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Reference.org
National Front (Iran)
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<p>The National Front of Iran is an opposition <a href="/facts/Political_organization/9p5D1mUB">political organization</a> in <a href="/facts/Iran/24yukge8">Iran</a>. It was founded by <a href="/facts/Mohammad_Mosaddegh/IAm34V5s">Mohammad Mosaddegh</a> in 1949, and it is the oldest and arguably the largest pro-<a href="/facts/Democracy/3tLdVS1C">democracy</a> group operating inside <a href="/facts/Iran/24yukge8">Iran</a>, despite having never been able to recover the prominence it had in the early 1950s. </p><p>Initially, the front was an <a href="/facts/Umbrella_organization/Gx7tBCHb">umbrella organization</a> for a broad coalition of forces with <a href="/facts/Iranian_nationalism/WRvFhXpH">nationalist</a>, liberal-democratic, socialist, <i><a href="/facts/Bazaari/GhDmFEJ1">bazaari</a></i>, secular and Islamic tendencies, that mobilized to successfully campaign for the <a href="/facts/The_nationalization_of_the_Iran_oil_industry_movement/VPyX0A4U">nationalization of the Iranian oil industry</a>. In 1951, the Front formed a <a href="/facts/Governments_of_Mohammad_Mosaddegh/lKxwQ7NX">government</a> which was deposed by the <a href="/facts/1953_Iranian_coup_d%2527%25C3%25A9tat/6poAfCcE">1953 Iranian <i>coup d'état</i></a> and subsequently repressed. Members attempted to revive the Front in 1960, 1965, and 1977. </p><p>Before 1953 and throughout the 1960s, the Front was torn by strife between secular and religious elements. Over time its coalition split into various squabbling factions, with the Front gradually emerging as the leading organization of <a href="/facts/Secular_liberalism/tNo71oye">secular liberals</a> with nationalist members adhering to <a href="/facts/Liberal_democracy/5blgnbkS">liberal democracy</a> and <a href="/facts/Social_democracy/Ttb0ryDT">social democracy</a>. </p><p>During the <a href="/facts/Iranian_Revolution/frTYhJ0F">Iranian Revolution</a>, the Front supported the replacement of the old monarchy by an <a href="/facts/Islamic_Republic/hE0SWdyj">Islamic Republic</a>, and was the main symbol of the nationalist tendency in the early years of post-revolutionary government. It was banned in July 1981. Although it is under constant surveillance and officially illegal, it remains active inside Iran. </p>