Association of Combatant Clerics explained

Association of Combatant Clerics
Native Name:	مجمع روحانیون مبارز
General Secretary:	Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha
Spokesperson:	Majid Ansari
Leader1 Title:	Head of Council
Leader1 Name:	Mohammad Khatami
Legalized:	^[1]
Split:	Combatant Clergy Association^[2]
Headquarters:	Tehran, Iran
Ideology:	Islamic democracy Reformism Clericalism
Newspaper:	Salam
National:	Council for Coordinating the Reforms Front
Affiliation1 Title:	Other affiliation
Affiliation1:	Coalition For Iran (2004)
Country:	Iran

The Association of Combatant Clerics (Persian: مجمع روحانیون مبارز|''Majma'-e rowhāniyūn-e mobārez'') is an Iranian reformist clerical political party. It is regarded as a left-wing party within the Iranian political spectrum.^[3]

History

The Association of Combatant Clerics was founded in 1987 after abolition of the Islamic Republican Party, the last political party of that time. The association was originally radical, populist,^[4] rather than reformist in orientation, and favored a focus "on exporting the revolution and calling for the state's monopoly over the economy,"^[5] rather than democracy and freedom of expression. As of 2007, it advocated limits on clerical power in Iranian politics and extending individual freedoms—though not to the extent that might "lead to secularism or liberalism."^[6]

After the resignation of Mehdi Karroubi from the post of secretary general, the party had no secretary general until late August 2005, when Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha was elected as the new secretary general. Former President of Iran Mohammad Khatami is the Chairman of the association's Central Council.

Members

According to Muhammad Sahimi, the party "has a significant number of followers and sympathizers among the younger clerics".^[7]

Central council members

28 members of the party's central council are:

• Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha (Secretary-General)
• Majid Ansari (Speaker)
• Mohammad Khatami (Head of Council)
• Mohammad Hashemi
• Hadi Khamenei
• Ali Ajam
• Mohammad-Ali Abtahi
• Mohammad-Ali Ansari
• Mohammad Mousavi-Bojnourdi

• Issa Velayi
• Mohammad Razavi
• Seyyed Mohammad Hashemi
• Ali-Akbar Ashtiani
• Mohammad-Ali Khosravi
• Taqi Durchih'i
• Serajeddin Mousavi
• Ali Mohammad Dastgheib Shirazi
• Fazel Ferdosi

• Ali-Asghar Rahmani Khalili
• Assadollah Kian-Ersi
• Mohammad Moghaddam
• Mojtaba Nourmofidi
• Mohammad-Ali Nezamzadeh
• Mehdi Emam-Jamarani
• Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari
• Mohammad-Ali Sadoughi
• Asadollah Bayat-Zanjani

Other members

• Mehdi Karroubi (former member)
• Sadegh Khalkhali (deceased)
• Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur (deceased)
• Hadi Ghaffari
• Rasoul Montajabnia
• Abdollah Nouri
• Mohammad-Reza Tavassoli (deceased)
• Hassan Sane'i
• Mahmoud Doayi
• Ghodratollah Alikhani
• Mohammad-Ali Rahmani

See also

• Political parties in Iran
• Clericalism in Iran

External links

• Mr Khatami, the Chairman of the Central Council of Militant Clerics Society, from Mohammad Ali Abtahi's weblog (in Persian)
• Mousavi Khoiniha became the secretary general of the Militant Clerics Society, from BBC Persian
• First meeting notes of Militant Clerics Society, from Mohammad Ali Abtahi's Persian weblog

Notes and References

1. Web site: List of Legally Registerred Parties in Iran. Khorasan Newspaper. Pars Times. 21 August 2015. 14759. 4. July 30, 2000.
2. Hossein . Bashiriyeh . Hossein Bashiriyeh . Civil Society and Democratisation during Khatami's First Term . Global Dialogue . 3 . 2–3 . 19–26 . Spring–Summer 2001 . 1986-2601 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160507001037/http://www.worlddialogue.org/print.php?id=143 . 2016-05-07 .
3. • Hossein. Asayesh. Adlina Ab. . Halim. Jayum A.. Jawan. Seyedeh Nosrat. Shojaei. Political Party in Islamic Republic of Iran: A Review. Journal of Politics and Law. 4. 1. 221–230. March 2011. 1913-9047. Canadian Center of Science and Education. 10.5539/jpl.v4n1p221 . free.
     • Book: Golkar. Saeid. Captive Society: The Basij Militia and Social Control in Iran. 2015. Columbia University Press. Washington D.C.. 15. after a split in the Militant Clergy Association [Jame'e-e Rohaniat-e Mobarez], Rahmani joined the left-wing party known as the Assembly of Militant Clerics, or Majma'-e Rohaniun-e Mobarez..
   • Encyclopedia: JAMʿIYAT-E MOʾTALEFA-YE ESLĀMI ii. Jamʿiyat-e Moʾtalefa and the Islamic Revolution. Encyclopædia Iranica. February 20, 2013. December 15, 2008. Bibliotheca Persica Press. New York City. XIV. Rahnema. Ali. March 15, 2016. Fasc. 5. 483–500. ...Society of Tehran's Militant Clergy, became largely overshadowed by the left-leaning clerical faction of Society of Tehran's Militant Clerics (Majmaʿ-e ruhāniun-e mobārez-e Tehran)..
   • Book: Yadullah Shahibzadeh. Islamism and Post-Islamism in Iran: An Intellectual History. Springer. 94. 2016. 9781137578259. With Khomeini's backing, the leftist faction within the Society of Militant Clergy (Jameeh-ye Rouhaniyat-e Mobarez) left the organization and established the Association of Militant Clerics (Majma-e Rouhaniun-e Mobarez)..
   • Hossein . Bashiriyeh . Hossein Bashiriyeh . Civil Society and Democratisation during Khatami's First Term . Global Dialogue . 3 . 2–3 . 19–26 . Spring–Summer 2001 . 1986-2601 . . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160507001037/http://www.worlddialogue.org/print.php?id=143 . 2016-05-07. ...Association of Combatant Clerics, which was an important party in the left wing.
4. Brumberg, Daniel, Reinventing Khomeini: The Struggle for Reform in Iran, University of Chicago Press, 2001, p.162
5. Mneisi, Ahmad. Web site: The power shift within Iran's right wing . 19 April 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060210063745/http://www.ahram.org.eg/acpss/eng/ahram/2004/7/5/EGYP1.HTM . 10 February 2006 . dead . At the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.
6. Wright, Robin, Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East, Penguin Press, 2008, p.300
7. Web site: The Political Groups. Tehran Bureau. Muhammad Sahimi. Muhammad Sahimi. 21 August 2015. 12 May 2009.