Rahbar () was an Iranian Persian language daily newspaper, published from Tehran.Abrahamian, Ervand. Iran between Two Revolutions. [S.l.]: Princeton University Press, 1982. p. 299Atabaki, Touraj, and Solmaz Rustamova-Towhidi. Baku Documents: Union Catalogue of Persian, Azerbaijani, Ottoman Turkish and Arabic Serials and Newspapers in the Libraries of the Republic of Azerbaijan. London: Tauris Academic Studies, 1995. p. 241 It was the central organ of the communist Tudeh Party of Iran.Abrahamian, Ervand. Iran between Two Revolutions. [S.l.]: Princeton University Press, 1982. p. 299 The decision to launch Rahbar was taken at the First Party Conference held in October 1942, after that Abbas Eskandari, the editor of the erstwhile central organ of the party Siasat, had been expelled from the party.Abrahamian, Ervand. Iran between Two Revolutions. [S.l.]: Princeton University Press, 1982. p. 285History of the Tudeh Party of Iran
The paper was first published in February 1943. In the initial phase of Rahbar the Tudeh Party was not officially a communist party, and the editorial line of the newspaper was non-communist constitutionalism.Atabaki, Touraj. Azerbaijan: Ethnicity and the Struggle for Power in Iran. London: I.B. Tauris Publishers, 2000. p. 72 During the years of the Second World War, Rahbar (and other Tudeh organs) focused on anti-fascist and pro-peace agitation.Gheissari, Ali. Iranian Intellectuals in the 20th Century. Austin: Univ. of Texas Press, 1998. p. 65 During this period it was financed by the Soviet Union.
Iraj Eskandari served as the editor-in-chief of Rahbar.Encyclopaedia Iranica As with the other two key publications of the party (Mardom and Razm) it was edited by a member of the Tudeh parliamentary faction in the Majles.Abrahamian, Ervand. Iran between Two Revolutions. [S.l.]: Princeton University Press, 1982. p. 202
In June 1943 the trade union organization led by the Tudeh Party, the Central Council of Unions of Iran, decided to adopt Rahbar as their main organ, substituting the union publication Giti until the re-launching of a separate trade unionist newspaper. From June 21, 1943, onwards Rahbar carried a section titled "the party and the workers".Habib Ladjevardi. (1985). Labor Unions and Autocracy in Iran. Contemporary issues in the Middle East. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press. p. 34
When Rahbar celebrated its anniversary it sold 60,000 copies, almost reaching the levels of the main newspaper of the country, Ettela'at.Abrahamian, Ervand. Iran between Two Revolutions. [S.l.]: Princeton University Press, 1982. p. 292
In the oil-rich areas in southern Iran, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and local authorities enforced a ban on reading and distributing Rahbar. Workers caught reading or selling the paper were usually dismissed from their employments.Habib Ladjevardi. (1985). Labor Unions and Autocracy in Iran. Contemporary issues in the Middle East. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press. p. 123
On 23 August 1945 Rahbar was shut down by the orders of a military commandant in Tehran.Atabaki, Touraj. Azerbaijan: Ethnicity and the Struggle for Power in Iran. London: I.B. Tauris Publishers, 2000. p. 84
The publication of Rahbar (as well as the labour newspaper Zafar) was again suspended by the government on 8 December 1946, citing the attacks of the paper against the pro-American policies of the Iranian government. The ban was however lifted by the end of the month.Ladjevardi, Habib. Labor Unions and Autocracy in Iran. Contemporary issues in the Middle East. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1985. p. 78
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