The Islamic Debate about Land Reform in the Iranian Parliament, 1981-86

The issue of land reform divided the ruling establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the 1980s into two broad factions: radicals who favoured a redistribution of the lands of the large landowners, and conservatives who held fast onto the principle of the sanctity of private property. This article analyses the composition of these two factions in the Iranian Parliament and the arguments they used in the public debates. It shows how the radicals who invoked the spirit of Islam were finally defeated by the conservatives who were able to use the written text of the Shari'a against them