Iran National Front

The national front was the ruling coalition formed in the late 1940s by Mohammed Mossaddeck, mobilizing a wide range of parties and associations for this. The most important groups in the Front were the Iranian Party, the Workers Party, the National Party and the Tehran Association of Artisans and Market Traders. ^[one]

Shortly after its creation, the National Front opposed Western domination of Iran’s natural resources, which were profitable in most of the concessions based in the late Cajar period (primarily the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APC)), and tried to reduce British influence in the country, initiating relations from the United States, shortly before being elected prime minister in April 1951, Mossadegh, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Fatemi, forced the adoption of a law on the nationalization of oil fields. the wound, the Mejlis accepted it in March 1951. Until now, the fields belonged to APNC, and the Iranian government received minimal compensation for their use, which led to the Abadan crisis and the coup inspired by the Anglo-American intelligence services against Mosaddek in 1953 .

Before a series of schisms in 1952 and 1953, the National Front consisted of four main parties:

• The Iranian Party (founded in 1946 as a platform for Iranian liberals, included such personalities as Karim Sanjabi , Golyam Hossein Sadigi, Ahmad Zirakzadeh and Allahyar Saleh)
• Party of Workers of the Iranian Nation (the left wing of the party promoted socialist Iran, led by Mozzafar Bagai and Khalil Maleki)
• Mujahedin Islam (Islamic Party led by Ayatollah Abol-Kassem Kashani )

Due to the coup organized by the CIA / MI6 , the National Front was outlawed, the most senior representatives of the movement were arrested and brought before a military court. Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi became the undisputed ruler of Iran, although formally the power belonged to the Prime Minister Fazlollah Zahedi (who had previously contributed to the return of the Shah to power). In this atmosphere of police repression, several former members of the National Front (mainly from among low-level leaders) create an underground network called the National Resistance Movement. This group, which included future prime ministers Mehdi Bazargan and Shapur Bakhtiyar , set out to restore democracy through free and fair elections. Their activity was manifested in the distribution of leaflets seeking to influence the 1954 Mejlis elections (which, as a result, were rigged in favor of pro-Shah candidates). Under pressure from the state, the movement soon disintegrated. However, in 1960, the Second National Front was established, which included such prominent figures as Karim Sanjabi, Mehdi Bazargan, Allahyar Saleh, Shapur Bakhtiyar, Dariush Foroukhar, Golyam Hossein Sadigi, Adib Borumand, Mohammad Ali Hongji and others. They sought to return Mohammed Mossadegh to the prime minister’s chair and restore the constitutional monarchy. At first, the organization seemed to be gaining strength. But later its leaders were mired in disputes and disagreements regarding the organization of the Front’s actions, tactics regarding the shah’s regime and the form of the proposed government, which would include the National Front. These disputes led to tensions between high-ranking leaders and student activists, and, in 1961, Bazargan , Mahmoud Talegani (a prominent Shiite theologian) and others formed the Movement for Free Iran (JI), which proclaimed its goal to build a democratic country where the Islamic religion would play a significant role in the state and society (as opposed to the more secular orientation of the National Front).

The next problem arose with the election in April 1961 of Ali Amini to the post of prime minister. There was a widespread belief that the Shah appointed Amini under pressure from the Kennedy administration. Partly for this reason, leaders of the National Front stubbornly refused to cooperate with the government of Ali Amini. Political unrest increased and in 1962 Amini resigned due to a dispute with the Shah regarding a reduction in the military budget. The following year, in July 1963, a large religious uprising broke out, the foci of which were the cities of Tehran , Qum , Mashhad , Shiraz and Varamin . The cause of the riots was the arrest of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini , who criticized the Shah, his land reforms, as well as allowing women to take part in the elections. The uprising was brutally crushed by the Iranian army . At this time, the Third National Front was organized, which included the JEM (religious nationalists, Melli-Mashabis), the Iranian National Party (leader Dariush Foroukhar , Hezb-e Mellat-e Iran), the Society of Iranian Socialists (led by Halil Maleki, a prominent a leader of the times of Mossadyk, who was denied membership in the Second National Front due to his past ties with the Tudeh Communist Party) and student activists.

