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Communist Party of Iran حزب کمونیست ایران | |
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Abbreviation | CPI |
Leadership | Central committee |
Founder | Abdulla Mohtadi Mansoor Hekmat |
Founded | 2 September 1983 in Iranian Kurdistan |
Merger of | |
Newspaper | Jahān-e Emrūz (World Today) |
Kurdish organization | Komala (CPI) |
Armed wing | Peshmerga Forces |
Ideology | |
Political position | Far-left |
National affiliation | Cooperation Council of Left and Communist Parties |
Slogan | "Workers of all countries, unite!" |
Website | |
www | |
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Communist parties |
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The Communist Party of Iran (CPI; Persian: حزب کمونیست ایران) is an Iranian communist party founded on 2 September 1983. It has an armed wing and its membership is predominantly Kurdish.[1] The CPI is active throughout the industrialized areas of Iran.[1][2]
The Communist Party of Iran was founded in 1983, in Iranian Kurdistan. It was formed from a merger between the Marxist–Leninist Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan and three related Iranian leftist organizations: Sahand, the Union of Communist Militants,[3] and a faction of Peykar.[4][2][1] Prior to the merger, Komala was considered to be a strictly Maoist party. The CPI, however, has been critical of Mao as a revolutionary, considering that he made many mistakes throughout the 1950s to 1970s. The party opposes the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.[1] The CPI also rejects the policies of the Tudeh Party of Iran from the late 1950s and onward, citing a particular grievance with Tudeh giving support to the Shahs of Iran and Ayatollah Khomeini's regime. CPI also emphasizes that the Soviet Union was not a socialist government after the death of Stalin.
The party would suffer a split in 1991, when former party leader Mansoor Hekmat formed the Worker-communist Party of Iran over issues regarding left-wing nationalism.[citation needed]
The CPI currently advocates for increased civil, political, and social rights in Iran, as well as improved labour laws and protections for workers.[5]
The party has representations in Germany (Köln and Frankfurt), Finland, Sweden (Göteborg and Stockholm), Norway, Denmark (Copenhagen), the United Kingdom (London), Australia, and Canada (Toronto).[6]
Unlike most other communist parties, the CPI is not organised on the basis of democratic centralism. The party is decentralised and its cadres generally act autonomously.[1]