The National Socialist Workers Party of Iran (), better known by its abbreviation SUMKA (), was a

Neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

party in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. The symbol of the party was a highly stylised

Faravahar The Farāvahār (; ), also called the Foruhār () or the Fārre Kiyâni (), is one of the most prominent symbols of Zoroastrianism. There is no universal consensus on what it means or stands for, as a variety of interpretations exist. The mos ...

, on their flag appearing in a similar arrangement to the NSDAP flag.

Foundation

Davud_Monshizadeh_with_SUMKA_Command_Khuzestan

The party was formed in the early 1950s by Davud Monshizadeh and had a minor support base in Iranian universities. Critics of the late

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 ...

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 SUMKA ceremony 1950s

Development

Monshizadeh formed the SUMKA in 1952 along with Morteza Kossarian. Monshizadeh had lived in Germany since 1937, and was a former SS member, who fought and was wounded in the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula–Od ...

. Kossarian was also a former SS Officer, who was part of the planning of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

and subsequently fought at the Battle of Kiev and the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

, where he was injured. Monshizadeh was also a professor at Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich and was deeply influenced by

José Ortega y Gasset José Ortega y Gasset (; ; 9 May 1883 – 18 October 1955) was a Spanish philosopher and essayist. He worked during the first half of the 20th century while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism and dictatorship. His philosoph ...

's philosophy. The SUMKA briefly attracted the support of young

nationalists Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...

in Iran, including Dariush Homayoon, an early member who would later rise to prominence in the country. SUMKA adopted the

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

and black shirt as part of their uniforms. They were firmly opposed to the rule of

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 ...

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. 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 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 ...

and the Soviet Cultural Center and Hungarian Trade Office in Tehran. Colonel Fateh, a retired officer of the

Imperial Iranian Air Force The history of the Iranian Air Force, currently known as the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, can be divided into two phases—before the Islamic Revolution, and after it. Imperial era The Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) was a branch ...

, was responsible for training the unit.

Financial sources

Colonel Fateh was the official

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

of the SUMKA. After the

1953 Iranian coup d'état The 1953 Iranian coup d'état, known in Iran as the 28 Mordad coup d'état (), was the overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh on 19 August 1953. Led by the Iranian army and supported by the United States and the United Kingdom, the co ...

, the party received a monthly stipend of 2,500

Iranian rial The rial (; symbol: ; abbreviation: Rl (singular) and Rls (plural) or IR in Latin; ISO code: IRR) is the official currency of Iran. It is subdivided into 100 dinars, but due to the rial's low purchasing power the dinar is not practically used. ...

from the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

and other security authorities. In 1958, Monshizadeh received

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

7,000 from SAVAK to go to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. 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 The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

(CIA) through TPBEDAMN.

Legacy

Although there are no known Neo-Nazi parties in Iran, advocates of

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

continue to exist in Iran and are active mainly on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

, mostly on chat sites dedicated to reviving groups such as SUMKA. As of 2010, they are reported to be a small yet slowly increasing minority of Iranian youths internationally. It is said that the Neo-Nazi forums active in Iran were actually run by one of Monshizadeh's grandsons.

Gallery

Party branches

File:SUMKA - Iran Youth branch.svg, SUMKA – Iran Youth branch. File:SUMKA - assault group.svg, SUMKA – assault group. File:SUMKA - Technical unit.svg, SUMKA – Technical unit. File:SUMKA - Leadership-Immortal emblem.svg, Immortal unit and Leader emblem.

Image gallery

File:SUMKA Uniform.png, SUMKA Uniform diagram for shock troops and guards. File:Dr._Monshizadeh_with_followers.jpg, Davud Monshizadeh with SUMKA members. File:Davud Monshizadeh 1.jpg, Davud Monshizadeh in an undated photo.

References

{{Authority control 1952 establishments in Iran Anti-capitalist political parties Iranian nationalism Nationalist parties in Iran Neo-Nazi political parties Neo-Nazism in Iran Right-wing anti-capitalism Anti-communist organizations Political parties established in 1952 Political parties in Pahlavi Iran (1941–1979) Fascism in Iran Far-right politics in Iran Far-right political parties in Iran