Aria Party

Aria Party
حزب آریا
LeaderHasan Arfa
Military leaderHabibollah Deyhami
FounderHadi Sepehr[1]
Founded1946; 78 years ago (1946)[1]
Membership300 (1951 est.)[2]
IdeologyFascism[3]
Monarchism
Chauvinism[4]
Iranian nationalism[4]
Pan-Iranism[5]
Anti-Arabism[4]
Anti-communism[1]
Antisemitism[1]
Political positionFar-right
Colours  Grey[6]

Aria Party (Persian: حزب آریا, romanized: Ḥezb-e Āryā, lit. 'Aryan Party';[1] also spelled Arya and Ariya) was a monarchist and nationalist political party in Iran known for its pro-British policy and staunch anti-Communist tendency.[2] It was alleged to have been financed by the Imperial State.[7]

Along with other small right-wing parties such as Pan-Iranist Party at the time, it blamed all the social ills of Iranian society on the Muslim conquest of Persia.[4]

General Hasan Arfa was the leader of the party.[2] The party had an active military wing, an entourage of Imperial Iranian Army officers, led by Deyhami. However the real mastermind behind it was Hassan Akhavi, who organized events culminating in the 1953 Iranian coup d'état.[2] Hossein Manouchehri, Aminzadeh, Yahyayi and Mahmoud Eram were among the distinguished members.[8]

Members of the party wore gray shirts and caps[6] and mimicked German Nazi appearance.[1] Overall, the party had National Socialist and Fascist tendencies.

  1. ^ a b c d e f Abrahamian, Ervand (2013), The Coup: 1953, the CIA, and the Roots of Modern U.S.-Iranian Relations, The New Press, pp. 143–147, ISBN 978-1595588265
  2. ^ a b c d Rahnema, Ali (24 November 2014). Behind the 1953 Coup in Iran: Thugs, Turncoats, Soldiers, and Spooks. Cambridge University Press. pp. 54, 299. ISBN 978-1107076068.
  3. ^ 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. p. 11. ISBN 9781908433022.
  4. ^ a b c d Samih K. Farsoun; Mehrdad Mashayekhi (2005). Iran: Political Culture in the Islamic Republic. Routledge. pp. 58–59. ISBN 9781134969470.
  5. ^ Bashiriyeh, Hossein (27 April 2012). The State and Revolution in Iran (RLE Iran D). Taylor & Francis. p. 14. ISBN 9781136820892.
  6. ^ a b Middle Eastern Affairs, Council for Middle Eastern Affairs, 1954, p. 257
  7. ^ Gasiorowski, Mark J.; Byrne, Malcolm (2004). Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran. Syracuse University Press. p. 80. ISBN 0815630182.
  8. ^ Ali Akbar Dareini (1998). The Rise and Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty: Memoirs of Former General Hussein Fardust. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. pp. 15–16. ISBN 8120816420.