Communist Party of Iran
{{Short description|Communist political party in Iran}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2013}}
{{Infobox political party
| name = Communist Party of Iran
| native_name = حزب کمونیست ایران
| native_name_lang = fa
| logo = Communist Party of Iran logo.png
| colorcode = #CE1E24
| abbreviation = CPI
| leader1_title = Leadership
| leader1_name = Central committee
| founder = Abdulla Mohtadi
Mansoor Hekmat
| founded = {{start date|1983|09|02|df=yes}}
in Iranian Kurdistan
| merger = {{ubl|
| {{•}}Komalah
| {{•}}EMK
| {{•}}Peykar (faction)
}}
| split =
| newspaper = Jahān-e Emrūz (World Today)
| wing1_title = Kurdish organization
| wing1 = Komala (CPI)
| wing2_title = Armed wing
| wing2 = Peshmerga Forces
| ideology = {{ubl|Communism|Revolutionary socialism}}
| position = Far-left
| national = Cooperation Council of Left and Communist Parties
| slogan = "Workers of all countries, unite!"
| website = {{URL|http://www.cpiran.org}}
| country = Iran
}}
{{Communist Parties |expanded=Asia}}
The Communist Party of Iran (CPI; {{langx|fa|حزب کمونیست ایران}}) is an Iranian communist party founded on 2 September 1983. It has an armed wing and its membership is predominantly Kurdish.{{Cite journal|journal = Middle East Journal|volume = 41|issue = 2|pages = 218–233|language=en|jstor = 4327537|last1 = Alaolmolki|first1 = Nozar|title = The New Iranian Left|year = 1987}} The CPI is active throughout the industrialized areas of Iran.{{Cite journal|last=van Bruinessen|first=Martin|date=1986|title=The Kurds between Iran and Iraq|journal=MERIP Middle East Report|issue=141|pages=14–27|doi=10.2307/3011925|issn=0888-0328|jstor=3011925}}
History
The Communist Party of Iran was founded in 1983, in Iranian Kurdistan. It was formed from a merger between the Marxist–Leninist Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan and three related Iranian leftist organizations: Sahand, the Union of Communist Militants,{{cite web |title=Worker Communism Radical Conscience of The Left of Capital (Part 2) - Changing the name of "Sahand" to the "Unity of Communist Militants" |url=https://internationalist.ueuo.com/en/texts/WCE2.htm |access-date=1 April 2020 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728213509/https://internationalist.ueuo.com/en/texts/WCE2.htm |url-status=dead }} and a faction of Peykar.{{Cite web|url=http://cpiran.org/about-us/aboutus.html|title=حزب کمونیست ایران / در باره ما|website=cpiran.org|language=fa|access-date=8 September 2018}} Prior to the merger, Komala was considered to be a strictly Maoist party. The CPI, however, has been critical of Mao as a revolutionary, considering that he made many mistakes throughout the 1950s to 1970s. The party opposes the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The CPI also rejects the policies of the Tudeh Party of Iran from the late 1950s and onward, citing a particular grievance with Tudeh giving support to the Shahs of Iran and Ayatollah Khomeini's regime. CPI also emphasizes that the Soviet Union was not a socialist government after the death of Stalin.
The party would suffer a split in 1991, when former party leader Mansoor Hekmat formed the Worker-communist Party of Iran over issues regarding left-wing nationalism.{{Cite web |title=About the Crisis in the Middle East by Mansoor Hekmat 1991 |url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/hekmat-mansoor/1991/10/crisis.htm |access-date=2025-06-21 |website=www.marxists.org}}
Goals
The CPI currently advocates for increased civil, political, and social rights in Iran, as well as improved labour laws and protections for workers.{{Cite web|url=http://cpiran.org/2018/9/sokhan/page2.html|title=مبانی استراتژی حزب کمونیست ایران به مناسبت سالگرد تاسیس حزب|website=cpiran.org|language=fa|access-date=8 September 2018}}
The party has representations in Germany (Köln and Frankfurt), Finland, Sweden (Göteborg and Stockholm), Norway, Denmark (Copenhagen), the United Kingdom (London), Australia, and Canada (Toronto).{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/communism-iii|title=COMMUNISM iii. In Persia after 1953 – Encyclopaedia Iranica|last=electricpulp.com|website=www.iranicaonline.org|language=en|access-date=8 September 2018}}
Structure
Unlike most other communist parties, the CPI is not organised on the basis of democratic centralism. The party is decentralised and its cadres generally act autonomously.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.cpiran.org}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20041205050307/http://www.cpiran.org/English/English_index.html English website of Communist Party of Iran]
{{1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners}}
{{Iranian exiled parties}}
{{Cooperation Council of Left and Communist Parties}}
Category:Cooperation Council of Left and Communist Parties
Category:1983 establishments in Iran
Category:Banned communist parties
Category:Banned political parties in Iran
Category:Communism in Kurdistan
Category:Communist militant groups
Category:Communist parties in Iran
Category:Left-wing militant groups in Iran
Category:Militant opposition to the Islamic Republic of Iran