The Tudeh Party and the Marxist-Leninist Concept of the "National Question" in Iran (1941-1979)

The national question was a concept constructed by nineteenth-century Marxists in the face of the spread of the wave of nationalism, a concept they used as a tool to advance their goals, especially on the eve of the October Revolution. In Iran, it was with the establishment of the Communist Party in 1338 AH that the “national question” came up under the concept of “different nations of Iran.” The Tudeh Party, as the most important communist group during the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah, developed the concept of “national question” in Iran. The main question of this research is what the approach of the Tudeh Party was towards the concept of “national question” in Iran and what the factors influencing this approach were. The hypothesis of this research is based on the proposition that this party’s approach to the concept of “national question” in Iran is derived from the teachings of Lenin and Stalin and a functionalist approach to advance its struggles and the leadership of Marxist groups is to expand the level of struggle, and Ideological ties with the Soviet Union have had the greatest impact on this approach. In this study, interpretive and explanatory-functionalist methodologies have been used to explain the problem. In data interpretation, the content analysis method has been used, and in explaining events, recognizing political structures, and causally explaining their function has been considered. This study concludes that the Tudeh Party’s approach to the “national question” in Iran was functionalist and in line with its goals, and the party did not pay more attention to it.