The Communist Party of Iran (CPI; ) is an Iranian communist party founded on 2 September 1983. It has an armed wing and its membership is predominantly

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

. The CPI is active throughout the industrialized areas of Iran.

History

The Communist Party of Iran was founded in 1983, in

Iranian Kurdistan Iranian Kurdistan or Eastern Kurdistan () is an unofficial name for the parts of northwestern Iran with either a majority or sizable population of Kurds. Geographically, it includes the West Azerbaijan province, Kurdistan province, Kermanshah pr ...

. It was formed from a merger between the Marxist–Leninist

Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan The Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan (), commonly shortened to Komalah (; ), is a social-democratic ethnic party of Kurds in Iran. Formerly with Marxist-Leninist and communist ties, the Komalah is a well established party with a history of m ...

and three related Iranian leftist organizations: Sahand, the Union of Communist Militants, and a faction of Peykar. Prior to the merger, Komala was considered to be a strictly

Maoist Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

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 A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

. The CPI also rejects the policies of the

Tudeh Party of Iran The Tudeh Party of Iran is an Iranian communist party. Formed in 1941, with Soleiman Mirza Eskandari as its head, it had considerable influence in its early years and played an important role during Mohammad Mosaddegh's campaign to nationalize ...

from the late 1950s and onward, citing a particular grievance with Tudeh giving support to the Shahs of Iran and

Ayatollah Khomeini Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...

'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 Left-wing nationalism or leftist nationalism (in certain contexts also called popular nationalism by those who do not adhere to the left-right plane, or in contrast to conservative nationalism) is a form of nationalism which is based upon n ...

Goals

The CPI currently advocates for increased civil, political, and social rights in Iran, as well as improved labour laws and protections for workers. 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).

Structure

Unlike most other communist parties, the CPI is not organised on the basis of

democratic centralism Democratic centralism is the organisational principle of most communist parties, in which decisions are made by a process of vigorous and open debate amongst party membership, and are subsequently binding upon all members of the party. The co ...

. The party is

decentralised Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those related to planning and decision-making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group and gi ...

and its cadres generally act autonomously.

References

External links

*
English website of Communist Party of Iran
{{Cooperation Council of Left and Communist Parties Cooperation Council of Left and Communist Parties 1984 establishments in Iran Banned communist parties Banned political parties in Iran Communism in Kurdistan Communist militant groups Communist parties in Iran Left-wing militant groups in Iran Militant opposition to the Islamic Republic of Iran Political parties established in 1984 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners

History

Goals

Structure

See also

References

External links