ADALAT PARTY

An Iranian political party that unsuccessfully planned a Communist takeover of Iran.

The Adalat party was established in Iran by veteran Social Democrats, sympathetic to the Russian Bolsheviks, almost immediately after the Russian Revolution of 1917. The leadership of the party consisted mainly of Iranian intellectuals from Azerbaijan who were closely tied to the Bolsheviks. The Adalat founded a bilingual Azeri-Persian newspaper called Hürriyet (or Freedom) and was very active among the Iranian workers in the Baku oil fields. The party's membership, according to the party's own estimate, was primarily composed of workers and apprentices, but also included office employees, craftsmen, and tradesmen. After its first major congress at Baku in June 1920, the party changed its name to the Communist Party of Iran (Firqeh-ye Komunist-e Iran) and created a program that included land reforms, formation of trade unions, and self-determination for minorities. Clergymen, landowners, and merchants were barred from its ranks. Most importantly, together with the Jangali in Gilan, the party announced the formation of a Soviet Socialist Republic of Iran, based in Rasht. By the end of 1920, the party, together with the Red Army, was preparing a march into Tehran. The activities of the party at this time greatly contributed to the crisis that paved the way for the emergence of Colonel Reza Khan, who became Iran's ruler as Reza Shah Pahlavi and founded the Pahlavi dynasty.

see also hÜrriyet; jangali; pahlavi, reza.

Bibliography

Abrahamian, E. Iran between Two Revolutions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1982.

Parvaneh Pourshariati