Union of Iranian Communists (Sarbedaran lit. ''the head-on-gallow mass'') (UIC(S); fa, اتحادیه کمونیست‌های ایران) was a

Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

organization in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. The UIC(S) was formed in 1976 after the alliance of a number of Maoist groups carrying out military actions within Iran. The group prepared an insurrection starting in 1981, but it was dismantled by 1982. Although it has gone through several ideological changes, it has maintained a general Maoist viewpoint advocating that Iran is not a

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...

society but a "

semicolonial In Marxist theory, a semi-colony is a country which is officially an independent and sovereign nation, but which is in reality very much dependent and dominated by an imperialist country (or, in some cases, several imperialist countries). This do ...

-semifeudal" one. In 2001 the UIC(S) became the Communist Party of Iran (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist).

History

Foundation

The Union of Iranian Communists was founded in 1976 after the unification of the "

Organization of Communist Revolutionaries An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

" and " Pooya Group" (a remnant of “Palestine Group”). The term "Sarbedaran" was used later in 1981 after the organization armed its members in the forests near

Amol Amol ( fa, آمل – ; ; also Romanized as Āmol and Amul) is a city and the administrative center of Amol County, Mazandaran Province, Iran, with a population of around 300,000 people. Amol is located on the Haraz river bank. It is less th ...

in northern

in preparation for its armed uprising against the Islamic regime.ketab1131
This union was a minor group and mainly operated in student movements abroad. Theoretically, due to their Maoist stance, the UIC(S) backed the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

in the

Sino-Soviet Split The Sino-Soviet split was the breaking of political relations between the China, People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union caused by Doctrine, doctrinal divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications ...

and opposed currents such as those held by the

Tudeh Party 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 ...

who backed the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...

. The UIC(S) expanded its activities inside the Iran after the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

in 1979 and some other groups such as "Group of struggle in the path of working class liberation" and "Red Battle" also joined. The UIC(S) did participate in some workers struggles at this time, such as "project syndicate of Abadan" and "Union of worker councils of Gilan" and also joined the war against the Islamic Republic in

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languag ...

(and formed a guerrilla organization in Kurdistan named "Tashkilate Pishmargeye Zahmatkeshane Kordestan"). UIC(S) did also participate in peasant struggles in Turkaman, Sahra and Arab protests in

Khuzistan Khuzestan Province (also spelled Xuzestan; fa, استان خوزستان ''Ostān-e Xūzestān'') is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahvaz and it covers ...

. It also formed front organization such as "Militant Women Society" and "SETAD (Revolutionary Mass Organization of university and school Students)".

Armed uprising

1982 was an important year in the history of the UIC(S) and the history of Maoism in Iran in general. In this year the UIC(S) mobilized forces in forests around

and launched an armed campaign against the Islamic Republic. It eventually organized an uprising on 25 January 1982. The uprising was eventually a failure and many UIC(S) and Maoist leaders were killed.

Aftermath

After the failure of the “Amol Uprising” the group went through a difficult period with most of its leadership and cadres arrested or killed. It also experienced various theoretical and political crises. In 1985 they again tried to organize militant struggle against the Islamic Republic but, again, this ended in failure. After this year they mainly operated in Kurdistan and against currents such as the

Communist Party of Iran The Communist Party of Iran (CPI; fa, حزب کمونیست ایران) is an Iranian communist party founded on 2 September 1983. It has an armed wing and its membership is predominantly Kurdish. The CPI is active throughout the industriali ...

which they called "

Reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can ...

" and "Dissolvist". In the late '80s they dropped some of their old slogans and strategies such as "Peoples’ war in rural areas and uprising in cities", "Revolution Path" etc. Instead they launched a new strategy and their slogan became "Protracted People's War: siege the cities via Villages". They also formulated their current " Marxist-Leninist-Maoist" stance.

Rebranding

In April 2001 they held the 'Founding Congress of Communist Party of Iran (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist)' and after some debates they established the Communist Party of Iran (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist) on May Day, 2001. The Communist Party of Iran (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist) is seen as a continuer of the Union of Iranian Communists (Sarbedaran).

References