Mozaffar Baghaei Kermani and the founding of the Iranian Toilers' Party in 1951 and the party's position on the nationalization of Iranian oil.

Abstract

The importance of establishing political parties is one of the most important issues in contemporary Iranian history, due to its direct impact on political life. Mozaffar Baghaei Kermani, a member of the Iranian National Consultative Assembly for three consecutive terms (15th, 16th, and 17th), emerged as a prominent figure. With the help of his friends, he founded the newspaper Shahid. In May 1951, he founded the Toilers' Party, which included intellectuals who had withdrawn from the Tudeh Party. The party had economic, political, and social objectives, perhaps the most important of which was the nationalization of Iranian oil. The party had an influential voice through its members in the Consultative Assembly, led by Baghaei. Furthermore, the newspaper Shahid, the voice of the party, published daily articles defending the rights of the Iranian people. He supported the nationalization of oil, and together with his colleagues, he established the Petroleum Law Monitoring Organization. Ultimately, at the insistence of the government headed by Mosaddegh and members of the National Front, including members of the Toilers' Party and Baghaei, the International Court of Justice ruled that it had no jurisdiction on July 22, 1952. This marked a victory for the Iranian people in the case of oil nationalization.