Dariush Forouhar
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Dariush Forouhar ( fa, داریوش فروهر; 1928 – 21 November 1998) was an Iranian pan-Iranist politician and leader of
Nation Party of Iran Party of the Iranian Nation (or Nation Party of Iran, Iran Nation Party; fa, حزب ملت ایران, Ḥezb-e Mellat-e Irān) is "a small opposition" party in Iran advocating establishment of a secular democracy. Although the party is technical ...
.


Early life

Forouhar was born in
Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...
. His father was a general in the Army who was arrested in WW2 by the British during the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran after attempting to form an armed resistance.


Career and political activities

According to Ali Razmjoo in ''Hezb-e-Pan-Iranist'', Forouhar was one of the founding members of the original nationalist Pan-Iranist Party of Iran in 1951 with
Mohsen Pezeshkpour Mohsen "Pendar" Pezeshkpour ( fa, محسن پزشک‌پور; 1927 – 6 January 2011) was an Iranian pan-Iranist politician who served as a member of the parliament from 1967 to 1971, and 1975 to 1979. He was the co-founder and leader of the Pa ...
. During the Pahlavi era, he had been very active in the anti-Shah nationalist movement and was a strong supporter and close friend of the Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh. In the midst of post-revolutionary tensions in
Iranian Kurdistan Iranian Kurdistan or Eastern Kurdistan ( ku, ڕۆژھەڵاتی کوردستان, translit=Rojhilatê Kurdistanê) is an unofficial name for the parts of northwestern Iran with either a majority or sizable population of Kurds. Geographically, it ...
in 1979, Forouhar was part of a delegation sent by Tehran to negotiate with Kurdish political and religious leaders. Although this delegation's recommendations were never implemented by the central government and Kurdish revolt was dealt with harshly, Forouhar's attempts to reach a peaceful settlement with
Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...
earned him respect among Kurds. Forouhar served as minister of labor in the interim government of
Mehdi Bazargan Mehdi Bazargan ( fa, مهدی بازرگان; 1 September 1907 – 20 January 1995) was an Iranian scholar, academic, long-time pro-democracy activist and head of Iran's interim government. He was appointed prime minister in February 1979 by Ay ...
in 1979.


Death

Forouhar and his wife, Parvaneh Eskandari Forouhar, were overt opponents of Velayet-e-Faqih (clerical theocracy) and under continuous surveillance. They were assassinated in their home in 1998. The murders, which are believed to have been politically motivated, remain unsolved, although the general belief is that the
Iranian Ministry of Intelligence The Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic of Iran ( fa, وزارت اطّلاعات جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Vezarat-e Ettela'at Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran) is the primary intelligence agency of the Islamic Republic of ...
was involved and had ordered the killings. It is thought that the murders were provoked by Forouhar's criticism of human rights abuses by the Islamic Republic in interviews with Western radio stations that beamed Persian-language programs to Iran. This "brought them to the attention of Iran's ubiquitous intelligence service." Under pressure from public opinion, the then Iranian president
Mohammad Khatami Sayyid Mohammad Khatami ( fa, سید محمد خاتمی, ; born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 to ...
formed a committee to follow up the case, which eventually asked for the resignation of the Minister of Intelligence,
Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi ( fa, قربانعلی دری نجف‌آبادی; born 3 December 1950) is an Iranian politician and cleric. He is currently a member of the Assembly of Experts and also a member of the Expediency Discernment Council ...
. One of the main characters behind the case,
Saeed Emami Saeed Emami ( fa, سعید امامی; né Saeed Eslami; (1958–1999) was the Iranian deputy minister of intelligence under Ali Fallahian, and adviser to the Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi. He was appointed as deputy minister in security affairs an ...
, reportedly committed suicide while in prison.
Shirin Ebadi Shirin Ebadi ( fa, شيرين عبادى, Širin Ebādi; born 21 June 1947) is an Iranian political activist, lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi wa ...
, the lawyer of the Forouhars' relatives quoting Parastou says: "All evidence shows that my father was preparing himself to go to prison, because at the time of his slaying, his shoes had no laces, he did not wear his wrist watch and had his wallet emptied of its contents and papers except for some money." Their murders brought to light a pattern known as the
chain murders of Iran The chain murders of Iran ( fa, قتل‌های زنجیره‌ای ایران) were a series of 1988–98 murders and disappearances of certain Iranian dissident intellectuals who had been critical of the Islamic Republic system. The murders a ...
.


Personal life

Forouhar had two children. Son,
Arash Arash the Archer ( fa, آرش کمانگیر ''Āraš-e Kamāngīr'') is a heroic archer-figure of Iranian mythology. According to Iranian folklore, the boundary between Iran and Turan was set by an arrow launched by Arash, after he put his own ...
, and daughter, Parastou, are both politically active and continue to raise awareness of the plight of political dissidents in Iran. In 2009, Parastou signed an open letter of apology posted to Iranian.com along with 266 other Iranian academics, writers, artists, journalists about the
persecution of Baháʼís Persecution of Baháʼís occurs in various countries, especially in Iran, where the Baháʼí Faith originated and where one of the largest Baháʼí populations in the world is located. The origins of the persecution stem from a variety of Ba ...
.


References


External links

*
English Page dedicated to Foruhars
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forouhar, Dariush 1928 births 1998 deaths Assassinated Iranian politicians Government ministers of Iran Politicians from Isfahan People murdered in Iran Iranian democracy activists Nation Party of Iran politicians National Front (Iran) politicians Burials at Behesht-e Zahra Candidates in the 1980 Iranian presidential election Pan-Iranist Party politicians Secretaries-General of political parties in Iran Iranian nationalists