Rostislav Ulianovskii, the Tudeh Party of Iran and Soviet attempts to set Iran on a non-capitalist path of development (1979-83)

For many in the Soviet leadership, Ayatollah Khomeini's anti-Americanism was a sufficient reason for supporting the Iranian Revolution. Yet in Rostislav Ulianovskii's view, the revolution gave Iran a much bigger opportunity: a chance to fit in the Soviet theoretical concept of 'the non-capitalist path of development'. With this picture in mind Ulianovskii and the Tudeh Party developed a strategy of temporary support for Khomeini, expecting him to fulfil his temporary 'objectively progressive' role and give way to the truly 'progressive' forces. This paper investigates the ideological constraints that led to the formation of this strategy and its imminent failure.