Entry into the political game
In the years 1949-1950, the movement engaged in politics alongside Kashani and other parties such as the National Front, even though the Feda'iyan had reservations about some candidates who were not part of the project to establish an Islamic government. Kashani reminded them that the priority was the nationalisation of the oil industry. At the same time they took action on a number of fronts which had long been part of their radical agenda, mounting a campaign against women not wearing the veil in one of the most important mosques in Tehran, attacking shops selling alcohol, and enrolling volunteers to fight in Palestine.
The Feda'iyan were also responsible for other political assassinations, notably the killing of two prime ministers: Abdul-Hussein Hazhir[1] and Ali Razmara[2]. This latter assassination allowed the National Front and Mossaddegh[3] to be called into the government by the Shah . But with Mossaddegh's accession to power the differences between the Feda'iyan and Kashani came to the surface, in particular over the revolutionary struggle to overthrow the Shah[4] and enact Islamic law as stated in their manifesto. In supporting Mossaddegh's National Front, the Feda'iyan raised hopes for the inauguration of an Islamic regime where their ideas would be applied, but their hopes were rapidly disappointed and they quickly came to oppose the government. Furthermore, the Feda'iyan came into conflict with their erstwhile mentor Ayatollah Kashani, criticising his moderate politics. Depending on how the political game went, the Feda'iyan distanced themselves from Kashani for working with Mossaddegh or, the other way around, as Kashani distanced himself from Mossaddegh when it was in his political interests to do so.
The Feda'iyan also opposed the communists of the Tudeh Party[5], confronting them on 2 January 1953. The cleric Sayyid Ali Akbar Borqa, a member of the group Partisans for Peace (Jamiyat-e havadaran-e sohl), linked to the Communist Party, returned to Qom after having taken part in the World Peace Council in Vienna. He was greeted by a group of anti Mossaddegh agitators, shouting slogans such as ' Death to Islam, the Koran and the Ayatollah Borujerdi[6]. ' The noise of the crowd reached the Fayziyya school, home to the Qom religious seminary, and a group of students led by Sheikh Fazlollah Mahallati[7] , a member of the Feda'iyan, went to deal with the demonstrators. With the aid of Ruhollah Khomeini[8] , who taught at the Qom seminary at that time, the Feda'iyan sympathisers organised an anti Tudeh riot. Two days later, a large demonstration led by students of religion and bazaris[9] ended in confrontation with the police and one death and a dozen injuries. Khomeini was ordered by Borujerdi to investigate the matter and to lodge a complaint. Mahallati said later that the whole affair had been “a plot to frighten the ulemas” and to cross the line dividing them from the Mossaddegh government. The Feda'iyan's anti Mossaddegh actions culminated in the attempted assassination of Hossein Fatemi[10] , Vice-President and Mossaddegh ally, on 14 February 1952. The fact is that, once political alliances failed, the Feda'iyan returned to violence, in particular political assassination.
