Ali-Asghar Haj Seyed Javadi, Journalist and Writer, Passes Away

Ali-Asghar Haj Seyed Javadi, a critical writer and journalist, passed away on Tuesday, July 5, at the age of 94 in Paris. Haj Seyed Javadi was the editor of the publications "Third Force," a political party of socialists and leftists supporting the National Movement of Iran led by Khalil Maleki during the premiership of Mohammad Mossadegh, editor of "Kayhan Monthly," and a regular columnist for Kayhan until 1971. He was also the author of two open letters criticizing Nosratollah Mo'inian, the Shah's chief of staff, in the first half of the 1970s. The author of the article "The Footsteps of Fascism Are Heard" criticized the "monopolization by revolutionary Islamists" in May 1979, coinciding with the arrest of Ayatollah Seyyed Mahmoud Taleghani's son. During his exile, Haj Seyed Javadi published articles critiquing the performance of the People's Mujahedin of Iran. He graduated in economics and social sciences from Paris and wrote for the secret newsletters of the "Movement" two years before the revolution, later becoming the editor of the weekly "Movement" (the publication of the political group Movement for Freedom). In the second half of 1980, following an attack on the office of this group, the weekly "Movement" was suspended, and Haj Seyed Javadi went into permanent exile in Paris. His articles in the "Movement" included "The Footsteps of Fascism Are Heard" and "The Cannon That Fires Lies," which criticized the "Muslim Students Following the Line of Imam" and the hostage-taking of 52 American diplomats. In his article "This Deal Is Fundamentally Invalid," he criticized the inclusion of the principle of Velayat-e Faqih in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. During his exile, Haj Seyed Javadi continued to write, with his articles published in various outlets including the weekly Iran Shahr (Washington), the Journal of Science and Society (Washington), the Letter of Freedom Seekers (Paris), Negin (Los Angeles), and most notably in the weekly Iran Times (Washington) and several other websites. Abdolkarim Lahiji, in an interview with Radio Farda, described Ali-Asghar Haj Seyed Javadi as an "intellectual" and referred to the article "The Footsteps of Fascism Are Heard" as a testament to the honor of the Iranian intellectual community. According to Lahiji, Haj Seyed Javadi had a keen understanding of "religious fascism."