Freedom Movement of Iran

Freedom Movement of Iran
Secretary-GeneralMohammad Tavasoli
Head of Political officeGhaffar Farzadi
Head of Youth WingEmad Bahavar
Founders
List[1]
Abroad[2]
Founded17 May 1961; 63 years ago (1961-05-17)[3]
Split fromNational Front
Newspaper
Ideology
ReligionIslam
National affiliationNational Front (1961–1965)
Parliament
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The Freedom Movement of Iran (FMI) or Liberation Movement of Iran (LMI; Persian: نهضت آزادی ايران, romanized: Nahżat-e āzādi-e Irān) is an Iranian pro-democracy political organization founded in 1961, by members describing themselves as "Muslims, Iranians, Constitutionalists and Mossadeghists".[7] It is the oldest party still active in Iran[8] and has been described as a "semi-opposition"[4] or "loyal opposition"[9] party. It has also been described as a "religious nationalist party".[10]

The organization was split to the National Front (II), its establishment was supported by Mohammad Mossadegh.[7] It then applied for the membership in the front[11] with a platform advocating national sovereignty, freedom of political activity and expression, social justice under Islam, respect for Iran's constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Charter of the United Nations.[5] It believes in the separation of religion and state, while that political activity should be guided by religious values.[12] FMI based on a moderate interpretation of Islam. It rejects both royal and clerical dictatorship in favor of political and economic liberalism.[13]

Despite being outlawed by the prevailing government in Iran, the group continues to exist. The organization accepts to comply with the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran despite its rejection for Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist.[4][9] It had not been allowed to run in any election since 1980[8] (exempting 2003 local elections in which the Guardian Council did not vet the candidates).[14] It was also denied membership in the House of Parties of Iran.[15]

The organization's members have close ties to the Council of Nationalist-Religious Activists of Iran.[9]

  1. ^ Houchang E. Chehabi (1990). Iranian Politics and Religious Modernism: The Liberation Movement of Iran Under the Shah and Khomeini. I.B.Tauris. p. 156. ISBN 1850431981.
  2. ^ Houchang Chehabi, Rula Jurdi Abisaab (2006). Distant Relations: Iran and Lebanon in the Last 500 Years. I.B.Tauris. p. 183. ISBN 1860645615.
  3. ^ Spellman, Kathryn (2008). Religion and Nation: Iranian Local and Transnational Networks in Britain. Berghahn Books. p. 21. ISBN 978-1571815774.
  4. ^ a b c d Buchta, Wilfried (2000), Who rules Iran?: the structure of power in the Islamic Republic, Washington DC: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, pp. 80–82, ISBN 0-944029-39-6
  5. ^ a b Ashraf, Ahmad (5 April 2012) [15 December 2007]. "ISLAM IN IRAN xiii. ISLAMIC POLITICAL MOVEMENTS IN 20TH CENTURY IRAN". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. Fasc. 2. Vol. XIV. New York City: Bibliotheca Persica Press. pp. 157–172. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  6. ^ Mohammadighalehtaki, Ariabarzan (2012). Organisational Change in Political Parties in Iran after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. With Special Reference to the Islamic Republic Party (IRP) and the Islamic Iran Participation Front Party (Mosharekat) (PhD thesis). Durham University. p. 122.
  7. ^ a b c Jahanbakhsh, Forough (2001). "Opposition Groups". Islam, Democracy and Religious Modernism in Iran, 1953-2000: From Bāzargān to Soroush. Islamic History and Civilization. Vol. 77. Brill Publishers. pp. 91–92. ISBN 9004119825.
  8. ^ a b Mohammad Ali Kadivar (2013), "Alliances and Perception Profiles in the Iranian Reform Movement, 1997 to 2005", American Sociological Review, 78 (6), American Sociological Association: 1063–1086, doi:10.1177/0003122413508285, S2CID 13189214
  9. ^ a b c Kazemzadeh, Masoud (2008). "Opposition Groups". Iran Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Islamic Republic. Vol. 1. Greenwood Press. p. 367. ISBN 978-0313341632.
  10. ^ Tehran, Nazila Fathi (30 July 2002). "Iran bans opposition party in crackdown on dissent". the Guardian. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  11. ^ Houchang Chehabi, Rula Jurdi Abisaab (2006). Distant Relations: Iran and Lebanon in the Last 500 Years. I.B.Tauris. p. 155. ISBN 1860645615.
  12. ^ "The Freedom Movement of Iran (FMI)", The Iran Social Science Data Portal, Princeton University, archived from the original on 4 November 2013, retrieved 10 August 2015
  13. ^ "Liberation Movement of Iran – Oxford Islamic Studies Online". Archived from the original on 9 February 2019.
  14. ^ Bill Samii (3 March 2003), Iran Report, vol. 6, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, retrieved 15 May 2017
  15. ^ Iran Report, vol. 7, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 17 August 2004, retrieved 15 May 2017