''Rahbar'' () was an Iranian

Persian language Persian ( ), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision ...

daily newspaper, published from

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. It was the central organ of the

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

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 ...

. The decision to launch ''Rahbar'' was taken at the First Party Conference held in October 1942, after that

Abbas Iskandari Abbas Eskandari (; 1897–1955) was an Iranian Communist politician and a co-founder of Tudeh Party of Iran. Career Eskandari was a co-founder of the Tudeh Party of Iran, as well as the editor of ''Siyasat'' () daily, the official organ of the ...

, the editor of the erstwhile central organ of the party ''Siasat'', had been expelled from the party. The paper was first published in February 1943. In the initial phase of ''Rahbar'' the Tudeh Party was not officially a communist party, and the editorial line of the newspaper was non-communist constitutionalism. During the years of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, ''Rahbar'' (and other Tudeh organs) focused on

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

and pro-peace agitation. During this period it was financed by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Iraj Eskandari Iraj Eskandari (‎; 1907–1985) was an Iranian communist politician. A Qajar prince, Eskandari received French education.Behrooz, Maziar. Rebels with a Cause: The Failure of the Left in Iran'. London: I.B. Tauris, 2000. p. 75 He was the first ...

served as the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of ''Rahbar''. As with the other two key publications of the party ('' Mardom'' and ''Razm'') it was edited by a member of the Tudeh parliamentary faction in the

Majles (, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning 'sitting room', used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural connections to the Mus ...

. In June 1943 the

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

organization led by the Tudeh Party, the Central Council of Unions of Iran, decided to adopt ''Rahbar'' as their main organ, substituting the union publication ''Giti'' until the re-launching of a separate trade unionist newspaper. From June 21, 1943, onwards ''Rahbar'' carried a section titled "the party and the workers". When ''Rahbar'' celebrated its anniversary it sold 60,000 copies, almost reaching the levels of the main newspaper of the country, ''

Ettela'at ''Ettela'at'' () is a Persian-language daily newspaper of record published in Tehran, Iran. It is among the oldest publications in the country, and the oldest running Persian daily newspaper in the world. The paper has a conservative stance, a ...

''. In the oil-rich areas in southern Iran, the

Anglo-Iranian Oil Company The Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC; ) was a British company founded in 1909 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Persia (Iran). The British government purchased 51% of the company in 1914, gaining a controlling numbe ...

and local authorities enforced a ban on reading and distributing ''Rahbar''. Workers caught reading or selling the paper were usually dismissed from their employments.Habib Ladjevardi. (1985).
Labor Unions and Autocracy in Iran
'. Contemporary issues in the Middle East. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press. p. 123 On 23 August 1945 ''Rahbar'' was shut down by the orders of a military commandant in Tehran. The publication of ''Rahbar'' (as well as the labour newspaper '' Zafar'') was again suspended by the government on 8 December 1946, citing the attacks of the paper against the pro-American policies of the Iranian government. The ban was however lifted by the end of the month.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahbar 1943 establishments in Iran 1946 disestablishments in Iran Banned newspapers Censorship in Iran Defunct newspapers published in Iran Newspapers established in 1943 Newspapers published in Tehran Defunct Persian-language newspapers Newspapers disestablished in 1946 Publications of the Tudeh Party of Iran Daily newspapers published in Iran