Iran Party حزب ایران | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Secretary-General | Bagher Ghadiri-Asl |
| Founded | October 1941; 83 years ago (1941-10)[1]as the Engineers’ Association May 1944; 80 years ago (1944-05)[2] |
| Merger of | Motherland Party |
| Headquarters | Tehran |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-left[3] |
| National affiliation |
|
| Slogan | |
| Party flag | |
 | |
| Website | |
| hezbeiran | |
TheIran Party (Persian:حزب ایران,romanized: Ḥezb-e Irān) is a socialist and nationalist party inIran. Founded in 1941, it is described as the "backbone of theNational Front", the leading umbrella organization ofIranian nationalists established in 1949.[4] The party's total membership has never exceeded the several hundred figure.[5][6][7]
The Iran Party's core members derived from the Iranian Engineers’ Association (Persian:کانون مهندسین ایران,romanized: Kānun-e mohandesin-e Irān).[2] In the1944 Iranian legislative election, five of the party's leaders, including Rezazadeh Shafaq,Ghulam'Ali Farivar, AhdulHamid Zanganeh, Hussein Mu'aven, andAbdallah Mu'azemi, won seats, as well asMohammad Mossadegh (who was not a member but whom the party effectively supported).[8]
From June 1946[9] to January 1947,[2] it was allied with the communistTudeh Party and some other left-wing parties under the nameUnited Front of Progressive Parties. Following the alliance, some members left the party in protest and established theIran Unity Party.[2] The party was part of the short-livedcoalition government of Ahmad Qavam in 1946.[2]
In January 1947, the party expressed support for theEisenhower Doctrine in a statement.[2]
The party helped Mossadegh establish theNational Front,nationalize the oil industry and rise to power. Some members held office duringMosaddegh government.[2] It was suppressed following theBritish–American-backed coup d'état in 1953[2] and was outlawed in 1957, on the grounds that it had an alliance with theTudeh Party of Iran ten years earlier.[10] It was revived in 1960 and actively contributed to theNational 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, alongsideLeague of Socialists andNation Party, it revived theNational Front (IV) and demandedRuhollah Khomeini's return to Iran.[2] In early 1979, then-secretary-general of the partyShapour 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]
| Name | Tenure | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| Allahyar Saleh | 1944–Unknown | [2] |
| Abolfazl Qassemi | Unknown | [2] |
| Asghar Gitibin | Unknown | [2] |
| Karim Sanjabi | Unknown | [2] |
| Shapour Bakhtiar | 1978–1979 | [2] |
| Abolfazl Qassemi | 1979–1993 | [12] |
| Nezameddin Movahed | 1999–2007 | |
| Aligholi Bayani | 2007–2009 | |
| Sayed Hassan Amin | 2009–2019 | |
| Bagher Ghadiri-Asl | Current |
Founded by mostly of European-educated technocrats, it advocated "a diluted form ofFrench socialism"[8] (i.e., it "modeled itself on" the moderateSocialist Party of France)[13] and promotedsocial democracy[14] andliberal nationalism.[15] The socialist tent of the party was more akin to that of theFabian Society than to thescientific socialism ofKarl Marx.[16] Its focus onliberal socialism anddemocratic socialism principles made it quite different from pure left-wing parties, and it did not show much involvement inlabour rights discussions.[2] The party is secular[1] and believesIslam is "sacred a religion to mix with the bread-and-butter issues of daily politics."[17]
Iran Party, a left-of-center noncommunist grouping of intellectuals, technocrats, professionals and students
