It attracted not only an impressive array of

It attracted not only an impressive array of professional and white-collar
associations, but also much of the intelligentsia. Among its members and
sympathizers – some would say “ fellow-travelers ” – were many of the
country ’ s intellectual luminaries.
44
Their list reads like a Who ’ s Who of
modern Iran: Sadeq Hedayat, Bozorg Alavi, and Sadeq Chubak, the three
leading lights of modern prose writing; Ahmad Shamlu and Nima Yushej,
the two path-blazers of modern poetry; Bahar, the poet laureate of tradi-
tional literature; Said Nafisi, Mehdi Bamdad, Muhammad Tamaddon,
Morteza Ravandi, Yahyi Arinpour – five leading historians; Noshin,
Loreta, and Hussein Khair-Khaw, the founders of modern theater;
Ghulam-Hussein Saedi, the playwright; Jalal al-e Ahmad and Behazin,
two well-known essayists; Golestan, one of Iran ’ s first film directors; and
such literary figures as Parviz Khanlari, Nader Naderpour, Muhammad
Tafazolli, Muhammad Mo ’ in, Fereidun Tavalolli, Fereidun Tankubani,
and Siavesh Kasrai. Their ranks also included prominent lawyers, doctors,
surgeons, engineers, architects, musicians, artists, sculptors, and university
professors. These intellectuals socialized in Tudeh clubs as well as in private
cafés near the cinemas and theatres of northern Tehran. Their main
gathering places were the Noshin ’ s Sa ’ adi Theater and Ferdowsi Café
favored by Sadeq Hedayat and Bozorg Alavi. In the words of the London
110 A History of Modern Iran

Times , Tudeh at its height attracted the “ most talented and the best
educated of the young generation. ”
45
The Tudeh Party, however, suffered major setbacks in 1945 – 46 . These
were caused by the Soviet demand for an oil concession in northern Iran and
their sponsoring of autonomy movements in Kurdestan and Azerbaijan.
The oil demand took Tudeh by surprise – especially since their Majles
deputies had just denounced the government for offering concessions in
Baluchestan to American companies, and their labor organizers in
Khuzestan had been calling for the nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian
Oil Company. Tudeh tried “ damage limitation, ” arguing that the Soviet
willingness to share future profits equally was far more generous than the 20
percent received from the British. The demand, however, became an
embarrassing litmus test dividing leftists from nationalists. Bullard reported
that many Tudeh leaders had privately informed the prime minister that
they opposed the Soviet demand and instead supported the official policy of
postponing all oil negotiations until after the war.
46
The Kurdish and Azerbaijan movements were even more damaging. In
September 1945 , the Soviets, for reasons best known to themselves, suddenly
sponsored Kurdish and Azerbaijan groups demanding provincial autonomy.
Jafar Pishevari, a veteran communist who edited his own paper and disdained
the young Marxists leading the Tudeh Party, suddenly rediscovered his Azeri
“ roots ” and realized that his native Azerbaijan had long been deprived of its
“ national rights. ” Supported by the Soviets, he established his own