THE ORGANISATION OF
THE UNION OF PEOPLE’S FEDAIAN OF IRAN
1971 - .............
 

The “Union of People's Fedaian of Iran “ was established in April 1994,following the convention of "Unity Congress" and after a series of political , theoretical and organizational discussions between the two currents of Fedaie movement: “Organization of Iranian People's Fedaie Guerrillas'- (High council) and “Fedaie Organization" .

The Fedaie movement came into existene in 1960s, mainly through political activism of the left intellectual circles and students. In 1971, the foundation of the “ Organization of Iranian People’s Fedaie Guerrillas “ was announced by the merge of two left militant groups, one created by Bijan Jazani and his comarades, and the other by Massoud Ahmadzadeh and Amir Parviz Pouyan, which adopted the struggle as only possible way towards liberation.

During the last two decades of Shah’s dictatorship, the members of this organization, along with the other combatants, were actively in struggle against the dictatorship. They made great sacrifices and suffered heavy losses, but the organization survived.

During the last two decades of Shah's dictatorship ,the members of these two organizations, along with other combatants were actively involved in the struggle against the dictatorship of the regime. They took part in the Iranian revolution in 1979,and once more soon after the revolution, they all as the members of one organization fought against the new reactionary regime which hid itself under the cover of religion. During this period, in spite of having a favorable social and political position to organize the people's resistance against the Islamic despotism and to defend the achievements of the revolution, the "Organization of Iranian People's Fedaie Guerrillas " failed to achieve its goals. This was because it lacked the necessary political experience, did not have a clear view of how the people could be organized, and most important of all had no clear and comprehensive agenda which could bring about a free, progressive and just society. Therefore as the reactionary forces established the bases of the Islamic medieval dictatorship which benefited from the ignorance and illiteracy of the majority of the population ,this organization failed to safeguard the achievements of the revolution . The first reaction to this failure ended in the split of the Organization into two parts: the " Majority" and the ," Minority".
Although this split happened some months after the revolution and revealed the right and left currents within the organization, but because of the lack of the experience of internal party dialogues and democratic standards, the splitting currents could not define their ideological, political and organizational differences. This problem led to more splits within the ranks of the “Majority" and “Minority".

 The today's unified forces which form the “Union of People's Fedaian of Iran" come from the left and right currents of the previous splits, although they have passed through different development phases.  The right current, which was part of the "Majority", in spite of continuing its reformist and conciliatory policies towards the regime, clearly distinguished itself theoretically and ideologically from the ”Majority”. So when the dissolution of the “Majority” section into the, Tudeh party of Iran" was proposed, they split from the " Majority" in  defiance. In the following years this current having learnt its lesson from the previous failures criticized its past policies and gradually returned to the revolutionary left movement. As a result of the unity between this organization and the “Organization for the Emancipation of  Labour “ which had been established by the former cadres and members of the ,”Minority" the “Fedaie Organization of Iran" was formed in 1989.

On the other hand the left current, which was initially aligned  with the “Minority" ,in spite of its revolutionary stance against the regime, adopted ultra leftist policies. The "Minority" too, because of the lack of a clear agenda faced several splits.

The progress toward reunification of Fedaies was made possible through the revision of the theoretical principles, proposing clear political lines, dispensing with sectarian attitudes toward unity and coalition, learning from the past failures and achieving principled understanding about democratic relations among the left forces as well as within the ranks of organization.

During the time of political-ideological differences which lasted nearly one decade we were separated and scattered and in times even confronted each other. But having learned from various deviations and bitter experiences we tried to overcome our weaknesses and shortcomings through revolutionary criticism and started to reach common theoretical-political outlooks to ensure our unity based on democratic principles.

The holding of the" Unity Congress" ,the establishment of the Union of People's Fedaian of Iran  and the ratification of the theoretical-political principles and political agenda by the members of both organizations indicates a principled and democratic process of unity among parts of the left movement in Iran.

This unification also indicates a significant lesson that while there may be differences on some subjects, by applying democratic rules and leverages and securing an open atmosphere for opposing ideas, it is possible to prevent scattered and unorganized activities and to allow the left movement to proceed with its task.

Theoretical-political stances and the charter of  the Union of People's Fedaian of Iran are ratified by the "Unity Congress" and by the second congress (July 1996).

In accordance with the charter, the congresses of the Organization  which draw the political agenda and elect the leading organs, have been held every other year since then.

“Etehade Kar” ( Union of Labour) is monthly political organ of the Organization in Persian language. The Organization runs also a web-site ( www.etehadefedaian.org)that covers current events in Iran, along with the analyses and declarations and other activities of organization.