The Tudeh Party of Iran and the land reform initiatives of the Pahlavi State, 1958-1964

Abstract

This article seeks to explore the reaction and attitude of the Tudeh Party of Iran to the land reform initiatives enacted by the Pahlavi state between 1958 and 1964. This article will in particular describe how the party analysed the various stages of the land reform programme through both its lively media operation and internal party documents. Based on a close reading of this material, this article will also focus on how the exiled party’s attitude with regards to the the Pahlavi state and other contemporary political actors affected its opinion of the rise to prominence of Ayatullah Ruhallah Khomeini in the midst of the land reform programme. The article will hence conclude by offering a new account of the Tudeh’s initial attitude to Khomeini’s initiatives from the 15 Khurdad uprising to the cleric’s exile and gauge the extent to which the same was informed by the previous analysis of the land reform initiatives.