Tudeh Party of Iran

Infobox Political party
name_english = Tudeh Party of Iran
name_native = حزب توده ایران
colorcode = Red
party_
leader = Ali Khavari
foundation = flagicon|Iran Tehran, Iran, 1941
ideology = Communism
headquarters = flagicon|Germany Berlin, Germany flagicon|UK London, UK
international = none
website = [http://www.tudehpartyiran.org/english.htm Tudeh Party Iran]

Formed in 1941, the Tudeh Party of Iran ("Party of the Masses of Iran"; _fa. حزب توده ایران "Hezb-e Tudeh Iran") is an Iranian communist party. Its leader was Vito Amiri Safiosi, although his influence waned after the 1953 coup against the then-incumbent prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh.Fact|date=June 2008 The party still exists, but, following government action against it in 1982 and the executions of political prisoners in 1988 during the regime of Ruhollah Khomeini, it is now much weaker.

History

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 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.

Vito Amiri Safiosi did not start the regime however was the apprentice of Mohamad Montaseri one of the founding fathers. Vito was of Italian-Iranian decent, little is known about much of his work due to all was burnt by the regime. Omid Rahmanian the son of Hassan Rahmanian wrote a book on the life of Vito Safiosi from the memories of the father, we know he was a scholar and philosopher who practised medicine, after his life was threatened Vito escaped to Italy with two sons and a daughter however their location is unknown.

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.Fact|date=October 2008 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 reforms, such as limiting the power of the Shi'a clergy, but also in turn established an authoritarian dictatorship.

In 1929-30, the party organized strikes in an Isfahan textile mill, the Mazandaran railways, Mashed carpet workshops, and most importantly, in the British-owned oil industry. The government cracked down heaviliy and some 200 communists were arrested, 38 were incarcerated in Qasr Prison in Tehran. "Seven died there - all from natural causes." Along with the Stalin purges, which took a heavy toll from Iranian communist exiles living in the Soviet Union, these arrests meant the Communist Party of Iran "ceased to exist for all practical purposes outside the walls of Qasr." [Abrahamian, Ervand, "Tortured Confessions: Prisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran" by Ervand Abrahamian, (University of California Press, 1999) p.28-9]

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.

Initially the party was intended to be "a liberal rather than a radical party," with a platform stressing the importance of "constitutional" and "individual rights", protecting "democracy" and "judicial integrity" from fascism, imperialism, militarism. "At Soleiman Eskandari's urging, the party intitially barred women from membership, organized Moharram processions, and designated a special prayer room in its main clubhouse." However the party moved "rapidly to the left" within months of its founding. [Abrahamian, "Tortured Confessions" (1999), p.77-8 ]

In 1944, the party entered the 14th Majlis elections and eight of its candidates were elected. Two event that tarnished the appeal of the Tudeh in 1944-46 were the Soviet demand for an oil concession in northern Iran and the Soviet sponsorsing of ethnic revolts in Kurdestan and Azerbaijan. Despite the fact that Tudeh deputies in the Majles had vigorously demanded the nationalization of the whole petroleum industry, the Tudeh party supported the Soviets on grounds of `socialist solidarity`, `internationalism,` and `anti-imperialism.` Abrahamian, "Tortured Confessions" (1999) p.82]

From this point on the party grew immensely and became a major force in Iranian politics. By early 1945, the party had managed to create the first mass organization in Iran's history. Police records later revealed it have an estimated 2,200 hard-core members - 700 of them in Tehran - "10,000s of sympathizers in its youth and women's organizations, and 100,000s of sympathizers in its labor and craft unions." [Abrahamian, "Tortured Confessions," (1999) p.81]

This period has been called the height of the party's intellectual influence which came in large part from the prestige and propaganda of the Soviet Union as "the world's most progressive nation." Few intellectuals "dared oppose" the party "even if they did not join." Marking the end of the "near hegemony of the party over intellectual life" in Iran was the resignation from the party of celebrated writer Jalal Al-e-Ahmad circa 1948 to form a socialist splinter group in protest against the Tudeh's "nakedly pro-Soviet" policies. [ Mottahedeh, Roy, "The Mantle of the Prophet : Religion and Politics in Iran", One World, Oxford, 1985, 2000, p.290]

