Mehdi Jangravi

Land reform is a change made by the governments in the ownership systems and exploitation of agricultural lands, and it is done in various ways. It is followed with many political outcomes. In many third world countries, land reform meant taking the lands from great landowners and dividing it among the farmers. It might have social grounds and execution of it may lead to the collapse of the cruel system of the feudalism. It may have roots in political grounds and may be executed for the purpose of increasing the defensive power of the peasants.

The grounds for official land reform go back to William Douglass’s visit to Iran in Sept. 1950. In his audience with Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, he mentioned the land reform as one of the main factors to save the country; in his speech in the University of Tehran, he announced the agriculture as the main problem of Iran, and advised the Iranian authorities to execute land reform to block the influence and growth of communism in Iran.

It became clear that land reform was inevitable, and when Ali Amini became prime minister in 1961, the land reform bill which was prepared in Iqbal’s time, was ratified in Amini’s cabinet and Hassan Arsanjani was appointed to carry out the project. Backed by the Americans, Amini’s administration succeeded to execute some parts of this project which was opposed by the Shah and many great landowners. As a result the critiques followed. In the first phase of the reform twenty per cent of the rural people gained land. However, due to the strong opposition of the landowners and the formation of agricultural companies, the first goals of the project were not achieved. On the whole it led to the establishment of capitalist relations in rural areas. It was not positive in the long run because some peasants who did not own any land entered into contracts with the landowners and were turned into land laborers.

The execution of the land reform law did not enjoy any political and economic justification and was not plausible with Iran’s socio economic and political situation.