National Front (Iran)

National Front
National Front
Chairperson	Seyed Hossein Mousavian
Spokesperson	Mohsen Frashad
Founder	Mohammad Mosaddegh
Founded	12 November 1949 (original); 14 July 1960 (second); 29 July 1965 (third); 12 June 1977 (fourth); 1993 (current);
Headquarters	Tehran
Parliamentary wing	National Movement fraction (1950–1953)
Ideology	Mosaddeghism; Iranian nationalism; Civic nationalism; Secular liberalism; Liberal democracy; Social democracy; Left-wing nationalism; Historical factions:; • Socialism; • Islamism; • Conservatism; • Pan-Iranism;
Political position	Centre to centre-left
Parliament	0 / 290
Website
	jebhemeliiran.org
	Politics of Iran; Political parties; Elections;

The National Front of Iran (Persian: جبهه‌ ملی ایران, romanized: Jebhe-ye Melli-ye Irân) is an opposition^[4] political organization in Iran, founded by Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1949. It is the oldest and arguably the largest pro-democracy group operating inside Iran^[4] despite having never been able to recover the prominence it had in the early 1950s.^[5]

Initially, the front was an umbrella organization for a broad spectrum of forces with nationalist, liberal-democratic, socialist, bazaari, secular and Islamic tendencies, that mobilized to successfully campaign for the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry. In 1951, the Front formed a government which was deposed by the 1953 Iranian coup d'état and subsequently repressed.^[6] Members attempted to revive the Front in 1960, 1965 and 1977 respectively.

Before 1953 and throughout the 1960s, the Front was torn by strife between secular and religious elements;^[5]^[7] over time its coalition split into various squabbling factions, with the Front gradually emerging as the leading organization of secular liberals^[8] with nationalist members adhering to liberal democracy and social democracy.^[4]

During the Iranian Revolution, the Front supported the replacement of the old monarchy by an Islamic Republic^[2] and was the main symbol of the "nationalist" tendency in the early years of post-revolutionary government.^[9] It was banned in July 1981, and although it remains under constant surveillance and is officially still illegal, it is still active inside Iran.^[4]

^ Gasiorowski, Mark J.; Byrne, Malcolm (2004). Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran. Syracuse University Press. pp. 60–61. ISBN 0815630182.
^ ^a ^b Zabir, Sepehr (2012). Iran Since the Revolution (RLE Iran D). Taylor & Francis. p. 29. ISBN 978-1136833007.
^ Gheissari, Ali (2010). Iranian Intellectuals in the Twentieth Century. University of Texas Press. p. 64. ISBN 978-0292778917.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Kazemzadeh, Masoud (2008). "Opposition Groups". Iran Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Islamic Republic. Vol. 1. Greenwood Press. pp. 363–364. ISBN 978-0313341632.
^ ^a ^b John H. Lorentz (2010). "National Front". The A to Z of Iran. The A to Z Guide Series. Vol. 209. Scarecrow Press. p. 224. ISBN 978-1461731917.
^ Poulson, Stephen C. (2012). Social Movements in Twentieth-century Iran: Culture, Ideology, and Mobilizing Frameworks. Lexington Books. p. 4. ISBN 978-0739117576.
^ Houchang E. Chehabi (1990). Iranian Politics and Religious Modernism: The Liberation Movement of Iran Under the Shah and Khomeini. I.B.Tauris. p. 128. ISBN 1850431981.
^ Abrahamian, Ervand (1989). Radical Islam: the Iranian Mojahedin. I.B.Tauris. p.47. ISBN 978-1-85043-077-3
^ Antoine, Olivier; Sfeir, Roy (2007), The Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism, Columbia University Press, p. 146

[1] Gasiorowski, Mark J.; Byrne, Malcolm (2004). Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran. Syracuse University Press. pp. 60–61. ISBN 0815630182.

[T&F-2] Zabir, Sepehr (2012). Iran Since the Revolution (RLE Iran D). Taylor & Francis. p. 29. ISBN 978-1136833007.

[3] Gheissari, Ali (2010). Iranian Intellectuals in the Twentieth Century. University of Texas Press. p. 64. ISBN 978-0292778917.

[GP-4] Kazemzadeh, Masoud (2008). "Opposition Groups". Iran Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Islamic Republic. Vol. 1. Greenwood Press. pp. 363–364. ISBN 978-0313341632.

[AZ-5] John H. Lorentz (2010). "National Front". The A to Z of Iran. The A to Z Guide Series. Vol. 209. Scarecrow Press. p. 224. ISBN 978-1461731917.

[6] Poulson, Stephen C. (2012). Social Movements in Twentieth-century Iran: Culture, Ideology, and Mobilizing Frameworks. Lexington Books. p. 4. ISBN 978-0739117576.

[7] Houchang E. Chehabi (1990). Iranian Politics and Religious Modernism: The Liberation Movement of Iran Under the Shah and Khomeini. I.B.Tauris. p. 128. ISBN 1850431981.

[8] Abrahamian, Ervand (1989). Radical Islam: the Iranian Mojahedin. I.B.Tauris. p.47. ISBN 978-1-85043-077-3

[9] Antoine, Olivier; Sfeir, Roy (2007), The Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism, Columbia University Press, p. 146

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