page_title: Freedom Movement of Iran
section_title: 1953 Coup d'etat and aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Freedom Movement of Iran / 1953 Coup d'etat and aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: Mossadegh, PM of Iran
context_page_description: The Freedom Movement of Iran or Liberation Movement of Iran is an Iranian pro-democracy political organization founded in 1961, by members describing themselves as "Muslims, Iranians, Constitutionalists and Mossadeghists". It is the oldest party still active in Iran and has been described as a "semi-opposition" or "loyal opposition" party. It has also been described as a "religious nationalist party".
  The organization was split to the National Front (II), its establishment was supported by Mohammad Mossadegh. It then applied for the membership in the front with a platform advocating national sovereignty, freedom of political activity and expression, social justice under Islam, respect for Iran’s constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Charter of the United Nations. It believes in the separation of religion and state, while that political activity should be guided by religious values. FMI based on a moderate interpretation of Islam. It rejects both royal and clerical dictatorship in favor of political and economic liberalism.
  Despite being outlawed by the prevailing government in Iran, the group continues to exist.
context_section_description: The group originated in the early 1950s, after the 1953 coup d'état against the government of Dr. Mohammad Mossadeq who was Prime Minister of Iran from April 1951 to August 1953 (with a very brief interruption in July 1952). That coup brought down Mossadegh and his colleagues from power and reinstalled the Shah as the dominant force in Iranian politics. The newly installed government quickly rounded up Mossadegh's closest supporters, outlawing freedom of expression and cracking down on free political activity. Mossadegh himself was placed before a military court and sentenced to three years in prison. A group of low-ranking leaders from the Mossadegh era quickly formed an underground organization calling itself the National Resistance Movement (NRM). It is significant in the context of the FMI's history because this reincarnation of the National Front (the umbrella group for Mossadegh's supporters) was constituted mainly of religious laymen, which differentiated it from the secular members of the banned National Front, including Mossadegh himself. The NRM campaigned for the 1954 Majlis to be free and fair (they were not) and attempted
caption: Mohammad Mosaddegh
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