Tudeh Party of Iran: Encyclopedia II - Tudeh Party of Iran - History

Tudeh Party of Iran - History

Tudeh Party of Iran - Birth of the Communist movement in Iran

The history of the communist movement in Iran dates back to the late 19th century, when Marxism first became introduced to the nation's intellectual and working classes as a result of the rapid growth of industry and the subsequent transformation of the country from feudalism into capitalism. Being close to Russia and Azerbaijan, northern Iran became the primary center of underground Marxist and social democrat political activity, and many such groups came into being over the years.

The Communist Party of Iran was founded in June of 1920 in Bandar-e Anzali, in the province of Gilan, as a result of the first congress of Iranian social democrats. Heidar Amou Oghly, who was one of the leaders of the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, became the secretary-general of the new party. At the same time, Mirza Koochak Khan Jangali, another major leader of the Constitutional Revolution and also leader of the revolutionary Jangali (Foresters Movement), established the Soviet Republic of Gilan with the assistance of the Soviet Red Army.

The British, who were a dominant influence in the Qajar court of Tehran, sent agents to infiltrate the Foresters Movement in a carefully prepared plot which would ultimately result in the defeat of both the newly formed Soviet Republic of Gilan and the Communist Party, which came to be banned and persecuted by the central government. Communist and social democrat activity once again went underground. In the early 1920s the Qajar dynasty finally collapsed, and Reza Shah ascended to the throne in 1925, establishing the Pahlavi dynasty. The new Shah introduced many positive reforms, such as limiting the power of the Shi'a clergy, but also in turn established an authoritarian dictatorship.

Tudeh Party of Iran - Foundation of the Tudeh Party

The Allied invasion of 1941-42 resulted in the end of Reza Shah's reign and his forced exile to South Africa. Many political prisoners were subsequently released and under this new atmosphere, nationalist and socialist groups once again flourished. On 29 September 1941, the Tudeh Party was officially founded, electing Soleiman Mohsen Eskandari as chairman.

In 1944, the party entered the 14th Majlis elections and eight of its candidates were elected. From this point on the party grew immensely and became a major force in Iranian politics. In 1949 the party was blamed for a failed assassination attempt against the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and was banned. However, the party continued to function underground for a time before being able to operate in the open once again in the early 1950s.

In 1951 Mohammad Mossadegh was elected as prime minister and established a close partnership between his nationalist movement, the National Front of Iran, and the Tudeh Party. Mossadegh nationalized the oil industry and introduced many socialist reforms, sparking fears amongst the British and the Americans that Iran might be establishing closer ties with the Soviet Union. This culiminated in a joint British-American sponsored coup d'etat in 1953 against Mossadegh which saw the democratically elected prime minister forced from office and the end of democracy in Iran. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi thereafter assumed dictatorial powers and banned most political groups, including Mossadegh's National Front, which along with the Tudeh Party, continued to function underground.

In 1955, many military personnel were discovered to have been active in the Tudeh Party and were arrested and eventually executed. Around this time many internal problems within the party surfaced and the party leadership were found to have been acting against the membership. As a result the Tudeh Party was unable to resist the attacks made against it by the Shah's government and the movement fell into decline. The Central Committee of the party was eventually reorganized by the late 1950s.

In 1965 the party faced a second division between the mainstream of the organization and the splinter faction which advocated violent struggle against the government by arming the tribes of southern Iran. This faction caused a great deal of damage and three years passed before the unity of the party was restored.

In 1966 several party members, including Ali Khavari and Parviz Hekmatjoo of the Central Committee, and Asef Razmdideh and Saber Mohammadzadeh, were arrested and sentenced to death. This sparked international outcry and hunger strikes in Europe which forced the government to reduce the sentences to life imprisonment. These events created much international sympathy for the worker's struggle in Iran and helped unify the party after the split. The Tudeh Party from this point on becomes established as one of the strongest underground movements and helps to pave the way for the forthcoming Iranian Revolution of 1978.

Tudeh Party of Iran - The Iranian Revolution

In the early 1970s the Iranian guerrilla movement began in northern Iran in the province of Mazandaran. The 1970s also witnessed the birth of widespread worker's strikes and demonstrations, and university campuses became a hotbed of revolutionary activity. The Tudeh Party drastically increased it's activities, recruiting many youth and organizing regional committees.

After the revolution, many political prisoners were freed and the Tudeh Party and other leftist groups were able to participate in the presidential and parliamentary elections for the first time in many years. However, the majority of seats in the Majlis were won by the Islamic Republican Party of Ayatollah Beheshti and leftist and nationalist organizations were forced out of the loop. The newly elected President, Abolhassan Bani Sadr, who had originally been close with Khomeini, also became increasingly frustrated with the developments that had been taking place and opposed the domination of the clergy and the religious factions in Iranian politics.

In 1981, the Majlis, dominated by the Islamic Republican Party, forced Bani Sadr out of office, which initiated a wave of protests and demonstrations from all segments of the populace. Bani Sadr later fled the country. Armed revolutionary committees loyal to Khomeini (which came to be known as the Pasdaran) arrested many thousands of youth and activists from both nationalist and leftist groups, many of whom were later tried by Ayatollah Sadegh Khalkhali, who was infamously known as the Hanging Judge, and executed.

Attempting to take advantage of this situation, which saw many leftist groups (and rivals to the Tudeh) eliminated, the Tudeh Party leadership decided to take part in the new regime and to collaborate with the clerical establishment. This ultimately failed, and in 1982 the leadership were arrested and imprisoned, and later more than 5,000 members and supporters of the party were also arrested. The party was also banned around this time.

As a result of these purges the party gradually collapsed, with a great number of members leaving the country into exile, while many party leaders renounced communism and reconciled with the government of the Islamic Republic. Over the years thousands of political prisoners, including many members of the Tudeh, were sentenced to death and executed.

However, the party managed to survive and continues to operate as an underground political organization in Iran, with the new Central Committee, elected in 1992, based in exile. It is currently led by Ali Khavari.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki