Information about a Conversation with Eskandary, Iradj, Member of the Executive of the Iranian Tudeh Party's Central Committee

Lieutenant Parche
IC "Reza"

October 22nd 1979

478

II/Head

Information about a conversation with Eskandary, Iradj, Member of the Executive of the Iranian Tudeh Party's Central Committee

The source held a conversation in August 1979 with

Dr. Eskandary, Iradj (71)
born 12.09.1908 in Tehran
former residence: 7022 Leipzig
Novdereiweg 2
current residence: Tehran/Iran
former first secretary of the Tudeh Party of Iran
serving for Main Department XX/AGA

Dr. E., who has been staying in Iran since April 1979, was visiting Leipzig in August 1979.

He said the following about the situation in Iran, the conditions, and the methods of the Tudeh Party in Iran:

In Iran an atmosphere has set in against imperialism, primarily against US imperialism and the Iranian upper bourgeoisie. This mass movement has a sporadic character. The members of the domestic upper bourgeoisie and other reactionary forces are uniting and attempting to stop the progressive mass movement. Powerful anti-Communism and anti-Sovietism are being used as weapons. The reactionary forces are contending to an increasing extent with the problems of ethnic minorities in Iran. After attempts by reactionary forces in Gorgan and Khuzestan, Iranian Kurdistan will quickly be transformed into the main support point of domestic and foreign reaction.

The anti-Communist and anti-Soviet propaganda of Khomeini and other high clergy, Prime Minister Bazargan, his ministers and their antidemocratic tendencies, stand in the way of the formation of a union of the workers, a union of the "social category", which is interested in an anti-imperialist transformation.

The Tudeh Party tolerates the opinion that the formation of a Union of Iranian workers for the anti-imperialist and democratic transformation of Iranian society is the affair of the workers and that they themselves must take the initiative. In this the Tudeh Party must provide its specific contribution through declarations, support for efforts to fight, and direct participation in the workers' struggle. But Dr. Eskandary believes in this regard that a main deterrent to the Tudeh Party's concrete activization in Iran is the fact that no work plan is available and "therefore the lines of real leadership" are missing.

The first secretary of the Tudeh Party, Nuraddin Kianuri, has formed a three-person party leadership. It consists of:

-Nuraddin Kianuri
-Jafar Mizani
-Manstschehr [text is unclear --trans.] Behzadi

The leadership has the following responsibilities:

Jafar Mizani is responsible for overall organizational assignments of the Party.

Manstschehr Behzadi is responsible for the Party's relations.

In Dr. E.'s opinion, both are just tools in the hand of Nuraddin Kianuri. According to Dr. E., Kianuri will do what he wants and make decisions alone. He acts arbitrarily, brings people into the party in contravention of its statutes, nominates them as candidates for the assembly of experts for the drafting of a new constitution or for elections etc. Some of these candidates were known as agents of SAVAK or were under suspicion of working with SAVAK.

The wife of Nuraddin Kianuri, Marjam Firuz, whose actual name is Marjam Farsanfarmaian [text of name is unclear --trans.], was also a candidate for the assembly of experts for the drafting of the new constitution. Her candidacy was rejected by many members of the Tudeh Party because:

-she is from one of the reactionary families of Iran (her father owns a great deal of land, including 253 villages in West Iran)

-her overall behavior does not conform with that of a Party comrade.

In order for her to become a candidate, the number of votes for her was falsified. The number of votes was reported to be 7,000, although in Dr. E.'s opinion not even 70 votes could have been given for her. If this betrayal were made known the Tudeh Party would suffer great political damage.

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