Guerrilla groups of Iran

Guerrilla groups were particularly notable and active in Iran from 1971 to 1977 when they fought the government of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The groups shared a commitment to armed struggle to overthrow the pro-Western Pahlavi regime, but differed in ideology. Many were Marxist in ideology while the largest group, People's Mujahedin of Iran, was founded as an Islamic socialist organization.

While the guerrilla movement failed to bring down the Pahlavi regime, the four guerrilla organizations - the Feda'i, the pro-Tudeh Feda'i Munsh'eb, the Islamic Mujahedin and the Marxist Mujahedin - are said to have "delivered the regime its coup de grace," in the street fighting of February 9-11 1979. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=qh_QotrY7RkC&dq=iran+between+two+revolutions&pg=PP1&ots=3DAUi6pHBW&sig=_NKSMDQkqth5kMJduAyxL4qFDEs&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADBR_enUS227US227&q=%27%27Iran+Between+Two+Revolutions%27%27+&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail#PPA481,M1 Iran Between Two Revolutions By Ervand Abrahamian] , p.495]

According to Ervand Abrahamian, a scholar of the subject:

In terms of political background, the guerrillas can be divided into five groups:
#the Sazaman-i Cherikha-yi Feda'i Khalq-i Iran ( The Organization of the Iranian People's Guerrilla Freedom Fighters), known in short as the Marxist Feda'i;
#the Sazman'i Mujahedin-i Khalq-i Iran (The Organization of the Iranian Peoples' Freedom Fighters), generally referred to as the Islamic Mujahedin;
#the Marxist offshoot from the Mujadedin, known as the Marxist Mujahedin or Peykar;
#small Islamic groups on the whole limited to one locality: Gorueh-i Abu Zarr (Abu Zarr Group) in Nahavand, Gorueh-i Shi'iyan-i Rasin (True Shi'i Group) in Hamadan, Gorueh-i Allah Akbar (Allah Akbar Group) in Isfahan, and Goreueh-i al-Fajar (Al-Fajar Group) in Zahedan;
#small Marxist groups. These included both independent groups, such as the Sazman-i Azadibakhshi-i Khalzha-yi (Organization for the Liberation of the Iranian Peoples), Gorueh-i Luristan, [etc.] [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=qh_QotrY7RkC&dq=iran+between+two+revolutions&pg=PP1&ots=3DAUi6pHBW&sig=_NKSMDQkqth5kMJduAyxL4qFDEs&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADBR_enUS227US227&q=%27%27Iran+Between+Two+Revolutions%27%27+&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail#PPA481,M1 Iran Between Two Revolutions By Ervand Abrahamian] , p.481]

Guerrilla groups formed it is believed, because the non-armed, mass-based communist Tudeh party was under such intense repression it was unable to function, while in the outside world guerillas Mao Tse Tung, General Vo Nguyen Giap and Che Guevara were having, or had had, much success. The Iranian guerrilla strategy has been described by Abrahamian as "heroic deeds of violent resistance to break the spell of government terror".

In a situation where there are no firm links between the revolutionary intelligentsia and the masses, we are not like fish in water, but rather like isolated fish surrounded by threatening crocodiles. Terror, repression, and absence of democracy have made it impossible for us to create working-class organizations. To break the spell of our weakness and to inspire the people into action we must resort to revolutionary armed struggle... ["Iran Between Two Revolutions" by Ervand Abrahamian, Princeton University Press, 1982, p.485, from a tract by A. Poyan] ]

The background of the guerrillas was overwhelming educated middle class. From 1971 to 1977 an estimated 341 of them were killed, of whom over 90% of those for whom information could be found were intellectuals. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=qh_QotrY7RkC&dq=iran+between+two+revolutions&pg=PP1&ots=3DAUi6pHBW&sig=_NKSMDQkqth5kMJduAyxL4qFDEs&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADBR_enUS227US227&q=%27%27Iran+Between+Two+Revolutions%27%27+&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail#PPA480,M1 Iran Between Two Revolutions By Ervand Abrahamian] , p.480]

The event from which most historians mark the beginning of the guerrilla era in Iran was the February 8, 1971 attack on a gendarmerie post at Siakal on the Caspian Sea. Guerillas killed three policemen and freed two previously arrested guerrillas. [Mottahedeh, Roy, "The Mantle of the Prophet : Religion and Politics in Iran", One World, Oxford, 1985, 2000, p.329] [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=qh_QotrY7RkC&dq=iran+between+two+revolutions&pg=PP1&ots=3DAUi6pHBW&sig=_NKSMDQkqth5kMJduAyxL4qFDEs&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADBR_enUS227US227&q=%27%27Iran+Between+Two+Revolutions%27%27+&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail#PPA480,M1 Iran Between Two Revolutions By Ervand Abrahamian] , p.480]

Following the Iranian Revolution most of the groups were successfully suppressed by the Islamic Republic. People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMoI) continued but moved to Iraq which was at war with the Islamic Republic. The (PMoI) currently describes itself as a non-violent, democratic opposition group.

The most notable Iranian guerrilla groups were

*People's Mujahedin of Iran (Mojāhedin-e Khalq-e Irān)
*Organization of Iranian People's Fedaian (Majority)
*Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas
*Peykar

ee also

*List of guerrilla movements
*Organizations of the Iranian Revolution

ources

*" [http://books.google.com/books?id=qh_QotrY7RkC&dq=iran+between+two+revolutions&pg=PP1&ots=3DAUi6pHBW&sig=_NKSMDQkqth5kMJduAyxL4qFDEs&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADBR_enUS227US227&q=%27%27Iran+Between+Two+Revolutions%27%27+&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail Iran Between Two Revolutions] " By Ervand Abrahamian, Princeton University Press, 1982
* Mottahedeh, Roy, "The Mantle of the Prophet : Religion and Politics in Iran", One World, Oxford, 1985, 2000

References and notes