Communist Party of Iran

The Communist Party of Iran (CPI) was founded on 2 September 1983 through the merger of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan with several Iranian leftist organizations, including the Union of Communist Militants and a faction of the Peykar Organization. Mansoor Hekmat was a co-founder and leading theoretician of the party. The CPI opposed both the Islamic Republic and the Soviet model of socialism, advocating worker-council communism. In 1991, Hekmat and a significant portion of the membership left to form the Worker-communist Party of Iran. In 2000, the Komala wing under Abdullah Mohtadi also split, further weakening the party. The CPI continues to operate in exile.