Page:Documents from the Den of Espionage.djvu/113

 IRAN

President, Toilers Party and Guardians of Freedom

Mozafar Baqai-Kermani has been a chronic oppositionists since 1949. He is a devoted nationalist, with overtones of socialism, wholeheartedly opposed to Communism, strongly anti-British but not unfriendly to the US. Within this framework, however, his politics tend to shift freely, depending on the conditions of the moment. A former supporter of ex-Premier Mohamad Mosadeq, Baqai was at one time the second most popular man in Iran. Since then his political fortunes have waned considerably. At the present time, he probably has little following beyond his two political organizations, the Toilers Party and the Guardians of Freedom--both of which are primarily personality cults without a significant popular base.

Baqai's activities are closely circumscribed by the government, and he is opposed by both the tudeh (Communist) Party and Mosadeq's National Front. His strength lies in his nuisance value, and is derived largely from his skill as a demagogue. In his ambition for the Premiership he would probably sacrifice a few scruples to attain it. However, he has made so many political enemies during his long career that his chances are small. One source has asserted that the Shah is willing to allow Baqai a limited amount of freedom of action as a check on the government.

Baqai was born in Kerman in 1908. His father, Shahab Kermani, was a famous patriot and Constitutionalist. Mozafar received his early education in Iran, and earned a PhD in philosophy and pedagogy from the Sorbonne in 1935. Returning to Iran, he joined the faculty of Tehran University, where he has lectured on ethics off and on ever since. In 1939-41 he completed his military service as a reserve officer. Baqai reportedly joined the Tudeh Party in 1942, but left it soon after. In 1947 he was elected to the Majlis as deputy from Kerman. He first came into prominence in 1949, when his attacks on the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) and the army won him popular acclaim. In November 1949 he was arrested for publishing sharp criticisms of the army in his newspaper,. A court martial sentenced him to a year in prison, but he was acquitted by a civil court.

Baqai had joined Mosadeq's National Front while in the Majlis, and in May 1951 he founded the Toilers Party to serve as the right wing's answer to the growing popularity of the Tudeh Party. Baqai described the Toilers Party as "socialist in attitude so far as socialist policy is consistent with the policies of the government." By this