Tehran Eight

1987–1989 Iran-backed Afghan Shia military alliance

Politics of Afghanistan
Political parties
Elections

The Tehran Eight^[1] was a political union of Shi'a Afghan Mujahideen, mainly of the Hazara ethnic group, during the Soviet–Afghan War. They were supported by Iran, hence the name Tehran Eight.

The Tehran Eight were predominantly active in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, and fought against the PDPA government and the supporting Soviet troops. It formed the second largest resistance force in the war, after the main Afghan mujahideen (also called the "Peshawar Seven"), which was a Sunni alliance.

The Tehran Eight was formed in December 1987 with the direct participation of the Iranian state, after years of inter-factional struggle in the Hazarajat. In 1989, they were united into one party, Hezb-e Wahdat, with the exception of Hezbollah Afghanistan.

The eight factions

The following Afghan organizations composed the Tehran Eight, all headquartered in Iran:^[2]

Hezbollah Afghanistan – led by Qari Ahmad Ali Ghordarwazi
Sazman-i Nasr (also known as Islamic Victory Organization of Afghanistan) – led by Muhammad Hussein Sadiqi, Abdul Ali Mazari and Shaykh Shafak.
Corps of Islamic Revolution Guardians of Afghanistan – led by Sheikh Akbari, Mohsen Rezai and Sapahe Pasdaran.
The Islamic Movement of Afghanistan movement – led by Muhammad Asif Muhsini and Shaykh Sadeq Hashemi. IMOA, a member of the Tehran Eight, joined the Hezb-e Wahdat, which was intended as a united Shiite political front, but soon bolted out of it.^[1]
Revolutionary Council of Islamic Unity of Afghanistan, also known as Shura party – led by Sayeed Ali Beheshti and Sayeed Djagran.
Islamic Revolution Movement – led by Nasrullah Mansur.
Union of Islamic Fighters – led by Mosbah Sade, a Hazara leader of Bamian.
Raad ("Thunder") party – led by Shaykh Sayeed Abdul Jaffar Nadiri, Muhammad Hazai Sayeed Ismail Balkhee.

References

^ ^a ^b Ruttig, T. Islamists, Leftists – and a Void in the Center. Afghanistan's Political Parties and where they come from (1902–2006). "The first current was mainly represented in the 1980s by the Sunni Mujahedin tanzim based in Pakistan, the ‘Peshawar Seven’, and the Shia Mujahedin groups based in Iran, the ‘Tehran Eight’. The second current mainly consisted of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), with its two major factions Khalq and Parcham, and the ‘Maoist’ groups that emerged from the demokratik-e newin, or ‘new democracy’, commonly referred to as shola’i. For the third current, there are mainly Afghan Millat with at least three different factions on the Pashtun(ist) side and Settam-e Melli on the Tajik side, with some Uzbek and Turkmen elements, and currently Sazman-e Inqilabi-ye Zahmatkashan-e Afghanistan (SAZA), or ‘Revolutionary Organisation of Afghanistan’s Toilers’ and the new Hezb-e Kangara-ye Melli, or ‘National Congress Party’. There is no current Hazara equivalent to them since Hezb-e Wahdat has absorbed the Hazara demand for religious, political and judicial equality." [1]
^ "DOSSIERS OF POLITICAL PARTIES INTENT ON EXPORTING AN ISLAMIC REVOLUTION". Wilson Center. 1999. Retrieved 18 May 2022.