National Front (Iran)

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National Front
ChairpersonSeyed Hossein Mousavian
SpokespersonMohsen Frashad
FounderMohammad Mosaddegh
Founded
  • 12 November 1949 (1949-11-12) (original)
  • 14 July 1960 (1960-07-14) (second)
  • 29 July 1965 (1965-07-29) (third)
  • 12 June 1977 (1977-06-12) (fourth)
  • 1993 (1993) (current)
HeadquartersTehran
Parliamentary wingNational Movement fraction (1950–1953)
Ideology
Political positionCentre to centre-left[2][3]
Parliament
0 / 290
Website
jebhemeliiran.org

The National Front of Iran (

political organization in Iran, founded by Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1949. It is the oldest and arguably the largest pro-democracy group operating inside Iran[4] despite having never been able to recover the prominence it had in the early 1950s.[5]

Initially, the front was an

nationalization of the Iranian oil industry. In 1951, the Front formed a government which was deposed by the 1953 Iranian coup d'état and subsequently repressed.[6]
Members attempted to revive the Front in 1960, 1965 and 1977 respectively.

Before 1953 and throughout the 1960s, the Front was torn by strife between secular and religious elements;[5][7] over time its coalition split into various squabbling factions, with the Front gradually emerging as the leading organization of secular liberals[8] with nationalist members adhering to liberal democracy and social democracy.[4]

During the

Islamic Republic[2] and was the main symbol of the "nationalist" tendency in the early years of post-revolutionary government.[9] It was banned in July 1981, and although it remains under constant surveillance and is officially still illegal, it is still active inside Iran.[4]

Mossadegh era (1949–1953)

Mohammed Mosaddegh, founder of the National Front

The National Front had its roots in a protest against

ballot-rigging, where Mohammad Mosaddegh led a peaceful procession from his house to the Marble Palace on 15 October 1949, threatened to take sanctuary in a major mosque or shrine, and was eventually allowed into the palace with 19 other people, where they stayed for four days. The Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, eventually gave in and promised fair and honest elections.[10] After the sit-in, the leaders of the protest formed the National Front and elected Mossadegh to be its chairman. The Front was conceived to be a broad alliance of like-minded associations (rather than individuals, as in a normal political party) with the aim of strengthening democracy, press freedom, and constitutional government.[10] The most important groups in the Front were the Iran Party, the Toilers Party, the National Party, and the Tehran Association of Bazaar Trade and Craft Guilds.[11][12]

Soon after its founding, the National Front opposed the existing Western domination and control of Iran's natural resources, and related revenues, which began with

BP, consistently violated the terms of the agreement that had been updated in 1933, and was reluctant to change the terms of the agreement even as Iran's movement for nationalization grew in the late 1940s.[16]
Although AIOC was highly profitable, "its Iranian workers were poorly paid and lived in squalid conditions."

The goal of the National Front was to nationalize Iran's oil resources and to counteract British dominance of Iran's internal affairs by initiating direct relations with the United States. The Front became the governing coalition when it took office in April 1951, with Mosaddegh elected Prime Minister. Mosaddegh's minister of foreign affairs Hosseyn Fâtemi enforced the "Oil Nationalization Act", passed by the Majlis in March and ratified by the Senate. The Act, reluctantly signed by the Shah, called for nationalization of the assets held by AIOC, from which the government of Iran had hitherto only received minimal compensation. This led to British counter-moves and the loss of nearly all income during the Abadan Crisis.

Following Britain's request, U.S. President

Mojâhedine Eslâm (an Islamic party led by Âyatollâh Âbol-Ghâsem Kâšâni).[17]

