SUMKA

{{Infobox political party

| name = {{nowrap|National Socialist Workers Party of Iran}}

| native_name = حزب سوسیالیست ملی کارگران ایران زمین

| native_name_lang = fa

| abbreviation = SUMKA

| logo =

| logo_size = 300px

| colorcode = {{party color|Nazi Party}}

| leader = Davud Monshizadeh

| deputy_leader =

| spokesperson = Shapour Zandnia

| foundation = 1952

| dissolution =

| ideology = {{ubl|class=nowrap

| Nazism

| Pan-Iranism

| Fascism{{cite book|last1=Bashiriyeh|first1=Hossein|title=The State and Revolution in Iran (RLE Iran D)|date=27 April 2012|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781136820892|pages=14}}

| Anti-communism

| Anti-capitalismThe book of programs and principles of national socialism.

}}

| membership_year = 1952

| membership = 600

| headquarters = "Black House", Khaneqah Street, Tehran

| position = Far-right

| religion =

| international =

| newspaper =

| country = Iran

| anthem = "سرود حزب سومکا "
("Somka Party Anthem")

File:سرود حزب سومکا.ogg

| flag = Flag of SUMKA.svg

}}

The National Socialist Workers Party of Iran ({{langx|fa|حزب سوسیالیست ملی کارگران ایران|Hezb-e Sosiyālist-e Melli-ye Kārgarān-e Irān}}), better known by its abbreviation SUMKA ({{langx|fa|سومکا}}), was{{cite book |last1=Rahnema |first1=Ali |title=Behind the 1953 Coup in Iran: Thugs, Turncoats, Soldiers, and Spooks |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1316123874 |page=54|quote=SUMKA was the abbreviation for Sosiyalist Melli Kargaran Iran, or Iran's Nationalist Socialist Workers Party. This was a fascist organization founded in April 1951 by Davud Monshizadeh.}}{{cite book |last1=Amanat |first1=Abbas |author1-link=Abbas Amanat |title=Iran: A Modern History |date=2017 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0300231465 |page=535 |quote=Sumka was a small but openly fascist party that in every respect fashioned itself after the defunct German Nationalist Socialist Party.}} a Neo-Nazi{{cite book|last=Dabashi|first=Hamid|year=2015|title=Persophilia: Persian Culture on the Global Scene|publisher=Harvard University Press|page=106|isbn=9780674504691}} party in Iran. The symbol of the party was a highly stylised Faravahar, on their flag appearing in a similar arrangement to the NSDAP flag.{{cite web | url=http://www.loeser.us/flags/hate3.html#top | title=Historical Flags of Our Ancestors – Flags of Extremism – Part 3 (O-z) }}

Foundation

File:Davud_Monshizadeh_with_SUMKA_Command_Khuzestan.jpg

File:SUMKA HQ.jpg

The party was formed in the early 1950s by Davud Monshizadeh{{cite book|last1=Rahnema|first1=Ali|title=Behind the 1953 Coup in Iran: Thugs, Turncoats, Soldiers, and Spooks|date=24 November 2014|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1107076068|pages=54–57}}MONCHI-ZADEH, DAVOUD. Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved from: https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/monchi-zadeh-davoud and had a minor support base in Iranian universities.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}} Critics of the late Mohammad Reza Pahlavi allege that he provided direct funding to SUMKA at one point.Hussein Fardust, The Rise and Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty: Memoirs of Former General Hussein, p. 62

File:SUMKA ceremony 1950s.jpg

Development

Monshizadeh formed the SUMKA in 1952 along with Morteza Kossarian.{{Cite book|last=Monshizadeh|first=Davud|title=Fight With Evil Series One: Principles of the Second Office Eagle}} Monshizadeh had lived in Germany since 1937, and was a former SS member, who fought and was wounded in the Battle of Berlin. Kossarian was also a former SS Officer, who was part of the planning of Operation Barbarossa and subsequently fought at the Battle of Kiev and the Battle of Stalingrad, where he was injured. Monshizadeh was also a professor at Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich and was deeply influenced by José Ortega y Gasset's philosophy.

The SUMKA briefly attracted the support of young nationalists in Iran, including Dariush Homayoon, an early member who would later rise to prominence in the country. SUMKA adopted the swastika and black shirt as part of their uniforms.Homa Katouzian, Musaddiq and the Struggle for Power in Iran, I.B. Tauris, 1990, p. 89

They were firmly opposed to the rule of Mohammad Mosaddegh during their brief period of influence, and the party worked alongside Fazlollah Zahedi in his opposition to Mossadegh. In 1953, they were part of a large group of Zahedi supporters who marched towards the palace of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi demanding the ousting of Mossadegh.Mark J. Gasiorowski, 'The 1953 Coup D'etat in Iran', International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 19, No. 3. (Aug., 1987), p. 270 The party would become associated with street violence against the supporters of Mossadegh and the Tudeh Party.

Shock troops

The party had an "assault group" (guruhe hamle) with an estimated size of 100 members that openly attacked members of the communist Tudeh Party of Iran and the Soviet Cultural Center and Hungarian Trade Office in Tehran. Colonel Fateh, a retired officer of the Imperial Iranian Air Force, was responsible for training the unit.

Financial sources

Colonel Fateh was the official patron of the SUMKA. After the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, the party received a monthly stipend of 2,500 Iranian rial from the police and other security authorities. In 1958, Monshizadeh received US$7,000 from SAVAK to go to the United States. The party was also possibly financed by foreign embassies based in Iran. In April 1952, Iranian police reported that Monshizadeh was seeking to establish ties with the British embassy to get financial support. It was allegedly funded by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) through TPBEDAMN.{{cite book |author=Mark J. Gasiorowski|editor1=Mark J. Gasiorowski|editor2=Malcolm Byrne|title=Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran|date=2004|publisher=Syracuse University Press|location=Syracuse, NY|isbn=978-0-8156-3017-3|page=233 |chapter-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1j5d815|chapter=The 1953 Coup d’État Against Mosaddeq|jstor=j.ctt1j5d815 }}

Legacy

Although there are no known Neo-Nazi parties in Iran, advocates of Nazism continue to exist in Iran and are active mainly on the Internet, mostly on chat sites dedicated to reviving groups such as SUMKA.{{citation|title=Iranian ministry denies authorising neo-Nazi website|url=https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/iranian-ministry-denies-authorising-neo-nazi-website-1.512238|date=24 November 2010|access-date=5 October 2017|author=Maryam Sinaiee|work=The National|archive-date=9 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009092333/https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/iranian-ministry-denies-authorising-neo-nazi-website-1.512238|url-status=live}} As of 2010, they are reported to be a small yet slowly increasing minority of Iranian youths internationally.{{citation|title=Who's behind the 'Association of Iranian Nazis'|url=http://observers.france24.com/en/20101118-association-iranian-nazis-aryan-race-persian-nationalism|date=18 November 2010|access-date=5 October 2017|author=Lorena Galliot|work=France 24|archive-date=3 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003124522/http://observers.france24.com/en/20101118-association-iranian-nazis-aryan-race-persian-nationalism|url-status=live}} It is said that the Neo-Nazi forums active in Iran were actually run by one of Monshizadeh's grandsons.{{Cite web |title=چرا سایت نازی‌ها در ایران فیلتر و رفع فیلتر شد؟ |url=http://aftabnews.ir/fa/news/114051 |access-date=2024-05-24 |website=fa |language=fa}}