[1] The IIP evolved out of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, and was banned from 1961 during Iraqi nationalist rule, something which continued throughout the reign of the Pan-Arab Ba'ath Party right up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Like the Muslim Brotherhood, the IIP's religious rather than ethno-political ideology made the party systematically incompatible under the Iraqi governments between 1961 and 2003.

[2] Mohsen Abdel Hamid served on the Iraqi Governing Council that worked alongside the Coalition Provisional Authority after the invasion of Iraq.

On 9 November 2004, the IIP withdrew from the government in protest over Operation Phantom Fury, an offensive at Fallujah led by U.S. forces.

The leader of Al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Mu'sab al-Zarqawi, condemned the IIP for their participation in the general election.