Iranian Women's Party

Today's RFE-RL Newsline reports that Iran is getting its first political party devoted specifically to women's issues, the Iranian Women's Party. Right after the revolution, Iran had almost no political parties, as under the Shah they had been simply an instrument of state control. The regime has continually promoted them, however, and now there are dozens, with the system seeming like it's gradually evolving into something along the Israeli model than that in Canada or the UK. Parliament actually matters, too, for while the top-tier systemic reforms advocated by President Khatami get stone-walled by the hard-liners, smaller social reforms have fared better. It remains to be seen, of course, whether this party will become a force in its own right or simply support candidates offered by other reformist parties.