JAMA () is an Iranian

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

founded in 1964. The party which was mainly active between 1979 and 1981 and a junior partner in the Cabinet of Bazargan, had been outlawed throughout much of its history due to dissenting the rule of both

Pahlavi dynasty The Pahlavi dynasty () is an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian royal dynasty that was the Pahlavi Iran, last to rule Iran before the country's monarchy was abolished by the Iranian Revolution in 1979. It was founded in 1925 by Reza Shah, Reza S ...

and the

Islamic Republic The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been used for a s ...

History

JAMA, an acronym standing for 'The Liberation Movement of the People of Iran' (), was founded in 1964 by a number of radical members of the Party of the Iranian People who were led by Kazem Sami and Habibollah Payman. They had come to the conclusion that

armed resistance A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily Weapon, armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable ...

is the best strategy to confront the government following the 1953 coup d'état. In summer 1965, members of the party including the two leaders were arrested which led to effective disruption of their plans. However, the organization continued to exist in small clandestine circles. In 1977, the leaders of the group split ways. Payman founded the

Movement of Militant Muslims The Movement of Militant Muslims () is an Iranian Islamic socialist political group led by Habibollah Payman. The group had been revolutionary and is close to Council of Nationalist-Religious Activists of Iran A council is a group of people ...

while Sami revived the organization with the same acronym, but standing for 'Revolutionary Movement of Muslim People of Iran' (). Sami then became the secretary-general of JAMA. A ''de facto'' alliance was shaped in the wake of

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

, in late fall 1979, between various clerical factions, the

Freedom Movement of Iran The Freedom Movement of Iran (FMI) or Liberation Movement of Iran (LMI; ) is an Iranian pro-democracy political organization founded in 1961, by members describing themselves as "Muslims, Iranians, Constitutionalists and Mossadeghists". It is th ...

, the National Front and JAMA. The party became subsequently a junior partner in the

Interim Government of Iran The Interim Government of Iran () was the first government established in Iran after the Iranian Revolution. The regime was headed by Mehdi Bazargan, one of the members of the Freedom Movement of Iran, and formed on the order of Ayatollah Kh ...

led by

Mehdi Bazargan Mehdi Bazargan (; 1 September 1907 – 20 January 1995) was an Iranian scholar, academic, long-time pro-democracy activist and head of Interim government of Iran, 1979, Iran's interim government. One of the leading figures of Iranian Revolutio ...

. JAMA formed an electoral pact with four other Islamic groups to compete in the elections for the

Assembly for the Final Review of the Constitution The Assembly for the Final Review of the Constitution (AFRC; ), also known as the Assembly of Experts for Constitution (), was a constituent assembly in Iran that was convened in 1979 to condense and ratify the draft prepared beforehand for the C ...

, becoming part of the Quintuple Coalition. It also nominated Sami for the 1980 presidential election who ended up in the 6th place with 89,270 votes, constituting 0.63% of the total. Sami was endoresed by 'The Council of the Guilds of the Tehran Bazaar' during the election campaign. JAMA fielded candidates for the 1980 Iranian legislative election, and Sami who was a candidate in Tehran constituency received 835,225 votes in the first round and was qualified for the run-off. Remnants of JAMA became associated with the nationalist-religious tendency and the

Council of Nationalist-Religious Activists of Iran A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nation ...

Ideology

The ideological lineage of JAMA can be traced back to the Movement of God-Worshipping Socialists, whose second generation members made up the majority of its founding members. The party was a proponent of

Islamic socialism Islamic socialism is a political philosophy that incorporates elements of Islam into a system of socialism. As a term, it was coined by various left-wing Muslim leaders to describe a more spiritual form of socialism. Islamic socialists believe ...

and was classified as centre-left on political spectrum.

Ervand Abrahamian Ervand Abrahamian (; ; born 1940) is an Iranian-American historian of the Middle East. He is Distinguished Professor of History at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Early life Ervand Vahan Abrahamian wa ...

describes JAMA as "a small intellectual group using Koranic quotations to legitimize socialistic concepts". 'Neither East, nor West', the foreign policy slogan of the post-revolutionary government was advocated by Kazem Sami, who said "we will oppose any kind of hegemony and thus we will not accept imperialist interventions".

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jama 1964 establishments in Iran Defunct Islamic organizations Defunct nationalist parties Defunct political parties of the Islamic Republic of Iran Defunct socialist parties in Iran Iranian nationalism Islamic political parties in Iran Islamic socialist political parties Nationalist parties in Iran Political parties established in 1964 Political parties in Pahlavi Iran (1941–1979) Political parties of the Iranian Revolution