Iran: Information on the "Muslim Movement in Struggle" and its founder, Dr. Peyman
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 March 1998 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | IRN28910.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Iran: Information on the "Muslim Movement in Struggle" and its founder, Dr. Peyman, 1 March 1998, IRN28910.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aafc3f.html [accessed 30 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information on an organization or group called the Muslim Movement in Struggle could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. However, a 19 May 1997 article in the Iranian newspaper Jomhuri-ye Eslami referred to Dr. Habibollah Peyman as the leader of the Movement of Combatant Muslims. The article reported that Dr. Peyman had issued a statement protesting his disqualification as a candidate in Iran's presidential election by the Council of Guardians (Guardian Council).
Habibollah Peyman is described in a 1996 article as one of a group of political Islamic intellectuals known as the "New Thinkers," who count the philosopher Abdol Karim Saroush (Sorush) among their numbers (The Independent 25 Feb. 1996). The "New Thinkers" are described as challenging that the government of the Islamic Republic to grant more freedoms to citizens and interpret the Qur'an (Koran) more flexibly. Peyman, a teacher at Tehran University (his academic specialization is unspecified), was jailed for five years during the Shah's regime (ibid.). Peyman strongly criticizes the Muslim clerics who govern Iran, saying that they "have failed to fulfil the promises of the revolution" and that Iran has become a totalitarian state under their rule (ibid.).
According to the Iranian newspaper Iran News of 12 March 1997, Dr. Habibollah Peyman had expressed his intention to officially announce his candidacy for the Iranian presidency the following day for the 23 May election. The newspaper described Dr. Peyman as a dentist from Shiraz, a former editor of the Persian-language weekly publication Ummah (Nation), and married with four children. The report added that he had lost his job at the university (the university is unnamed) and been jailed several times because of his activities against the Shah.
A 17 April 1997 news report posted on the Internet stated that an internal public opinion poll had been carried out at the Medical Sciences University of Arak in Iran, according to which Habibollah Peyman was the fourth most popular choice for President of Iran among those polled at the university. Peyman received 5.34 per cent of the votes cast in the opinion poll. More popular than Peyman were Seyed Momammad Khatami, Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, and Mohammad Mohammadi Reyshahri (FarsiNet News).
Agence France Presse (AFP) reported on 16 February 1997 that "Iranian ecologist" Habibollah Peyman had been banned from leaving Iran in order to attend a conference in London. His passport was confiscated at Tehran airport. The dispatch added that Peyman was close to the dissident Iranian writer Faraj Sarkuhi (Sarkouhi).
An 18 November 1997 AFP dispatch reported that Habibollah Peyman was prevented from giving a public address to students at Amir-Kabir University in Tehran. The dispatch quoted a report from Peyman's office to the effect that "security men" disrupted Peyman's speech, assaulted members of the audience and removed Peyman from the campus.
A 16 December 1997 Voice of Israel broadcast in Persian stated that Habibollah Peyman was among 57 Iranian dissidents who had signed an open letter to President Khatami protesting the "harassment and persecution of Ayatollah Montazeri." This letter was linked "by political observers in Tehran" to the arrest on 14 December of Ebrahim Yazdi, the Secretary-General of the Freedom Movement. Yazdi was also a signatory of the open letter protesting the treatment of Montazeri (ibid.).
On 15 January 1998, the Tehran newspaper Salam reported that on the previous day Dr. Habibollah Peyman had been fined 1.5 million rials for publishing "a collection of political, economic and social news without possessing a legal permit."
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Agence France Presse (AFP). 18 November 1997. "Liberal Opposition Figure Prevented from Speaking in Tehran." (NEXIS)
_____. 16 February 1997. "Iranian Ecologist Barred from Going to London Conference." (NEXIS)
FarsiNet News. 17 April 1997. "Opinion Poll of the Iran's (sic) Presidential Race." [Internet] < http://www.farsinet.com:80/news/apr97.html#Opinion_poll > [Accessed on 4 Mar. 1998]
The Independent [London]. 25 February 1996. Phil Rees. "New Radicals Challenge the Ayatollahs; Phil Rees Reports on the Iranian Intellectuals Bringing the Islamic Faith into the 20th Century." (NEXIS)
Iran News [In English]. 12 March 1997. "Iran: Election Candidate Khatami Discusses Cabinet with Friends." (FBIS-NES-97-076 17 Mar. 1997/WNC)
Jomhuri-ye Eslami [Tehran, in Persian]. 19 May 1997. "Iran: Daily Notes Statement of Rejected Presidential Candidate." (FBIS-NES-97-144 24 May 1997/WNC)
Salam [Tehran, in Persian]. 15 January 1998. "Iran: Daily Reports Court Verdict on Fining Journalist." (FBIS-NES-98-026 26 Jan. 1998/WNC)
Voice of Israel [Jerusalem, in Persian]. 16 December 1997. "Israel Radio Gives Excerpts from Yazdi's Open Letter to Khatami." (BBC Summary of World Broadcasts 18 Dec. 1997/NEXIS)
Additional Sources Consulted
Electronic sources: IRB Databases, Global News Bank, REFWORLD (UNHCR database).
