THEOCRACY VERSUS DEMOCRACY - IRAN CONSIDERS POLITICAL-PARTIES

Muhammad Khatami's upset victory in the 1997 presidential election in Iran was due to an unprecedented degree of popular support from Irania ns, including many youths and women, who showed a clear desire for cha nge, Many hoped that the system would open politically, and that the b an on meaningful party activity for the past 16 years would be lifted. For the regime, however, the establishment of parties by civil groups is a direct threat to clerical control, as it is at odds with the the ory of the divine legitimacy of the regime. The alternative, however-o fficial government parties-would amount to little more than the party system under Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.