The Fedaian began as a radical leftist guerilla group, established in 1971 as the Organization of the Persian People’s Fedai Guerillas.By the 1960s the Shah’s ability to repress dissent was decreasing. The establishment of the OIPFG can be contextualized in the growing global unrest towards imperialism and colonial rule.
The regime had used harsh violence to repress opposition in 1963, paving the way for more radical groups to form. The army’s growing tendency to gun down protestors forced opposition into guerilla groups. The OIPFG was formed and influenced by three different activist groups. The first was founded by Bijan Jazani, an activist and Marxist intellectual, in 1963. A student of political science, he had been in and out of prisons since the 1950s. The second was an offshoot of the growing student movement in 1967, led by Ahmadzade and A.P. Pouyan.The third group was formed in 1965 in Tabriz by a group of intellectuals. Included in the founders is the poet Ali Reza Nabdel, who would go on to write pamphlets for the organization.[18] All three groups merged in 1971, when both came to the conclusion that armed struggle was the only way to defeat the Shah’s regime and American influence.