Second and Third National Front

In the aftermath of the 1953 coup, the National Front was outlawed and its highest-ranking leaders arrested and brought before a military court. The military coup established Mohammad Reza Shah as the supreme leader of Iran, although nominal power was held by Prime Minister Fazlollah Zahedi (who was paid by the CIA to help overthrow Mossadegh and strengthen the power of the monarchy). In an atmosphere of police repression, several former members of the National Front (mostly low-ranking leaders) established an underground network called the National Resistance Movement. This group included future prime ministers Mehdi Bazargan and Shapour Bakhtiar, and its aim was to reestablish democracy by campaigning for free and fair elections. Its activities were largely restricted to peacefully distributing flyers and attempting to regulate the 1954 Majlis elections (which in the end were rigged in favor of pro-Shah candidates). It disintegrated under pressure from the state; however, the Second National Front was formed in 1960, which consisted of prominent people such as Karim Sanjabi, Mehdi Bazargan, Allahyar Saleh, Shapour Bakhtiar, Adib Boroumand, Asqar Pârsâ, Dâryuš Foruhar, Qolâm Hosseyn Sadiqi, Mohamad Ali Khonji and others. Its aim was to return Mohammad Mossadegh to the premiership and to reestablish the constitutional monarchy. Initially, it seemed as if this organization was gaining in strength. However, the group's leaders fell into disagreements over questions such as the organization of the Front, tactics against the Shah's regime, and the form of government to which the National Front ought to commit itself. These disputes led to tension between the high-ranking leaders and the student activists; in 1961, Bazargan, Mahmoud Taleghani (a prominent Islamic cleric) and others formed the Freedom Movement of Iran (FMI) which was committed to a democratic state in which the Islamic religion would play a substantial role in state and society (as opposed to the more secular orientation of the National Front).

Another issue arose over the appointment in April 1961 of Dr.

Tudeh Party
) and the student activists.

The Second and Third National Fronts differed largely in their tactical approach to facing the Shah's regime. The former believed in patiently negotiating with the Shah and the higher officials in the hope of peacefully bringing about a democracy. In contrast to this passive approach, the Third National Front advocated a strategy of civil disobedience and protests in the hope of either forcing the regime to come to terms with the opposition or face collapse. By 1964, however, Mohammad Reza Shah had consolidated his control of both his regime and the country, and he quickly moved to further guarantee his position by increasing the powers of SAVAK (the state's intelligence agency), which was infamous for the torture and killings it inflicted on the opposition and even on ordinary Iranians who merely uttered any wrong words against the regime. In this new atmosphere of police terror, the National Front virtually ceased to exist (though exile branches continued to operate in the United States and Europe).

Iranian Revolution

The National Front was revived in late 1977 by

Carter Administration
), many educated and liberal-minded Iranians were now able to voice their grievances against the regime of the Shah.

In January 1978, violence erupted in the holy city of Qom over the publication of an article in a pro-government newspaper which attacked Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as a British agent and a reactionary. Despite the threatening existence of SAVAK and the harsh crackdown unleashed by the regime on the protesters, the unrest grew and spread to other cities such as Tabriz, which was rocked by riots and briefly seized by rebels. By late 1978, almost the whole country (not just the organized opposition) was inflamed with hatred towards the Shah and rioting, protests and street clashes with the police and army grew in intensity and bloodshed. By this time, Ayatollah Khomeini was now recognized as the undisputed spiritual leader of the uprising. Sanjabi, as representative of the Front, came to Paris, and emerged from his meeting with Khomeini "with a short declaration that spoke of both Islam and democracy as basic principles,"[19] and committed the National Front to the twin goals of abolishing the monarchy and establishing a democratic and Islamic government in its place.

This was a diversion from the National Front's long-held aim of reforming the monarchy, and it caused some friction in the high council (although most of the rank and file and leaders supported the new orientation). The friction blew into open division when Shapour Bakhtiar, one of the three top leaders, accepted the Shah's invitation to become the prime minister of Iran, but only on the condition that the Shah committed himself to reign and not rule. Bakhtiar's decision to collaborate with the Shah caused the National Front to denounce him as a traitor to their cause and to expel him from the organization. Only a few moderate and secular individuals among the leadership chose to ally with Bakhtiar and with the monarchy.

On 16 January, the Shah left the country, amid rejoicing among the populace, and on 11 February, the regime collapsed and Ayatollah Khomeini became the political leader of Iran. At first the National Front supported the new

sharia law.[20]

1981 suppression

Perhaps the revolution's climactic confrontation between Khomeini's theocrats and the National Front occurred in June 1981 after parliament approved the law of retribution (qisas, aka blood revenge or "an eye for an eye"). The National Front called upon the people of Tehran to participate in a demonstration for 15 June 1981.

