Death of Zahra Navidpour; A Member of Parliament is Involved

The news of the death of a young woman from Malekan County in East Azerbaijan was published on Tuesday and quickly gained traction. The body of this woman was found on Sunday at her mother's home in Malekan and was transferred to Farabi Hospital in the city. Her name was familiar to those following the side news of the Iranian Parliament. Zahra Navidpour, who was previously referred to as 'Z.N.' before the news of her death, had previously accused a member of parliament of sexual assault. In a video, she explained her acquaintance with Salman Khodadadi, the representative of Malekan in Parliament, and claimed that this Iranian official had sexually exploited her when she was seeking a job. Was it murder or suicide? The intertwining of Zahra Navidpour's name with that of a member of parliament led to rumors about the possible cause of her death, and some users on social media spoke of the possibility of her being murdered. Two days after the news of Zahra Navidpour's death was published, the Malekan Prosecutor's Office issued a statement declaring that the cause of her death was 'apparently' suicide. The Malekan prosecutor stated that Ms. Navidpour 'apparently' committed suicide. Mehdi Alimoradi told Mehr News Agency: 'Two days ago, a young girl named Zahra Navidpour committed suicide in Malekan, and this has been confirmed. It appears to be a suicide, and to clarify the details and reasons for this matter, the body of the deceased has been sent to forensic medicine for precise and scientific examinations.' However, Akbar Alami, a former representative of Tabriz in the Iranian Parliament, wrote on his Telegram channel that 'over the past four years, Zahra Navidpour had claimed through several audio and video files that she had been sexually harassed by one of the newly elected members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly.' In November 2018, a video of Ms. Navidpour's statements was broadcast on an Azerbaijani television channel, detailing her allegations against Salman Khodadadi, a member of the Iranian Parliament. In this video, she stated that she had been threatened with death by this parliament member and his associates. Salman Khodadadi is a 56-year-old representative of Malekan County in the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and tenth parliaments. According to his personal information on the website of the Parliament Research Center, he holds a PhD in international relations. Mr. Khodadadi, with a background in the Revolutionary Guard and the Ministry of Intelligence, is one of the representatives whose name has been associated with controversy over the past two decades. At the end of the seventh parliament, a court in Tehran summoned Salman Khodadadi, and he was arrested on charges of 'moral corruption and illicit relations.' Mr. Khodadadi was released a week later on a bail of 150 million tomans. At that time, a representative of the judiciary announced that Mr. Khodadadi's case had been referred to Saeed Mortazavi for investigation. In late June 2008, after his release, Mr. Khodadadi announced that 'upon the order of the Parliament's security, he had gone to court and was detained for a week due to the rejection of his bail.' He stated at that time that 'none of the charges against me are true, and all are conspiracies and propaganda by enemies and rivals.' With the holding of the eighth parliamentary elections, Salman Khodadadi was once again elected as a member of parliament, but his credentials faced issues. Fatemeh Alia, a current member of parliament, objected to his credentials due to the history of allegations against Mr. Khodadadi. The Iranian Parliament held a closed and unofficial session on August 14, 2008, to review Salman Khodadadi's credentials, and behind closed doors, it seems that Ms. Alia's consent was obtained, and Khodadadi's credentials were approved. In the ninth parliament, the Guardian Council rejected Mr. Khodadadi's qualifications, and he did not participate in the electoral competition, but in 2014, after the rise of Hassan Rouhani's government, he went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an advisor to Javad Zarif. Salman Khodadadi once again ran for parliament in 2015, and this time the Guardian Council approved his qualifications, and he entered the parliament, now being mentioned in the media as the head of the Social Commission of Parliament. It has been 23 years since Salman Khodadadi first entered the fifth parliament. His name has been associated with controversies of sexual abuse and assault over these two decades and is one of the officials who was mentioned in the list of 'polygamous representatives' a few years ago. Now, however, his name is linked to the death of a woman who publicly and virtually accused him of sexual abuse and threats of murder. This time it is unclear whether we will see his name again as a candidate for the Malekan representative in the eleventh parliamentary elections to be held in 2019 or whether he will answer the allegations in court.