The Iran Party (Persian: حزب ایران, romanized:Ḥezb-e Irān) is a socialist and nationalist party in Iran. Founded in 1941, it is described as the "backbone of the National Front", the leading umbrella organization of Iranian nationalists established in 1949.[4] The party's total membership has never exceeded the several hundred figure.[5][6][7]
History
The Iran Party's core members derived from the Iranian Engineers’ Association (Persian: کانون مهندسین ایران, romanized:Kānun-e mohandesin-e Irān).[2] In the 1944 Iranian legislative election, five of the party's leaders, including Rezazadeh Shafaq, Ghulam'Ali Farivar, AhdulHamid Zanganeh, Hussein Mu'aven, and Abdallah Mu'azemi, won seats, as well as Mohammad Mossadegh (who was not a member but whom the party effectively supported).[8]
In January 1947, the party expressed support for the Eisenhower Doctrine in a statement.[2]
The party helped Mossadegh establish the National Front, nationalize the oil industry and rise to power. Some members held office during Mosaddegh government.[2] It was suppressed following the British–American-backed coup d'état in 1953[2] and was outlawed in 1957, on the grounds that it had an alliance with the Tudeh Party of Iran ten years earlier.[10] It was revived in 1960 and actively contributed to the National Front (II), which was disintegrated in 1963 and forced to survive secretly. Iran Party held a congress in 1964.[2] Not much is known about the activities of the party between 1964 and the mid-1970s except of some irregular meetings and exchanging of views.[2] In 1977, alongside League of Socialists and Nation Party, it revived the National Front (IV) and demanded Ruhollah Khomeini's return to Iran.[2] In early 1979, then-secretary-general of the party Shapour Bakhtiar was appointed as the last prime minister by the Shah and included two Iran Party members in his cabinet.[2] The party, however, denounced his acceptance of the post, expelled him and called him a "traitor".[11] The party did not play an important role in Iranian political arena after 1979 and was soon declared banned.[2]
123456789101112131415161718192021Haddad Adel, Gholamali; Elmi, Mohammad Jafar; Taromi-Rad, Hassan (31 August 2012). "Iran Party". Political Parties: Selected Entries from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam. EWI Press. pp.141–151. ISBN9781908433022.
↑Foran, John Francis (1988). Social Structure and Social Chan. University of California, Berkeley. p.627. Iran Party, a left-of-center noncommunist grouping of intellectuals, technocrats, professionals and students
↑Seliktar, Ofira (2000). Failing the Crystal Ball Test: The Carter Administration and the Fundamentalist Revolution in Iran. Praeger. p.114. ISBN9780275968724.
↑Abrahamian, Ervand (2013). The Coup: 1953, the CIA, and the roots of modern U.S.-Iranian relations. New York: New Press, The. p.50. ISBN978-1-59558-826-5.
↑Azimi, Fakhreddin (2008). Quest for Democracy in Iran: A Century of Struggle Against Authoritarian Rule. Harvard University Press. p.127. ISBN978-0674027787.
↑Gheissari, Ali; Nasr, Vali (2006), Democracy in Iran: History and the Quest for Liberty, Oxford University Press, p.48
↑Siavoshi, Sussan (1990). Liberal nationalism in Iran: the failure of a movement. Westview Press. p.71. ISBN9780813374130.