The Front intended the meeting to serve as the focus for the middle classes, the bazaar, and the left wing. It distributed 4 million leaflets. For the first time it attacked Khomeini directly as responsible for repression and a reign of terror. ... Barely two hours before the scheduled rally, however, Khomeini addressed the nation over the radio. He treated the protest meeting as `an invitation to uprising, an invitation to insurrection.` ... He demanded the Iran Freedom Movement disassociate itself from the National Front within the hour if they wished to escape retribution. ... His attack on [President] Bani-Sadr was equally uncompromising.

Khomeini declared that 'The National Front is condemned as of today,'[21] and that all opponents of the law of retribution were apostates[22] and threatened the leaders of the Front with the death penalty if they did not repent.

In the meantime

Hezbollahi

members of the Revolutionary Guard and committees, men and women from the wards of south Tehran organized by the IRP machine poured into Ferdowsi Square, the designated meeting place for the rally. The large numbers of middle-class protesters and supporters of the National Front who also showed up were cowed into virtual silence. There was no organized demonstration, no speeches, no march.[23]

Leaders of the Liberation Movement and Banisadr had to make a public apology for supporting the Front's appeal on TV and the radio.[24]

Election results

Parliamentary elections

Election Party leader Seats won
1950
Mohammad Mossadegh
11 / 136 (8%)
1952
Mohammad Mossadegh
30 / 79 (38%)
Did not contest in 1954 and 1956
1960
Allahyar Saleh
0 / 200 (0%)
1961
Allahyar Saleh
1 / 200 (0.5%)
Did not contest between 1961 and 1979
1980 Karim Sanjabi
4 / 270 (1%)
Has not contested since 1981

Party leaders

See also

Affiliated organizations
Splinter organizations

References

  1. ISBN 0815630182
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1136833007
    .
  3. ISBN 978-0292778917
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0313341632
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-1461731917
    .
  6. ISBN 978-0739117576
    .
  7. ISBN 1850431981
    .
  8. ISBN 978-1-85043-077-3
  9. ^ Antoine, Olivier; Sfeir, Roy (2007), The Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism, Columbia University Press, p. 146
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-1-59558-826-5
    .
  11. ^ Âbrâhâmiân, Ervand, A History of Modern Iran, Cambridge University Press, 2008, p. 115
  12. S2CID 154201459. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  13. ^ All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror, by Stephen Kinzer, (John Wiley and Sons, 2003), p. 33
  14. ^ Elwell-Sutton, L. P. Persian Oil: A Study in Power Politics (Lawrence and Wishart Ltd.: London) 1955. p. 15
  15. ^ "BBC News | The Company File | From Anglo-Persian Oil to BP Amoco". news.bbc.co.uk.
  16. ^ U.S. Foreign Policy and the Shah: Building a Client State in Iran by Mark J. Gasiorowski (Cornell University Press: 1991) p. 59
  17. ^ Hiro, Dilip; Hiro, Dilip Dictionary of the Middle East (November 29, 2003). "The essential Middle East : a comprehensive guide". New York : Carroll & Graf – via Internet Archive.
  18. ISBN 978-0-19-932226-8
    . Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  19. ^ a b Modern Iran Nikki R. Keddie, Yann Richard p. 233
  20. ^ Jubin Afshar (2 April 2006). "Iran: A Third Option -American Chronicle". Near East Policy Research. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
  21. ^ Brumberg, Daniel, Reinventing Khomeini : The Struggle for Reform in Iran, University of Chicago Press, 2001, p. 116, 15 June 1981
  22. ^ source: Jombari-ye Eslami, 15.6.81-16.6.81, quoted in Brumberg, Daniel, Reinventing Khomeini : The Struggle for Reform in Iran, University of Chicago Press, 2001, p. 147
  23. ^ pp. 158-9 The Reign of the Ayatollahs Shaul Bakhash
  24. ^ Brumberg, Reinventing Khomeini, 2001, p. 147

External links

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