The Second and Third National Fronts were significantly different from each other in a tactical approach to dialogue with the Shah regime. The predecessors believed in patiently negotiating with the Shah and his close associates in the hope of a peaceful transition to democracy. In contrast to this passive approach, the Third National Front defended a strategy of civil disobedience and protests, hoping that in the face of economic collapse, the regime would be forced to come to terms with the opposition. But in 1964, Shah Mohammed Reza strengthened his control in the country by expanding the authority of SAVAK , which became notorious for the torture and killings that apply not only to the opposition, but also to ordinary Iranians for inadvertently uttering words against the existing order. Under the conditions of police terror, the National Front virtually ceased to exist (cells in the USA and Europe continued to work only in exile).

At the end of 1977, the National Front was rebuilt by the efforts of Karim Sanjabi (former Minister of Education in the government of Mossadegh ), Shapur Bakhtiyara (former deputy minister of labor in the government of Mossadegh ) and Dariush Foroukhara (head of the Iranian Party ). They wrote an open letter to the Shah, in which they criticized his policy and called for a change in the system of power in the direction of the constitutional monarchy, for respect for freedom of speech, and asked for free and transparent elections. Under the pressure of the Carter administration , by the end of 1976, the country's internal situation had changed for the better, which allowed many educated, liberal-minded Iranians to express their accumulated grievances against the Shah regime. But in January 1978, violence reappeared in the holy city of Qom after publishing an article in a pro-government newspaper attacking Ruhollah Khomeini , exposing him as a reactionary and a British agent. Despite the awesome presence of SAVAK and the severe repressions shown by the regime to the protesters, unrest grew and spread to other cities, such as Tabriz , which was shocked by the rebels and soon fell into their hands. By the end of 1978, almost the whole country (and not just the opposition) was seized with hatred of the Shah, acts of disobedience, protest, street clashes with the police and the army became more intense and bloody. At the same time, Ayatollah Khomeini was recognized as the undisputed spiritual leader of the rebellion. Karim Sanjabi , as a representative of the National Front, flew to Paris to issue a “short declaration after meeting with Khomeini , which said that Islam and democracy are now two main principles” , ^[2] and entrusts the National Front with the dual goal of abolishing the monarchy, and establishing a democratic and Islamic government in its place.

This was a retreat from the course of the National Front, and the long-standing goal of transforming the monarchy. This caused some friction in the leadership of the movement (although most of the ranks and leaders supported the new orientation). Friction intensified when Shapur Bakhtiyar, one of the three leaders, accepted the shah’s invitation to become the country's prime minister, on condition that the shah reign, but not rule. Bakhtiyar’s decision to cooperate with the Shah forced the National Front to condemn him as a traitor and expel him from the organization. Only a few moderate people of a secular orientation from the leadership followed Bakhtiyar and united with the monarchy.

On January 16, the shah, to the joy of the masses, left the country, by February 11, the regime collapsed and Ayatollah Khomeini became the political leader of Iran. Initially, the National Front supported the Transitional Government of Iran and the establishment of an Islamic republic . But in the final formulations of Khomeini, contrary to Sanjabi’s insistence, “he refused to include the word“ democracy ”both in the name of the new state and in its constitution.” ^[2] It soon became clear that the model of Islamic society Ayatollah Khomeini would not be built on the basis of democracy , and on theocratic rules of Islamic lawyers - Velayat-e Fakih , and traditional Islamic Sharia laws.

In June 1981 , after Parliament approved the law of retaliation (blood feud), the National Front called on Tehran residents to participate in the demonstration on June 15, 1981 . Khomeini responded by announcing that “The National Front has been condemned from today,” ^[3] all opponents of the law of retaliation are apostates of Islam, ^[4] threatened the leaders of the Front with the death penalty if they do not repent. The leaders of the Liberation Movement and Abolhasan Banisadr apologized publicly for supporting the Front on television and radio. ^[four]

By 1982, the secular National Front was banned in Iran, and some of its leaders (including Karim Sanjabi ) fled abroad.

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• National Front website (USA)
• National Front website (Europe)
• National Front News Agency (USA)