Toilers Party of the Iranian Nation

Not to be confused with Laborers’ Party of Iran.
Toilers Party
حزب زحمتکشان ملت ایران
LeaderMozzafar Baghai[1]
FounderMozzafar Baghai and Khalil Maleki
Founded16 May 1951[2]
Dissolved1981[3]
Merger ofThird Force and Organization for the Protection of Freedom[3]
NewspaperShahed[4]
ʿAttar[4]
Membership~ 5,000 (1951)[4]
~ 100 (1967)[3]
IdeologySocialism[4]
Social democracy[3]
Anti-communism[5]
Anti-imperialism[4]
Political positionLeft-wing[1]
National affiliationNational Front (1951–1952)[3]

The Toilers Party of the Iranian Nation (Persian: حزب زحمتکشان ملت ایران, romanized: Ḥezb-e Zaḥmatkašān-e Mellat-e Īrān; Zaḥmatkašān means proletariat)[6] was a social-democratic political party in Iran.

Initially a member of the National Front, they pledged support for the nationalization of the Iran oil industry and opposed Tudeh Party.[3]

They successfully attracted a considerable amount of educated youth (especially in the University of Tehran), Third Force activists and shopkeepers from Kerman in bazzar. Yet the party also included a nucleus of čāqukeš and čumāqdār.[2][4]

In the 1952 legislative election, the party won two seats by Baghai and Ali Zohari.[3]

The party split in 1952 over its relationship with Government of Mosaddegh. Under leadership of Mozzafar Baghai, Toilers left National Front and openly opposed the government while Khalil Maleki reestablished Third Force under the name of Toilers Party of the Iranian Nation — Third Force and continued to support the government.[7]

Toilers formed an alliance with Society of Mujahed Muslims, led by Ayatollah Kashani, pooling their resources and coordinating their activities against government.[2] They actively participated in the 1953 coup d'état and called it a "national uprising", however opposed Fazlollah Zahedi's post-coup military government.[3] Following their opposition, their newspapers was banned and their party office was confiscated by the government and the party went on a hiatus until 1960 Iranian legislative election. They resumed activity in 1961 and expressed support for Ayatollah Khomeini in 5 June 1963 demonstrations.[3]

In 1971, the party was reorganized with the permission of the government, but was forced to cease its activities in 1975 after the announcement of one-party state under Resurgence Party.[3] In 1977, Baghai made an attempt to revive the party after declaring loyalty to the Pahlavi dynasty, albeit at restricted level.[3]

In 1979 Islamic Republic referendum the party policy was to vote "Yes". It was soon after dissolved after the revolution.[3]

  1. ^ a b Mina, Parviz (July 20, 2004). "OIL AGREEMENTS IN IRAN". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Rahnema, Ali (24 November 2014). Behind the 1953 Coup in Iran: Thugs, Turncoats, Soldiers, and Spooks. Cambridge University Press. pp. 57–59. ISBN 978-1107076068.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Haddad Adel, Gholamali; Elmi, Mohammad Jafar; Taromi-Rad, Hassan (31 August 2012). Political Parties: Selected Entries from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam. EWI Press. pp. 209–215. ISBN 9781908433022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Abrahamian, Ervand (1982). Iran Between Two Revolutions. Princeton University Press. pp. 256–257. ISBN 0-691-10134-5.
  5. ^ Azimi, Fakhreddin (2008). Quest for Democracy in Iran: A Century of Struggle Against Authoritarian Rule. Harvard University Press. p. 131. ISBN 978-0674027787.
  6. ^ Shirin Akiner, Mohammad-Reza Djalili, Frederic Grare (2013). Tajikistan: The Trials of Independence. Routledge. p. 23. ISBN 9781136104909.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Houchang E. Chehabi (1990). Iranian Politics and Religious Modernism: The Liberation Movement of Iran Under the Shah and Khomeini. I.B.Tauris. p. 115. ISBN 1850431981.