The Combatant Clergy Association () is a politically active group in Iran, but not a political party in the traditional sense.
The CCA has never been registered as a political party; however, it acts as a fragmented caucus and has actively operated in the electoral arena, competing for votes. Thus, it is considered an elite party and can be classified as a political party according to the minimalist definition by Angelo Panebianco. The traditional conservative clerical association was the majority party in the fourth and fifth parliaments after the Islamic revolution.
The organization has great influence over non-elective institutions such as the judicial system, the Guardian Council and Revolutionary Guard Corps.
History After the 15 Khordad demonstration of 1963 failed in Iran, it was felt that a more coherent organization was needed for Iran's anti-Shah movement. The association was founded in 1977 by a group of clerics with intentions to use Islamic culture and traditions to overthrow the Shah. Although the exact founding members of the group are unsure, some of them were said to be Ali Khamenei, Morteza Motahhari, Mohammad Beheshti, Mohammad Javad Bahonar, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Fazlollah Mahallati and Mohammad Mofatteh, and its current members include founding member Ali Khamenei.
The Combatant Clergy Association was one of the few republican groups active before the Iran–Iraq War. A "free political atmosphere" was not provided in Iran due to the special conditions of wartime, and the Combatant Clergy Association was the only active political organisation after the dissolution of the Islamic Republican Party (All IRP clerics were members of CCA but not all CCA founders were members of IRP). By the emergence of factional differences in government of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the organization was divided, and Association of Combatant Clerics was formed.
Recent years CCA is suffering from unresolved contention between its elites. Hassan Rouhani, president of Iran between 2013 and 2021, is a member of the faction although he has been inactive and not participated their regular sessions since the disputed 2009 presidential elections, a situation that applies to Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as well. The association however backed Rafsanjani and Rouhani in 2016 Assembly of Experts election and included both on its list, despite backing Rouhani's rival, Ebrahim Raisi, for president in 2017.
Goals and activities The association brought together anti-Shah clerics and bazaaris. It also aimed to preserve the revolution and its achievements. Supporting the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist and state organization are some of the group's goals. The association does not recognize itself as a political party and hence does not have any written strategy or policy. The association mostly announces its political viewpoints around election time.
Members of the association have had important positions in the different governments of Iran. By 2004, four out of eight presidents of the executive branch of the government had been selected from this association. Also, the president of the judicial branch of the government was one of the members of the association, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, for two five-year periods, from 1989 to 1999.
Political position The CCA is a right-wing Khomeinist group; it actively supports Iranian Shia theocracyAbrahamian, Khomeinism, 1993: p.33-36. and is an Islamic nationalist, Iranian nationalist, anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist.
Foreign policy The association believes in making diplomatic relationships with all world countries except the United States and Israel, and their criteria in this regard is avoiding both being dominated by other countries and domination over others. However, they believe that there can be relationships with France and the United Kingdom under defined conditions. The association believes that there are intrinsic differences between the value system of Iran and western societies.
Funding The fourth chapter of the Combatant Clergy Association's statute deals with the financial issues of the association.
Election results Presidential elections President of IranElection yearCandidateFirst roundSecond roundResultVotes%RankVotes%Rank1981Ali Khamenei16,007,07295.01%1stcolspan=3 198512,203,87087.9% 1stcolspan=3 1989Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani15,537,39494.5% 1stcolspan=3 199310,449,93364.0% 1stcolspan=3 1997Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri7,242,85924.91% 2ndcolspan=3 2001Did not participate2005Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani6,179,65322.00% 2nd10,046,701 36.762nd2009Tactical voting to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad24,592,79363.14% 1stcolspan=3 2013Suppurting to Ali Akbar Velayati2,268,7536.18% 5thcolspan=3 2017Ebrahim Raisi15,835,79439.43% 2ndcolspan=3 2021Ebrahim Raisi18,021,94572.35% 1stcolspan=3 2024Mostafa Pourmohammadi206,3970.88% 4thcolspan=3
Parliament ElectionExclusive seats±%RankAlliance198833.33% 2ndFaction right1992 4449.62% 1stFaction right1996 2440.74% 1stFFLIL2000 5618.62% 2ndFFLIL2004 14267.58% 1stABII2008 5947.24% 1stUFP2012 445.86% 1stUFP2016 4928.96% 2ndPGC2020 9361.03% 1stCCIRF2024 1644.48% 4thUCIRF
Assembly of Experts ElectionSeats won+/−AllianceRef1982Faction right1990 8Faction right1998 4Faction right2006 10Principlists2016 7Principlists2024 8 Principlists
List of General Secretaries #NameTenureRef1Fazlollah Mahallati1977–31 October 19812Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani1 November 1981 – 21 October 2014—Mohammed Emami-Kashani 19963Ali Movahedi-Kermani2 December 2014 – 30 May 20184Mostafa Pourmohammadi30 May 2018–present
References