Iran's Interior Ministry has approved the registration of a new "reformist" political party, the first in years in the Islamic republic.
Deputy Interior Minister Hossein Ali Amiri told the official IRNA news agency that the Voice of Iranians party was given a license by the ministry on December 1.

The party is led by Sadegh Kharazi, Iran's former ambassador to France and former senior advisor to reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

Kharazi is related by marriage to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

The party includes members of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, a reformist party.

It also includes supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi, a leader of the opposition Green Movement who has been under house arrest since a crackdown on reformists following the country's disputed 2009 presidential election.

By Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty

 

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