Dariush Forouhar | |
|---|---|
داریوش فروهر | |
 | |
| Minister of Labour | |
| In office 13 February 1979 – 29 September 1979 | |
| Prime Minister | Mehdi Bazargan |
| Preceded by | Manouchehr Aryana |
| Succeeded by | Ali Espahbodi |
| Minister without Portfolio for Provincial Inspection[1] | |
| In office 29 September 1979 – 6 November 1979 | |
| Prime Minister | Mehdi Bazargan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 18 August[citation needed] 1928 |
| Died | 22 November 1998(1998-11-22) (aged 70) |
| Manner of death | Assassination bystabbing |
| Political party | Nation Party of Iran(1951–98) Pan-Iranist Party(1951) |
| Other political affiliations | National Front(1951–79) |
| Spouse | Parvaneh Eskandari |
| Children | 2, includingParastou |
| Cabinet | Bazargan Cabinet |
Dariush Forouhar (Persian:داریوش فروهر; 18 August[citation needed] 1928 – 22 November 1998) was an Iranianpan-Iranist politician and leader ofNation Party of Iran. In 1998, he and his wife,Parvaneh Forouhar, were stabbed to death in their home. They were among the victims of thechain murders of Iran.
Forouhar was born in 1928 inEsfahan, 'Eshafah'. His father was a general inthe Army who was arrested in WW2 by the British during theAnglo-Soviet invasion of Iran after attempting to form an armed resistance.
According to Ali Razmjoo inHezb-e-Pan-Iranist, Forouhar was one of the founding members of the original nationalistPan-Iranist Party of Iran in 1951 withMohsen Pezeshkpour.[2] During thePahlavi era, he had been very active in the anti-Shah nationalist movement and was a strong supporter and close friend of the Prime MinisterMohammad Mossadegh. In the midst of post-revolutionary tensions inIranian Kurdistan 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 theKurds earned him respect among the Kurds.
Forouhar served as minister of labor inthe interim government ofMehdi Bazargan in 1979.[3]
Forouhar and his wife,Parvaneh, were overt opponents ofVelayet-e-Faqih (clerical theocracy) and under continuous surveillance.[3] On 21 November 1998, the couple were fatally stabbed at their home. The murders, which are believed to have been politically motivated, remain unsolved, although the general belief is that theIranian Ministry of Intelligence was involved and had ordered the killings.[4][5][6][7][8]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".[9]
Under pressure from public opinion, the then Iranian presidentMohammad Khatami formed a committee to follow up the case, which eventually asked for the resignation of theMinister of Intelligence,Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi. One of the main characters behind the case,Saeed Emami, reportedly committed suicide while in prison.
Shirin Ebadi, 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 thechain murders of Iran.
Forouhar had two children. Son,Arash, 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 toIranian.com along with 266 other Iranian academics, writers, artists, journalists about thepersecution of Baháʼís.[10]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hassan-Ali Saremi Kalali [citation needed] | Secretary-General of theNation Party of Iran 1953[citation needed]–1998 | Succeeded by Khosrow Seif |
| Vacant Title last held by Mohammad Ali Keshavarz Sadr | Spokesperson of theNational Front 1978–1979 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
