''Rahbar'' ( fa, رهبر, lit=Guide) was an Iranian

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken a ...

daily newspaper, published from

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

. It was the central organ of the communist

Tudeh Party of Iran The Tudeh Party of Iran ( fa-at, حزب تودۀ ایران, Ḥezb-e Tūde-ye Īrān, lit=Party of the Masses of Iran) is an Iranian communist party. Formed in 1941, with Soleiman Mirza Eskandari as its head, it had considerable influence in i ...

. The decision to launch ''Rahbar'' was taken at the First Party Conference held in October 1942, after that Abbas Iskandari, the editor of erstwhile central organ of the party ''Siasat'', had been expelled from the party. The paper was first published in February 1943. In the initial phase of ''Rahbar'' the Tudeh Party was not officially a communist party, and the editorial line of the newspaper was non-communist constitutionalism. During the years of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, ''Rahbar'' (and other Tudeh organs) focused on anti-fascist and pro-peace agitation. During this period it was financed by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Iraj Eskandari Iraj Eskandari ( fa, ایرج اسکندری; 1907–1985) was an Iranian communist politician. A Qajar prince, Eskandari received French education.Behrooz, Maziar. Rebels with a Cause: The Failure of the Left in Iran'. London: I.B. Tauris, 2000. ...

served as the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of ''Rahbar''. As with the other two key publications of the party ('' Mardom'' and ''Razm'') it was edited by a member of the Tudeh parliamentary faction in the

Majles The Islamic Consultative Assembly ( fa, مجلس شورای اسلامی, Majles-e Showrā-ye Eslāmī), also called the Iranian Parliament, the Iranian Majles (Arabicised spelling Majlis) or ICA, is the national legislative body of Iran. The P ...

. In June 1943 the

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

organization led by the Tudeh Party, the Central Council of Unions of Iran, decided to adopt ''Rahbar'' as their main organ, substituting the union publication ''Giti'' until the re-launching of a separate trade unionist newspaper. From June 21, 1943 onwards ''Rahbar'' carried a section titled "the party and the workers". When ''Rahbar'' celebrated its anniversary it sold 60,000 copies, almost reaching the levels of the main newspaper of the country, ''

Ettela'at ''Ettela'at'' ( fa, اطلاعات, Ettelâ'ât, ) is a Persian language daily newspaper of record published in Iran. It is among the oldest publications in the country, and the oldest running Persian daily newspaper in the world. The paper has ...

''. In the oil-rich areas in southern Iran, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and local authorities enforced a ban on reading and distributing ''Rahbar''. Workers caught reading or selling the paper were usually dismissed from their employments.Habib Ladjevardi. (1985).
Labor Unions and Autocracy in Iran
'. Contemporary issues in the Middle East. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press. p. 123 On 23 August 1945 ''Rahbar'' was shut down by the orders of a military commandant in Tehran. The publication of ''Rahbar'' (as well as the labour newspaper '' Zafar'') was again suspended by the government on 8 December 1946, citing the attacks of the paper against the pro-American policies of the Iranian government. The ban was however lifted by the end of the month.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahbar 1943 establishments in Iran 1946 disestablishments in Iran Banned newspapers Censorship in Iran Defunct newspapers published in Iran Newspapers established in 1943 Newspapers published in Tehran Persian-language newspapers Publications disestablished in 1946 Publications of the Tudeh Party of Iran