Ezzatollah Sahabi (, 9 May 1930 – 31 May 2011) was an Iranian politician and journalist. He was a parliament member from 1980 to 1984.

Early life

Sahabi was born on 9 May 1930 in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. His father,

Yadollah Sahabi Yadollah Sahabi (Persian: یدالله سحابی) (25 February 1905 – 12 April 2002) was a prominent Iranian scholar, writer, reformist and politician. A close associate of Mohammad Mosaddegh and Mehdi Bazargan, Sahabi was an active campaigner ...

, was an influential figure in the

1979 Iranian revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

. His brother, Fereydun Sahabi, was the first president of the

Atomic Energy Organization of Iran The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) is the main Iranian government agency responsible for operating nuclear power, nuclear energy and nuclear fuel cycle installations in Iran. The AEOI is the primary organization responsible for nuclear ...

and the second in the administration of

President of Iran The president of the Islamic Republic of Iran () is the head of government of the Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran and the second highest-ranking official, after the Supreme Leader of Iran, supreme leader. The 1980 Iranian presidential election, fi ...

. He studied mechanical engineering at the Faculty of Engineering

Tehran University The University of Tehran (UT) or Tehran University (, ) is a public collegiate university in Iran, and the oldest and most prominent Iranian university located in Tehran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as ...

Political career

He was appointed as a member of

Council of Islamic Revolution The Council of the Islamic Revolution () was a group formed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to manage the Iranian Revolution on 10 January 1979, shortly before he returned to Iran. "Over the next few months there issued from the council hundreds ...

Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...

on 12 February 1979.

Mehdi Bazargan Mehdi Bazargan (; 1 September 1907 – 20 January 1995) was an Iranian scholar, academic, long-time pro-democracy activist and head of Interim government of Iran, 1979, Iran's interim government. One of the leading figures of Iranian Revolutio ...

, then

Prime Minister of Iran The prime minister of Iran was a political post that had existed in Iran (Persia) during much of the 20th century. It began in 1906 during the Qajar dynasty and into the start of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1923 and into the 1979 Iranian Revolution ...

, named Sahabi as Head of National Budget Center. He was elected as a member of Parliament in election of 1980. In later years Sahabi was managing editor of the journal '' Iran-e Farda'' (''The Iran of Tomorrow''), which was banned by the Islamic government, and participated in the 2000 'Iran After the Elections' Conference held in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, for which he was sentenced to four and a half years imprisonment. He was well known as the leader of the Iran's

Nationalist-Religious The Religious–Nationalists (plural form in ) or the National–Religious ( as an adjective) are terms referring to a political faction in Iran that consists of individuals and groups embracing Iranian nationalism and Islam, as an integral part ...

political alliance. Sahabi spent a total of 15 years in prison both before and after the

1979 Islamic revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

.Britain asks Iran to investigate death of women's rights activist Haleh Sahabi
Saeed Kamali Dehghan , guardian.co.uk, , 2 June 2011

Personal life

Sahabi was married to Zarrindokht Ataei, whose maternal uncle was

. They had a son and a daughter. In April 2011, he was hospitalized in Persian Hospital. On 1 May 2011, Sahabi went into a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

after a stroke. On 31 May 2011, he died at age 81 in Modarres Hospital and his funeral was held the next day.

Funeral

Sahabi's funeral was reportedly marred by the removal of his body by plain clothes authorities, the death of his daughter,

Haleh Sahabi Haleh Sahabi (, 4 February 1958 – 1 June 2011) was an Iranian humanitarian and democracy activist. She was the daughter of former Iranian MP and veteran opposition figure Ezzatollah Sahabi, and the granddaughter of Yadollah Sahabi. She died a ...

, from cardiac arrest after being beaten by the plain clothes for holding a photograph of her father. Also the plain clothes heated and arrest of several mourners. According to an unnamed journalist present at the funeral, a "large group" of plainclothes and security forces present at the ceremony "beat a number of mourners", including Haleh Sahabi.Daughter of Deceased Dissident Dies Following Attack During Father’s Burial
1 June 2011

International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI; formerly the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, ICHRI) is an American non-government organization that aims to promote human rights in Iran. The group started in late 2007 when several human ...

. Haleh Sahabi reportedly collapsed after trying to stop authorities from removing her father's body. According to Haleh's uncle, the woman died due to "the beating given to her, (which) were severe". However, her son Shamekhi was forced to collaborate with the government by stating that his mother died "not due to beatings but because of a cardiac arrest".Iran: Haleh Sahabi dies at funeral of Ezatollah Sahabi
By Mohsen Asgari, bbc.co.uk 1 June 2011. Mourners reportedly arrested at the funeral include

Habibollah Peyman Habibollah Peyman (; born 1935) is an Iranian politician. He is the founder and the leader of an Islamist Socialist political party, named ''Jonbesh Moslamanan Mobarez'', which is banned by the religious government of Iran. He is also one of the ...

, a member of the

Freedom Movement of Iran The Freedom Movement of Iran (FMI) or Liberation Movement of Iran (LMI; ) is an Iranian pro-democracy political organization founded in 1961, by members describing themselves as "Muslims, Iranians, Constitutionalists and Mossadeghists". It is th ...

, political activist Hamid Ahrari, and Hamed Montazeri, the grandson of the late dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah

Hossein Ali Montazeri Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri ( ; 24 September 1922 – 19 December 2009) was an Iranian Shia Islamic theologian, Islamic democracy advocate, writer, and human rights activist. He was one of the leaders of the Iranian Revolution and on ...

Fars news agency The Fars News Agency is a news agency in Iran managed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), one of the three branches of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces. While it describes itself as "Iran's leading independent news agency" ...

denied there had been any clash with police and accused the opposition movement of seeking to politicise the incident.Iranian activist dies at father's funeral
Saeed Kamali Dehghan , guardian.co.uk , 1 June 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahabi, Ezzatollah 1930 births 2011 deaths Deputies of Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr Iranian political party founders Iranian religious-nationalists Islamic democracy activists University of Tehran alumni Activists from Tehran Members of the 1st Islamic Consultative Assembly Freedom Movement of Iran MPs Council of the Islamic Revolution members Members of the Assembly of Experts for Constitution Members of the Association for Defense of Freedom and the Sovereignty of the Iranian Nation

Early life

Political career

Personal life

Funeral

See also

References