Islamic Republican Party

The Islamic Republican Party (Hezb-e Jomhuri-ye Eslami, IRP) was the dominant political party of the early Islamic Republic, co-founded in 1979 by Ruhollah Khomeini's inner circle including Mohammad Beheshti, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Ali Khamenei, Mohammad-Javad Bahonar, and Abdolkarim Mousavi-Ardabili. It dominated the first three Majlis sessions and the executive branch until its dissolution in 1987 by Khomeini's order, following irreconcilable internal factional disputes. Its dissolution led directly to the formation of the rival Combatant Clergy Association and Association of Combatant Clerics as successor factions.