Asghar Sayyed Javadi

During his youth, he was a member of Tudeh Party of Iran but he later became a social democrat.^[4] He was an essayist on Islam and Socialism and over a fifteen years period, his gained a large following who were mostly religious laymen.^[4] An Iranian Writers Association member, he also wrote for Kayhan.^[4][5]

Mehrdad Mashayekhi argues that he belonged to the Third Worldist current in Iran, and considers him among "radical nationalist intellectuals" who were closely associated with the League of Iranian Socialists.^[6] Afshin Matin-Asgari states that he had an "independent socialist background" that he shared with people with Jalal Al-e-Ahmad. He was critical of the U.S. government neocolonialist policies from a Third Worldist perspective, as reflected in his columns published in the 1960s.^[7]

In 1977, he was among the members and founders of the newly formed Iranian Committee for the Defense of Freedom and Human Rights (ICDFHR).^[8] Mehdi Bazargan was elected as the head and Javadi as the vice head of the committee.^[8] He became the head of the ICDFHR after the revolution.^[8] However, the committee's office was closed in November 1980, and Javadi had to leave Iran in the fall of 1981.^[8]

In 1979, he founded Jonbesh (lit. 'The Movement'), a relatively small group that belonged to the political center.^[9] and ran for a Tehran seat for the Assembly of Experts for Constitution under the banner of Quintuple Coalition.^[10] He garnered more votes than any defeated candidate and about one million less than the last elected candidate.^[11]