The National Democratic Front () was a liberal political party founded during the

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 ...

of 1979 that overthrew Shah

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last List of monarchs of Iran, Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the ...

, and was banned shortly after by the Islamic government. It was founded by , a grandson of celebrated Iranian nationalist

Mohammad Mosaddegh Mohammad Mosaddegh (, ; 16 June 1882 – 5 March 1967) was an Iranian politician, author, and lawyer who served as the 30th Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953, elected by the 1950 Iranian legislative election, 16th Majlis. He was a membe ...

and a "lawyer who had been active in human rights causes" before the downfall of the shah and the son of the fourth prime minister and the jurist Ahmad Matin-Daftari. Though it was short-lived, the party has been described as one of "the three major movements of the political center" in Iran during this period, and its ouster was one of the first indications that the Islamist revolutionaries in control of the

would not tolerate liberal political forces.

Overview

The National Democratic Front was launched in early March 1979 at a meeting attended by approximately one million people. This was "at a time when all shades of secular opinion outside the guerrilla movements were beginning to sense the direction of Khomeini's political strategy" and opposed the domination of the revolution by Islamist theocratics such as ran the

Islamic Republic Party The Islamic Republican Party (IRP; , also translated Islamic Republic Party) was formed in 1979 to assist the Iranian Revolution and Ayatollah Khomeini in their goal to establish theocracy in Iran. It was disbanded in 1987 due to internal confl ...

. It was a "broad coalition" aimed at groups and individuals who disapproved both of the National Front's closeness to

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 ...

's Provisional Revolutionary Government, and of leftist groups—such as the

Tudeh Party 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 ...

—who refused to criticize Khomeini out of anti-imperialist solidarity.Moin, ''Khomeini'', (2001), p.218 It hoped to "draw on the Mosaddegh heritage to reestablish a coalition of the middle classes and the intelligentsia". Matin-Daftari had been a member of the National Front- the other major Iranian liberal, secular party of the time—and his new party was somewhat more leftist than the NF. The NDF "emphasized political freedoms, guarantees for individual rights, access for all political groups to the broadcast media, the curbing of the Revolutionary Guards, revolutionary courts, and revolutionary committees. Its economic programs favored "the mass of the people", and it supported a "decentralized system of administration based on popularly elected local councils." Along with the Fadayan and some Kurdish groups, the NDP boycotted the March 30, 31,

1979 Iranian Islamic Republic referendum A referendum on creating an Islamic Republic was held in Iran on 30 and 31 March 1979. Political parties such as the National Democratic Front and the Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas boycotted the referendum. The People's Moj ...

on making Iran an Islamic Republic (the Referendum of 12 Farvardin). In the debate over Iran's new revolutionary constitution it supported a parliamentary democracy with equal rights for women, adoption of the universal declaration of human rights and limited presidential powers. "Expressing concern over the freedom of elections and government control over the broadcast media," along with the National Front they announced they would boycott the election for the 1st Assembly of Experts, which wrote the new constitution. It drew large crowds at its demonstrations but these were "ferociously attacked by gangs of Hezbollahi thugs." On 12 August 1979 it scheduled a mass demonstration to protest the closure of newspapers such as '' Ayandegan''. The demonstration was attacked and hundreds are injured by rocks, clubs, chains and iron bars wielded by Hezbollah "toughs".Moin, ''Khomeini'', (2001), p.219–20 Before the end of the month the newspapers the party had tried to protect were banned, Ayandegan was seized and converted into a pro-Islamist newspaper, ''Sobh-e Azadegan''. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Hedayat Matin-Daftari, "ostensibly for disrupting public order." Consequently, the party went underground. In 1981 it joined the

National Council of Resistance of Iran The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI; ) is an Iranian political organization based in France and Albania and was founded by Massoud Rajavi and Abolhassan Banisadr. The organization is a political coalition calling to overthrow the I ...

, a group founded by Bani Sadr and the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) to fight the Islamist regime in Iran.Keddie, ''Modern Iran'', (2006), p.253)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:National Democratic Front 1979 establishments in Iran 1981 disestablishments in Iran Defunct liberal political parties Defunct political parties of the Islamic Republic of Iran Liberal parties in Iran Political history of Iran Political parties disestablished in 1981 Political parties established in 1979 Political parties of the Iranian Revolution Secularism in Iran

Overview

See also

References