Hassan Massali, PH.D
P.O.Box 60735 Potomac, MD 20859, USA
hmassali@aol.com Tel.(1)-301-792-3370
November 4, 2008
To: Honorable Poul Nyrup Rasmussen
The President of the Party of European Social Domocrats,
To The Socialist International – Middle Eastern Office-,
To all Social Democrat Parties in the World,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Comrades,
As you are aware, the social democratic movement of Iran has a long history. Many expatriate Iranian intellectuals, from Berlin to Paris, inspired by the European social democracy, and in connection with the just demands of the Iranian people, fought with dictatorship for the cause of social justice.
Iranian Social Democratic organizations played an important role in the Constitutional Revolution of 1906, and participated in the establishment of parliamentary democracy in Iran.
Social Democratic parties such as” Iran Party”, “The Third Force (Way)”, and “The Ligue of Iranian Socialists” played a pivotal role in support of Mohammad Mossadegh’s government in early 1951s, and in the formation of secularism in the struggles of the Iranian people for justice.
However, years of dictatorial rule weakened, defeated, and dispersed these movements. With the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979 all secular and liberal minded groups were destroyed. Leaders of the Islamic regime declared such programs antithesis to their rule.
Now, large portions of Iranian workers, intellectuals, and middle classes have expressed their dissatisfaction with the political, economical, and cultural status quo. They have called for creation of modern political parties and specifically they have called for regrouping of the Iranian social democratic movement as a political alternative to the present regime.
Great many Iranian intellectual circles, active both inside the country and abroad, have concluded that the present government in Iran is incapable of resolving the internal and external problems beseiging the nation. And that the regime is on the verge of collapse.
Having learned lessons from our recent political history, we believe that the collapse of the political order of the day is not sufficient, and that formation of modern political parties that are capable of organizing and managing different segments of the society is absolutely necessary. Democratic and progressive forces must be ready and able in every way to manage the coming upheavels in order to lead the transformation of the country.
After years of lobbying and networking with intellectuals and social democratic activists on this basis, we called a conference of Iranian social democrats some time in April or July of 2009 in Europe.
Activists from around the world, including Iran, will be taking part in this conference.
We urge social democratic leaders of the world to participate in our gathering, and to lend moral and political support to this initiative. We expect social democrats everywhere to express their solidarity with the new social democratic movement of Iran.
Enclosed is our proposed program for your information.
Respectfully yours,
Iranian Social Democrats Conference Coordinator,
Dr. Hassan Massali