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Title: Iran Freedom Foundation records
Date (inclusive): 1966-1993
Collection Number: 93035
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In English and Persian
Physical Description:
60 manuscript boxes, 3 cassette boxes, 1 open reel box, 3 oversize audio boxes, 1 oversize box, 1 oversize folder
(27.8 Linear Feet)
Abstract: The collection relates to the Iranian revolution of 1979, subsequent political conditions and civil rights abuses in Iran,
the Iran-Iraq War, Iranians in the United States and elsewhere, and American foreign policy toward Iran. It contains correspondence,
press releases, appeals, clippings, speeches and writings, financial records, reports, bulletins, newsletters, pamphlets,
serial issues, photographs, sound recordings, and videotapes. The collection includes some personal papers, 1966-1980, of
Ali A. Tabatabai, founder of the organization, and material relating to his assassination.
Creator:
Tabatabai, Ali Akbar, 1930-1980
Creator:
Iran Freedom Foundation
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1993.
[Identification of item], Iran Freedom Foundation records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
The Iran Freedom Foundation (IFF) was formed in Bethesda, Maryland in October 1979. Prior to establishing the IFF, the organization's
founder and president, Ali Akbar Tabatabai worked as director of the Foreign Relations Department of the Ministry of Information
in Tehran and press attaché at the Iranian embassy in Washington, D.C., in the final years of the Shah's reign and under the
leadership of Ambassador Ardeshir Zahedi (1977-1979). Ali Akbar Tabatabai was assassinated in July 1980 by Daoud Salahuddin
(David Belfield) at the front door of his home in Maryland. After his assassination, Ali Akbar's identical twin brother, Mohammad
Reza, took over the operations of the IFF.
The IFF supported a secular democracy in Iran and actively opposed the Islamic fundamentalist regime of Ayatollah Khomeini.
Both Ali Akbar and Mohammad Reza frequently appeared on television and radio programs to promote awareness of human rights
violations in Iran. In addition, the IFF disseminated information about Iran to members of the U.S. House and Senate as well
as to members of the general public who wrote to the foundation with questions about Iran. The foundation worked closely with
Iranian nationalist groups overseas, most notably Chapour Bakhtiar's National Movement of Iranian Resistance and Bahram Aryana's
Azadegan.
Source:
"Iran Ex-Attaché, Khomeini Foe, Slain in the U.S."
New York Times, July 23, 1980
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection relates to the Iranian revolution of 1979, subsequent political conditions and civil rights abuses in Iran,
the Iran-Iraq War, Iranians in the United States and elsewhere, and American foreign policy toward Iran. It contains correspondence,
press releases, appeals, clippings, speeches and writings, financial records, reports, bulletins, newsletters, pamphlets,
serial issues, photographs, sound recordings, and videotapes. The collection includes some personal papers, 1966-1980, of
Ali A. Tabatabai, founder of the organization, and material relating to his assassination.
The majority of the collection consists of clippings, subject files, and printed matter relating to political and social events
within Iran and surrounding countries, Iranian foreign relations, and the experiences of Iranian émigrés in the United States.
Among these materials are volumes of photocopied clippings from Tabatabai's time as press attaché for the Iranian embassy
in Washington, D.C., covering the critical months leading up to the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, November
1978 to February 1979. Subject files also contain clippings, press releases, and speeches relating to the assassination of
Ali Akbar Tabatabai.
Following Ali Akbar Tabatabai's assassination, the Iran Freedom Foundation held several political rallies from 1981 to 1983
in support of secular democracy in Iran. While subject files contain flyers and speeches from these events, the publicity
files include drafts of speeches and writings, press releases, and background information on the foundation's activities.
The Iran Freedom Foundation sponsored one of the first anti-Khomeini Persian-language radio programs in the United States
on WLMD radio in Maryland. Referred to as both the Iranian Hour and Iran Freedom Movement radio, the program was used as a
forum to disseminate information about Iran and unite Iranian émigrés in the United States. The collection contains recordings
of broadcasts as well as radio program materials in the form of notes, research headlines, clippings, and financial records.
Sound recordings are identified in the container list by their labels. However, the contents of the sound recordings may not
match their labels.
The collection is unarranged, but most materials fall into the following major groups.
| Box Nos. | Groups |
|---|---|
| 1, 3, 5, 9, 11-12, 15, 18, 20, 26, 29-30, 33, 36-38, 40-42, 45, 49, 51, 54 | Publicity file, 1979-1984. Includes general background information, press releases, newsletters, bulletins, transcripts, speeches and writings, and notes |
| 1-4, 8-13, 16,18, 20, 28-30, 32, 34, 38-39, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52 | Subject file, 1967-1992. Consists of clippings, magazines, collected articles, correspondence, flyers, newsletters, bulletins, speeches, government documents, and writings |
| 1-7, 11, 14, 26-36, 39-41, 44-45, 48-50, 52, 55 | Clippings, 1971-1990. Consists of clippings from Iranian, American, and Saudi Arabian newspapers and magazines, mostly in English |
| 1-9, 15-16, 18, 29, 33-34, 37-38, 47-49, 51, 53, 55 56-57 | Printed matter, 1978-1993. Consists of newspapers, magazines, monographs, newsletters, and pamphlets |
| 1, 3, 5, 10-11, 13, 15-16, 19, 29-30, 33, 36, 39, 41,48, 50, 56 | Correspondence, 1979-1992. Consists mainly of letters sent and received, and enclosures |
| 20-25, 32-33, 42, 48-49, 51 | Press attaché of the Iranian embassy, Washington, D.C., materials, 1953, 1970-1979. Consists of memoranda, correspondence, clippings, notes, and photographs |
| 19-20, 26, 40, 42-44 | Radio program materials, 1981-1983, undated. Consists of notes, scripts, clippings, press summaries, and financial records relating to a Persian language program radio program in Maryland |
| 8, 11, 16-18, 32, 40, 51 | Photographs, 1970-1983, undated. Consists of prints and negatives |
| 58-60 | Video recordings, 1979-1981, undated. Contains recordings of interviews on U-matic videocassettes, arranged chronologically by subject |
| 61-66 | Sound recordings, 1979-circa 1987, undated. Compact sound cassettes and open reel tapes arranged by form then by title chronologically |
| 67 | Oversize materials, 1975-1990. Contains newspapers, posters, flyers, and a calendar |
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988
Iran -- History -- Revolution, 1979
Iran -- Foreign relations -- United States
United States -- Foreign relations -- Iran
Iran -- Politics and government -- 1979-1997
Iran -- Emigration and immigration
Civil rights -- Iran