Three parties banned from Iran polls

Iran’s election office has banned three reformist parties from taking part in the upcoming legislative polls. The Islamic Participation Front, The Organisation of the Islamic Revolution Militants and Freedom Movement of Iran allegedly do not have the licenses required to run for parliament. “As the interior ministry sees these three parties as dissolved and their licenses withdrawn, they will not be allowed to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections,” said the head of the election office Soulat Mortazavi. According to election law only political parties with licenses are allowed to run in the March 2012 polls, he said. An Iranian court had banned the Islamic Participation Front and the Organization of the Islamic Revolution Militants after they protested the controversial results of the 2009 presidential elections. Before the court had issued its ruling against the parties, many of their leaders had been detained or imprisoned. The Islamic Participation Front was established after the 1997 presidential elections won by reformist leader Muhammad Khatami. The Organization of the Islamic Revolution Mujahideen was established 1982 but suspended activities after 37 leftist members broke away from it. The party returned to the political scene in October 1990 when prominent Iranian politicians joined its ranks. The Freedom Movement of Iran was founded in 1961. One of its prominent leaders, Ibrahim Yazdi, was the first Iranian foreign minister after the Islamic Revolution in 1979.