Iradeh-ye Melli Party
IRADEH-YE MELLI PARTY
Pro-British political party in Iran, formed in 1943 and dismantled in 1946.
Initially called the Fatherland Party, the Iradeh-ye Melli Party was formed in September 1943 in Iran by Sayyed Ziya Tabatabaʾi. He was a pro-British journalist who had helped Reza Khan's rise to power in his youth and was made premier in 1921 but was subsequently exiled by Reza Shah Pahlavi, the title assumed by Reza Khan as king of Iran. In 1943 Sayyed Ziya revived his old paper Raʿd (Thunder) and called on the bazaaris (merchants), ulama (clerics), and the tribes to revolt against the military dictatorship of the shah, the "atheistic communism" of Iran's communist-leaning party, the Tudeh, and the corruption of the landed aristocracy. Five months later, Sayyed Ziya renamed the party Iradeh-ye Melli (the National Will). The party had a strong reputation for being pro-British. Included in its program were designs for repeal of all anti-constitutional laws, convening of provincial assemblies, protection of handicraft industries, distribution of state land among peasantry, and formation of a volunteer army. In 1946, the party was dismantled and Sayyed Ziya was arrested by premier Ahmad Qavam as part of the premier's plan for dismantling British influence in the country.
see also pahlavi, reza; tabatabaʾi, ziya.
Bibliography
Abrahamian, E. Iran between Two Revolutions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1982.
parvaneh pourshariati