1949 crackdown

In 1949, the party was blamed for a failed assassination attempt against the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and was banned. The Shah cracked down on many opposition groups but the Tudeh bore the brunt. Accusing the party of attempted regicide, "the government banned the Tudeh, confiscated its assets, dissolved affiliated organizations, especially the Central Council and rounded up some 200 leaders and cadres." Abrahamian, "Tortured Confessions," (1999) p.84]

However, the party continued to function underground for a time before being able to operate in the open once again in the early 1950s. During this time, Iranian public support was growing for nationalisation of the British Anglo Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) [Saikal, Amin, "The Rise and Fall of the Shah", (Princeton University Press, 1980), p.42] ndash later British Petroleum (BP)ndash whose profits had greatly exceeded its royalty payments to the Iranian government.

In 1951, Mohammad Mossadegh, who supported nationalisation, was appointed prime minister by the Shah and established a close partnership between his nationalist movement, the National Front of Iran. Mossadegh oversaw the oil nationalization issue and rising tension in Iran as the AIOC withdrew its employees and established a boycott of Iranian oil, causing great economic difficulty and polarization in Iran. [Saikal, "The Rise and Fall of the Shah", (1980), p.43-4] Despite this nationalization was at first enormously popular in Iran and Mossadegh capitalized on it to establish emergency rule, by which he could bypass the Majles and institute socialist reforms. Although the Tudeh did not support Mossadeq [Abrahamian, Ervand, "Iran Between Two Revolutions" by Ervand Abrahamian, (Princeton University Press, 1982), p.323] it strongly supported nationalisation and other reforms and grew in popularity during this period.

According to one observer:

One must admit that the Tudeh was a major force participating in the struggle to nationalize the oil company. ... although diverse elements participated in the July uprising, the impartial observer must confess that the Tudeh played an important part - perhaps even the most important part. ... If in the rallies before March 1952 one-third of the demonstrators had been Tudeh and two-thirds had been National Front, after March 1952, the proportions were reversed. [Comment of Hussein Fateh, "the anticommunist leader of the defunct Comrade's party":Panjah "Saleh-e Naft-i Iran" Abrahamian, Ervand, "Iran Between Two Revolutions" (1982), p.320]

In 1953, the American CIA and British intelligence agents, aided retired General Zahedi and Colonel Nassiri in a coup d'etat against Mossadegh which ended with the prime minister being forced from office. The coup was a major event in Third World and 20th Century history and there is debate as to how much of the blame for the overthrow can be traced to bribes paid by the CIA and how much to domestic dissatisfaction with Mossadeq [Nasr, Vali, "The Shia Revival", Norton, (2005), p.124] [Mackay, Sandra, "The Iranians", Plume (1997), p.203,4] [Abrahamian, Ervand, "Iran Between Two Revolutions" by Ervand Abrahamian, Princeton University Press, 1982, p.276-7] Disputed-inline ; and how much of the motivation of the British and American coup plotters was desire for profits from Iran's oil and how much desire to contain Soviet hegemony, and its influence in Iran. Whatever the motivations 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.

Crackdown following 1953 coup

Between 1953 and 1957, Iranian security forces using "brute force, together with the breaking of the cryptographic code - probably with CIA know-how - ... tracked down 4,121 party members." This constituted the whole Tudeh underground and "more than half the party membership". It also showed how effective Tudeh infiltration of the military had been. It had 477 members in the armed forces, "22 colonels, 69 majors, 100 captains, 193 lieutenants, 19 noncommissioned officers, and 63 military cadets," although none of these were in the "crucial tank divisions around Tehran" that could have been used for a coup detat and which the Shah had screened carefully. "Ironically, a Tudeh colonel had been in charge of the Shah's personal security - as well as that of Vice President Richard Nixon when he visited Iran. The Tudeh had the opportunity to assassinate the Shah and the U.S. vice president but not to launch a coup." [Abrahamian, "Tortured Confessions," (1999), p.92]

