Atlas / Organisations / Iranian Reformists

Iranian Reformists

1997– · Iran · Islamic Liberal · Movement · coding confidence medium

+02ECmarket
+04CUtraditional
−02AUpluralist
+03SCcentral
+05IDascriptive
−06CHlawful

Each axis runs from −10 to +10, with zero a genuine mixed or balanced position rather than an absence of opinion. A score describes a stated position and a governing record; it is not a judgement of merit. What each score means →

Core principles

Rule of law, civil society, press freedom and détente, within rather than against the Islamic Republic.

Economic model

Privatisation, foreign investment, sanctions relief, subsidy reform.

Organisation of powers

Elected institutions strengthened relative to unelected ones; candidates routinely disqualified before elections.

Reading note

Included to show that the internal variation within a single regime can exceed the variation between some separate countries.

Check a claim about Iranian Reformists. The interactive atlas measures the distance between any two organisations across all six axes and shows which ones carry the disagreement.

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The evidence for every score

All six cells are sourced. A rationale explains what the score is measuring and each artefact is something a third party can check without taking anyone's word for it.

EC · Economic organisation · scored +02

Coded +2: privatisation and foreign investment within a state-dominated economy.

  • Documented act or statuteThe 2015 nuclear agreement was pursued largely for sanctions relief and investment.

CU · Social and cultural order · scored +04

Coded +4: liberalising within a theocratic frame rather than against it.

  • Programme textCampaigns have focused on press freedom and enforcement of dress codes rather than on abolishing them.

AU · Organisation of power · scored −02

Coded −2: strengthening elected institutions relative to unelected ones.

  • Documented act or statuteKhatami's 1997–2005 presidency expanded press licensing and civil society before reversal.

SC · Scale of decision · scored +03

Coded +3: a unitary state with détente abroad.

  • Programme textThe dialogue among civilisations initiative was the movement's foreign-policy signature.

ID · Rule of membership · scored +05

Coded +5: within the confessional membership rule of the republic.

  • ScholarshipReformists have not challenged the constitutional exclusion of unrecognised minorities.

CH · Method and tempo · scored −06

Coded −6: working inside the system, and repressed for it.

  • Documented act or statuteThe 2009 Green Movement leaders have been under house arrest since 2011 without trial.

Nearest organisations by measured distance

Straight-line separation across all six axes, out of a maximum of 49.0. Proximity means similarity of stated position, not endorsement and not resemblance in outcome.

Countries

Iran

Cite this page

Scores are revised on evidence, so a citation should carry the version it refers to. Version 4.3.1 is current; the revision log records every change.

McGrath, K. (2026). Iranian Reformists. The Political Atlas, version 4.2. https://thepoliticalatlas.com/organisations/iranreform/ (accessed 2026-08-01).

Free to quote and reproduce with attribution. This is a synthesis rather than a peer-reviewed dataset — where an authoritative figure is needed, cite the Chapel Hill Expert Survey, the Manifesto Project or V-Dem.