What happened to the Iranian left after 1979’s revolution:

The Iranian left played a significant role in the 1979 revolution but was ultimately suppressed and marginalized by Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamist forces in the aftermath. Here’s an overview of what happened to leftist groups after the revolution:

Initial Collaboration and Support

Many leftist groups initially supported and collaborated with Khomeini’s movement to overthrow the Shah:

• Various Marxist-Leninist, socialist, and communist organizations participated in the revolutionary coalition[5].
• Some leftist groups like the Tudeh Party (pro-Soviet communists) and Fedayeen (urban guerillas) attracted many student members[5].
• The leftist-Islamist group Mujahedin also gained significant support among students[5].
• Many leftists viewed Khomeini’s movement as anti-imperialist and hoped to push it in a more progressive direction[1].

Gradual Suppression

However, Khomeini and his allies soon moved to sideline and suppress leftist forces:

• In March 1979, Khomeini declared “do not use this term, ‘democratic.’ That is the Western style,” signaling his opposition to liberal and leftist ideals[2].
• The National Democratic Front (a leftist group) was banned in August 1979[2].
• Universities were purged of leftist influence starting in March 1980[2].
• By early 1981, the government had closed MEK (People’s Mujahedin) offices, banned their newspapers, and issued arrest warrants for their leaders[2].

Violent Crackdown

The suppression of the left intensified into violent persecution:

• Between 1981-1985, nearly 8,000 political opponents were executed, many of them leftists[3].
• In 1988, a “Death Committee” oversaw the mass execution of leftist prisoners[1].
• Overall, the Islamic Republic’s crackdown on dissent was far more brutal than the Shah’s regime, which had executed fewer than 100 political prisoners between 1971-1979[3].

Reasons for Failure

Several factors contributed to the left’s inability to maintain influence:

• Lack of unity and organization among moderate and radical leftist factions[2].
• Underestimation of the conservatism of the Iranian masses[2].
• The left’s secular ideology conflicted with the religious fervor driving much of the revolution[1].
• Khomeini’s skillful co-opting of leftist anti-imperialist and social justice rhetoric into an Islamist framework[3][4].

Legacy

By the end of 1979, the “secular middle class” and liberals had been largely sidelined, leaving mainly Islamist factions in power[2]. The suppression of the left helped consolidate the Islamic Republic’s hold on power and narrowed the range of acceptable political ideologies in Iran[3]. However, some leftist ideas around social justice and anti-imperialism were incorporated into the Islamic Republic’s ideology, albeit in a religious framework[4].

Citations: [1] Ideology and Iran’s Revolution: How 1979 Changed the World https://institute.global/insights/geopolitics-and-security/ideology-and-irans-revolution-how-1979-changed-world [2] Aftermath of the Iranian revolution - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aftermath_of_the_Iranian_Revolution [3] Four decades later, did the Iranian revolution fulfill its promises? https://www.brookings.edu/articles/four-decades-later-did-the-iranian-revolution-fulfill-its-promises/ [4] What Iran’s 1979 revolution meant for the Muslim Brotherhood https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-irans-1979-revolution-meant-for-the-muslim-brotherhood/ [5] How Iran’s Theocrats Allied With — and Then Crushed — the Left https://jacobin.com/2022/10/chahla-chafiq-iranian-left-khomeini-protests-feminism [6] Iranian Revolution | Summary, Causes, Effects, & Facts - Britannica https://www.britannica.com/event/Iranian-Revolution