IRAN NOVIN PARTY

Political party created in Iran in 1963 to support government's reform program.

Iran Novin (New Iran) Party was created as a "majority" or government party in 1963 by Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi in place of the Melliyun (National) Party, a royalist party, in order to maintain the semblance of a two-party system. The other was the Mardom or People's Party. The establishment of the Iran Novin Party coincided with the period of a government-sponsored modernization and reform program known as the White Revolution or the "Revolution of the Shah and the People" (1963–1979).

The party platform represented the shah's program of reform, which included land reform, sale of state-owned factories in order to implement the land reform, enfranchisement of women, nationalization of forests and pastures, formation of literacy corps, and implementation of profit-sharing schemes for industry workers. The party chairman, Hasan Ali Mansur, a royalist from a rich landowning family, was at the same time appointed as prime minister. After Mansur's assassination in 1965, the chairmanship, as well as the premiership, was given to Amir Abbas Hoveyda, who served until 1975, the longest tenure in the post. Some of the party leaders, including Hoveyda, were suspected of having Freemasonic ties, often associated with the British in Iran. Hoveyda controlled the party thoroughly.

In the late 1960s, the Women's Party of Iran Novin was created in order to enroll women in the political process. The official organ of the Iran Novin Party was the daily Neda-ye Iran-e Novin (Voice of new Iran) with an approximate circulation rate of five thousand in 1970. The New Iran Party was dissolved in March 1975 when the shah decided to create a single-party system with the establishment of the Rastakhiz (or Resurgence) Party, with Hoveyda as secretary-general of the new party.

see also hoveyda, amir abbas; mardom party; pahlavi, mohammad reza; white revolution (1961–1963).

Bibliography

Arjomand, Said Amir. The Turban for the Crown: The Islamic Revolution in Iran. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.

Keddie, Nikki R. Roots of Revolution: An Interpretive History of Modern Iran. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1981.

Lenczowski, George, ed. Iran under the Pahlavis. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1978.

parvaneh pourshariati