalisation. While reformers control the parliament (Majlis), under Iran's constitution, a series of appointed supervisory bodies have the ultimate say on questions of legislation and also have sanction on electoral nominations. These bodies are in the hands of the conservatives and the conservatives felt that this was a good moment to try to prevent further domination of the parliament by reformers after the elections. [21cg]
4.29 Not surprisingly Iran's religious conservatives swept to victory in the parliamentary poll, [24c] conservatives made sweeping gains in the first round of the general election winning 156 of the assembly's 290 seats with nearly 60 to be decided in a second round of voting (in May 2004). [21ch] According to An International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) report of July 2004, "The Conservatives won the legislative election on 20 February, victory which was confirmed at the second ballot which took place on 8 May 2004. The Conservatives now have 195 seats on 290 in the Parliament (Majlis). Reformists, who held 190 seats in the outgoing assembly, won around 40.The new parliament is effective since 27 May 2004". [56c](pg5) [...]
President Khatami remains President until 2005 when presidential elections take place. [1a](pg431)
4.30 According to the Center for Contemporary Conflict (CCC) in an article of June 2004, "The parliamentary election held on February 20, 2004 in Iran was a key turning point in that country's political evolution. The election marked the conclusive end of the campaign for political and social reform initiated by Mohammad Khatami after he was elected president in a landslide vote in May 1997. However, while it is clear that Khatami's efforts have failed, it is not clear what will come next. Although Khatami's Conservative opponents decisively won the election, they have little popular support and it remains uncertain whether they can govern effectively. Moreover, the radical wing of Khatami's Reformist movement remains intact and could present a strong challenge to the Conservatives in the future. Therefore, while the February election essentially marked the end of the Khatami era, Iran's future remains very uncertain". [72a] And according to the LOC/FRD report of September 2004, "Conservatives regained control of the parliament in the February 2004 elections. There has been relative consensus between the two factions on issues of foreign policy, even in the post-1992 period when internal politics have been increasingly contentious". [79a](pg3) [...]"

Document(s): Open document

10.2002 - Source: UK Home Office

UK Home Office: History ("Country Assessment - October 2002") [#9556], [ID 8238]

Document(s): Open document

07.2002 - Source: Freedom House

Annual survey of political rights and civil liberties 2001 ("Freedom in the world 2002") [#9124], [ID 8239]

Document(s): Open document

01.12.1987 - Source: US Library of Congress

Country Studies Iran: Chapter 1. Historical Setting ("Iran: A Country Study") [#898], [ID 8240]

"The Islamic Revolution in 1979 brought a sudden end to the rule of the Pahlavi dynasty, which for fifty years had been identified with the attempt to modernize and Westernize Iran. The Revolution replaced the monarchy with an Islamic republic and a secular state with a quasi-theocracy. It brought new elites to power, altered the pattern of Iran's foreign relations, and led to the transfer of substantial wealth from private ownership to state control. There were continuities across the watershed of the Revolution, however; bureaucratic structure and behavior, attitudes toward authority and individual rights, and the arbitrary use of power remained much the same. In 1987, nearly a decade after the Revolution, it was still too early to determine whether the continuities--always striking over the long sweep of Iran's history--or the changes would prove the more permanent.

The Revolution ended a pattern of monarchical rule that, until 1979, had been an almost uninterrupted feature of Iranian government for nearly 500 years. The tradition of monarchy itself is even older. In the sixth century B.C., Iran's first empire, the Achaemenid Empire, was already established. [...]

The impact of the Islamic conquest in the seventh century was profound. It introduced a new religion and a new social and legal system. The Iranian heartland became part of a world empire whose center was not in Iran. Nevertheless, historians have found striking continuities in Iranian social structure, administration, and culture. Iranians contributed significantly to all aspects of Islamic civilization; in many ways they helped shape the new order. By the ninth century, there was a revival of the Persian (Farsi) language and of a literature that was uniquely Iranian but was enriched by Arabic and Islamic influences.

The breakup of the Islamic empire led, in Iran as in other parts of the Islamic world, to the establishment of local dynasties. Iran, like the rest of the Middle East, was affected by the rise to power of the Seljuk Turks and then by the destruction wrought first by the Mongols and then by Timur, also called Tamerlane (Timur the Lame). [...]

The rise of Reza Shah Pahlavi, who as Reza Khan seized power in 1921 and established a new dynasty in 1925, reflected the failure of the constitutional experiment. His early actions also reflected the aspirations of educated Iranians to create a state that was strong, centralized, free of foreign interference, economically developed, and sharing those characteristics thought to distinguish the more advanced states of Europe from the countries of the East.

This work of modernization and industrialization, expansion of education, and economic development was continued by the second Pahlavi monarch, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. He made impressive progress in expanding employment and economic and educational opportunities, in building up strong central government and a strong military, in limiting foreign influence, and in giving Iran an influential role in regional affairs.

Such explosions of unrest as occurred during the 1951-53 oil nationalization crisis and the 1963 riots during the Muslim month of Moharram, indicated that there were major unresolved tensions in Iranian society, however. These stemmed from inequities in wealth distribution; the concentration of power in the hands of the crown and bureaucratic, military, and entrepreneurial elites; the demands for political participation by a growing middle class and members of upwardly mobile lower classes; a belief that Westernization posed a threat to Iran's national and Islamic identity; and a growing polarization between the religious classes and the state.

These tensions and problems gave rise to the Islamic Revolution. In the late 1980s, they continued to challenge Iran's new rulers. (Data as of December 1987)"

Document(s): Open document