The party is the pivotal organization within
Front of Followers of the Line of the Imam and the Leader and is considered a
lay ally of the influential
Combatant Clergy Association.[10] Though still very active and influential, the organization experienced a gradual elimination from political power after rise of new conservative rivals in the 2000s[11][1] and some analysts dismiss it as something of a dinosaur heading for extinction.[12]
One of the oldest among the active parties in Iran, it represents older generations of
conservatives[8] and its main base of support is among bazaari merchants and shopkeepers in
Grand Bazaar of Tehran and other cities, petite bourgeoisie and traditionalist clerics.[5][6][11] It is probably the only political organization in Iran which possesses an organic relation with such a social base.[1]
It played a vital role in the success of the
Iranian Revolution.[1] Following the revolution, it reduced its activities many members joined the
Islamic Republic Party as leading members, resuming its activities after the latter's dissolution in 1987.[11][1] The party had some 90 parliamentary seats in 2006, according to
Mohsen Sazegara.[14]
^Named "Islamic Mourning Groups Coalition" (
Persian: هیئتهای مؤتلفه اسلامی,
romanized: hayʾathâ-ye moʾtalefe-ye eslâmi) from 1963 to 1979 and "Islamic Coalition Society" (
Persian: جمعیت مؤتلفه اسلامی,
romanized: jamʿiyat-e moʾtalefe-ye eslâmi) from 1979 to 2004.[1]
^
abcdBuchta, Wilfried (2000), Who rules Iran?: the structure of power in the Islamic Republic, Washington DC: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, pp. 14–16,
ISBN0-944029-39-6
^
abcBarry M. Rubin, ed. (2010), "From Opposition to Mainstream—Motalefeh-yi Islami", Guide to Islamist Movements, vol. 2, M.E. Sharpe, pp. 254–256,
ISBN978-0765641380
^Matsunaga, Yasuyuki (2008). "Political Parties". Iran Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Islamic Republic. Vol. 2. Greenwood Press. p. 392.
ISBN978-0313341632.
^
abAdelkhah, Fariba (2015). The Thousand and One Borders of Iran: Travel and Identity. Iranian Studies. Vol. 27. Routledge. pp. 25, 165.
ISBN978-1317418979.