Guerrilla groups of Iran

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Iranian revolution

Articles Timeline of Iranian revolution Causes of the Iranian Revolution Revolutionary leaders Ruhollah Khomeini Ali Shariati Mortaza Motahhari Mohammad Beheshti Mostafa Chamran Sadegh Ghotbzadeh Ebrahim Yazdi Ali Khamenei Mehdi Bazargan Musavi Ardabili Ali Khamenei Mohammad Javad Bahonar Mahmoud Taleghani Mahdavi Kani Yadollah Sahabi Revolutionary parties and organizations: Tudeh Party of Iran Freedom Movement of Iran Combatant Clergy Association OIPFG IPFG People's Mujahedin of Iran Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization Islamic Republic Party Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line Guerrilla groups of Iran Revolutionary administrations and official institutions: The Interim Government of Iran Islamic republic Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Basij Assembly of Experts for Constitution Events Movement of 15 Khordad Black Friday Iran hostage crisis Cultural Revolution Ideology of Iranian Revolution Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists Gharbzadegi

This box: view • talk • edit

Guerrilla groups were particularly notable and active in Iran from 1971 to 1977 when they fought the government of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The groups shared a committment to armed struggle to overthrow the pro-Western Pahlavi regime, but differed in ideology. Many were Marxist in ideology while the largest group, People's Mujahedin of Iran, was founded as an Islamic socialist organization.

According to Ervand Abrahamian, a scholar of the subject:

In terms of political background, the guerrillas can be divided into five groups:

1. the Sazaman-i Cherikha-yi Feda'i Khalq-i Iran ( The Organization of the Iranian People's Guerilla Freedom Fighters), known in short as the Marxist Feda'i;
2. the Sazman'i Mujahedin-i Khalq-i Iran (The Organization of the Iranian Peoples' Freedom Fighters), generally referred to as the Islamic Mujahedin;
3. the Marxist offshoot from the Mujadedin, known simply as the Marxist Mujahedin;
4. small Islamic groups on the whole limited to one locality: Gorueh-i Abu Zarr (Abu Zarr Group) in Nahavand, Gorueh-i Shi'iyan-i Rasin (True Shi'i Group) in Hamadan, Gorueh-i Allah Akbar (Allah Akbar Group) in Isfahan, and Goreueh-i al-Fajar (Al-Fajar Group) in Zahedan;
5. small Marxist groups. These included both independent groups, such as the Sazman-i Azadibakhshi-i Khalzha-yi (Organization for the Liberation of the Iranian Peoples), Gorueh-i Luristan, [etc.] ^[1]

The background of the guerrillas was overwhelming educated middle class. From 1971 to 1977 an estimated 341 of them were killed, of whom over 90% of those for whom information could be found were intellectuals. ^[2]

The event from which most historians mark the beginning of the guerrilla era in Iran was the February 8, 1971 attack on a gendarmerie post at Siakal on the Caspian Sea. Guerillas killed three policemen and freed two previously arrested guerrillas.^[3][4]

Following the Iranian Revolution most of the groups were successfully suppressed by the Islamic Republic. People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMoI) continued but moved to Iraq which was at war with the Islamic Republic. The (PMoI) currently describes itself as a non-violent, democratic opposition group.

Among the Iranian guerrilla groups were

• People's Mujahedin of Iran (Mojāhedin-e Khalq-e Irān)
• Organization of Iranian People's Fedaian (Majority)
• Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas
• Peykar

[edit] See also

• List of guerrilla movements
• Organizations of the Iranian Revolution

[edit] Sources

• Iran Between Two Revolutions By Ervand Abrahamian, Princeton University Press, 1982
• Mottahedeh, Roy, The Mantle of the Prophet : Religion and Politics in Iran, One World, Oxford, 1985, 2000

[edit] References and notes