Democrat Party of Iran | |
---|---|
Leader | Ahmad Qavam |
General Secretary | Ahmad Aramesh [1] |
Youth wing chairman | Hassan Arsanjani |
Founded | June 29, 1946[2] |
Dissolved | 1948 |
Workers wing | Central Syndicate of Iranian Craftsmen, Farmers, and Workers [3] |
Ideology |
Nationalism Reformism |
Iranian Democrat Party or Democrat Party of Iran (DPI; Persian: حزب دموکرات ایران, romanized: Ḥezb-e Demowkrāt-e Irān) was a short-lived political party in Iran, founded in 1946 and led by Ahmad Qavam. It was the most important party formed by the old Qajar nobility, [4] and an association of aristocrats and anti-British radical intellectuals. [5] With the fall of Qavam, it disintegrated in 1948. [6]
The organization tried to give itself the appearance of being the heir of the old Democrat party [7] and was ironically named "Democrat Party of Iran" in contrast to the communist " Democrat Party of Azerbaijan". [8]
The party's ideology was to be nationalist and reformist, [2] but it was organizationally fragile as it was ideologically amorphous. [9] It called for extensive economic, social, and administrative reforms while advocating a revision of the Iranian Armed Forces. [7] It developed an authoritarianist structure [10] and some suspect it planned to create one-party state. [7]
According to Ervand Abrahamian, Qavam had two paradoxical reasons to establish the party, a " double-edged sword directed at the left as well as the right". He intended to defeat royalist and pro-British candidates in the 1947 Iranian legislative election and to use it to "mobilize non-communist reformers, steal the thunder from the left, and hence build a counterbalance to the Tudeh Party". [7]
Democrat Party of Iran | |
---|---|
Leader | Ahmad Qavam |
General Secretary | Ahmad Aramesh [1] |
Youth wing chairman | Hassan Arsanjani |
Founded | June 29, 1946[2] |
Dissolved | 1948 |
Workers wing | Central Syndicate of Iranian Craftsmen, Farmers, and Workers [3] |
Ideology |
Nationalism Reformism |
Iranian Democrat Party or Democrat Party of Iran (DPI; Persian: حزب دموکرات ایران, romanized: Ḥezb-e Demowkrāt-e Irān) was a short-lived political party in Iran, founded in 1946 and led by Ahmad Qavam. It was the most important party formed by the old Qajar nobility, [4] and an association of aristocrats and anti-British radical intellectuals. [5] With the fall of Qavam, it disintegrated in 1948. [6]
The organization tried to give itself the appearance of being the heir of the old Democrat party [7] and was ironically named "Democrat Party of Iran" in contrast to the communist " Democrat Party of Azerbaijan". [8]
The party's ideology was to be nationalist and reformist, [2] but it was organizationally fragile as it was ideologically amorphous. [9] It called for extensive economic, social, and administrative reforms while advocating a revision of the Iranian Armed Forces. [7] It developed an authoritarianist structure [10] and some suspect it planned to create one-party state. [7]
According to Ervand Abrahamian, Qavam had two paradoxical reasons to establish the party, a " double-edged sword directed at the left as well as the right". He intended to defeat royalist and pro-British candidates in the 1947 Iranian legislative election and to use it to "mobilize non-communist reformers, steal the thunder from the left, and hence build a counterbalance to the Tudeh Party". [7]