Around this time many internal problems within the party surfaced and the party leadership were found to have been acting against the membership.Fact|date=March 2008 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.Fact|date=March 2008 The Central Committee of the party was eventually reorganized by the late 1950s. Fact|date=March 2008

In the mid 1960s, the U.S. State Department estimated the party membership to be approximately 1500. [Benjamin, Roger W.; Kautsky, John H.. " [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-0554%28196803%2962%3A1%3C110%3ACAED%3E2.0.CO%3B2-V Communism and Economic Development] ", in The American Political Science Review, Vol. 62, No. 1. (Mar., 1968), pp. 122.]

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.

Islamic 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 its activities, recruiting many youth and organizing regional committees.

Islamic Republic

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.

uppression

While almost all other leftist parties opposed the Islamist forces at this time, and were suppressed as a result, the Tudeh Party leadership decided to collaborate with the new clerical theocratic regime. This may have been to try and take advantage of the lack of competition from the many now suppressed rival leftist groups, or to follow the pro-Tehran line of the Soviet Union. In 1982, however, the Tudeh broke ranks. The Islamist government of Iran had closed down the Tudeh newspaper, and purged Tudeh members from government ministries. It pushed back the invading Iraqi army and had decided to advance into Iraqi territory despite having recovered most of Iranian territory. The Tudeh urged acceptance of a UN peace offer and warned that continuation of the war would `play into the hands of the imperialists.` Quite quickly the government arrested and imprisoned its leadership and later more than 5,000 members and supporters of the party. The party was banned in 1983.

From May 1, 1983 to May 1984 almost all the Tudeh leadership appeared in videos, first individually and then jointing in an October 1983 a "roundtable discussion," confessing to "treason", "subversion", "horrendous crimes", praising Islam and proclaiming Islamic government's superiority over atheistic Marxism-Leninism. [Abrahamian, "Tortured Confessions," (1999), p.177]

"The grand finale" of the Tudeh recantations came on May 1984 when the "party's main theoretician" and co-founder, Ehsan Tabari, appeared on television. A man with "50 years of leftist experiences" told viewers he had read "great Islamic thinkers" such as Ayatollah Motahhari in prison following the 1982 crackdown and had now come

to repudiate the works he had written over the past 40 years. He now realized that his entire life's work was `defective`, damaging`, and `totally spurious` because it had all been based on unreliable thinkers - Freemasons nourished by the Pahlavis; secularists such as Ahmad Kasravi; Western liberals and Marxists linked to `imperialism` and `Zionism` ... [Abrahamian, "Tortured Confessions," (1999), p.204]

Tabari's made frequent references to religion, the Twelve Imams and Islamic thinkers in his recantation and "praised Islam for its `great spiritual strength.`" [Abrahamian, "Tortured Confessions," (1999), p.204-5]

Belief by outside observers that the confession were not given freely was reinforced by the conspicuous absence of Taqi Keymanash and "13 other members" of the Tudeh central committee, who died during prison interrogation. [United Nations (Economic and Social Council) Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran (New York, November 1990), p.53. quoted in Abrahamian, "Tortured Confessions," (1999), p.191]

As a result of these purges the party gradually collapsed,Fact|date=March 2008 with a great number of members leaving the country into exile. It is likely many Tudeh prisoners were killed during the 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners when thousands of Mojehdin and leftist prisoners were killed. One report lists 90 Tudeh killed in just some blocs of Evin and Gohar Dasht prisons.

Current status

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.

Today, the party is mainly based in exile, though active members have remained in Iran since the Iranian Revolution. The party is officially banned and individuals found to be affiliated with communist or socialist groups risk imprisonment and possible execution. It is currently led by Ali Khavari.

ee also

*Constitutionalist movement of Gilan
*Soviet Republic of Gilan
*Co-ordinating Committee of Communist Parties in Britain

References

External links

*en icon [http://www.tudehpartyiran.org/english.htm Tudeh Party of Iran]
* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=H8b_usgKnz4 Party anthem]