New Iranian party formed

Politics must go beyond elections, says new group

By Jim Muir in Tehran

A new political party has been formed in Iran, aiming to take a different approach from the existing reformist parties which currently predominate in the Iranian parliament.

Political parties are still something of a novelty in modern day Iran.

Only over the past three years or so have they been tolerated and just about a dozen have entered the fray since the gates were opened.

President Khatami has tried to promote reform

The fact is that parties are not really part of Iran's political culture, something the new group - The Will of the Iranian Nation - aims to correct.

Its founders believe a lack of political culture is behind the failure of all reformist movements in Iran over the past century.

Grass roots reform

The new party was annouced at a news conference by its leader Hakimi Pour.

He said the existing parties were all preoccupied with trying to win elections, rather than looking to the future and promoting grass roots activities aimed at drawing more people into an active political process.

Mr defined the goals of this party as being to prepare the current generation for reform by spreading a new political culture of team work.

The reform movement, he said, should not be dependent on individual personalities such as President Mohammad Khatami.

Hardliners

The leaders of the new party say they would not have formed it if they were not critical of the existing groups.

But they intend to work alongside the other factions in the reformist movement and to complement them rather than challenging them.

New party wants Iranians to think about their country's political direction

The new party is born at a time when the reform movement needs all the help it can get.

Although it won general elections a year ago, hardliners who control the judiciary and other key power centres have struck back hard.

Many newspapers have been shut down and numerous reform-minded journalists and other figures have been arrested and jailed.