Six Members of Parliament: Minister of Intelligence Should Explain Reasons for Complaint Against Parastoo Farahvar

Six members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly have questioned the Minister of Intelligence about the reasons for the ministry's complaint against Parastoo Farahvar and the annual 'harassment' for holding memorial ceremonies for Dariush and Parvaneh Farahvar. According to ISNA news agency, these parliamentarians also asked Mahmoud Alavi, the Minister of Intelligence, to explain what actions the ministry has taken to identify, pursue, and punish the perpetrators of that heinous crime. Mahmoud Sadeghi, Fatemeh Hosseini, Parvaneh Mafi, Tayebeh Siawoshi, Farideh Oladghaba, and Bahram Parsai raised this question in a public session on Sunday, December 5. The question stated that the Ministry of Intelligence has 'not only failed to discover and pursue the investigation and prosecution of that horrific crime, which is too shameful to describe, but has also prevented the holding of memorial ceremonies for them every year.' These six parliamentarians also asked the Minister of Intelligence why the ministry 'creates harassment for them every year instead of comforting the survivors' and has filed a complaint against the daughter of Dariush and Parvaneh Farahvar at the Revolutionary Court. Parastoo Farahvar was tried on Saturday, December 4, at the Revolutionary Court in a case initiated by the Ministry of Intelligence's complaint. The daughter of Dariush and Parvaneh Farahvar stated before attending the court that the case alleges 'propaganda against the regime,' claiming that she 'wrongly analyzed political issues' and accused the security apparatus of the murder of her parents, while holding the judiciary responsible for the improper handling of her parents' murder case. According to Ms. Farahvar, the charge of 'insulting sacred values' was also raised due to one of her artworks, which was stated in the case to be a 'comfortable sofa' that was 'exhibited to anti-revolutionary elements abroad.' After her court session, Ms. Farahvar told Radio Farda that she did not accept either of the charges of 'propaganda against the regime' and 'insulting sacred values,' deeming them 'baseless.' Throughout the trial, she emphasized that the murder case of her parents and other political murders in the fall of 1998 were not properly addressed, and the confessions of Ministry of Intelligence agents were ignored. Concurrently with Ms. Farahvar's presence in court, Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, criticized the case against the daughter of Dariush and Parvaneh Farahvar, stating that Islamic Republic officials should 'comfort and apologize' to her. He raised the question of 'why the public prosecutor, who files charges against high-ranking officials with slight insinuations, has not brought them to justice in this case.' Dariush Farahvar, the leader of the Iran Nation Party, and his wife, Parvaneh Eskandari, known as Farahvar, were murdered on December 1, 1998, in their home in Tehran by knife attacks. On December 12 of the same year, Mohammad Mokhtari, a writer, poet, and member of the board of directors of the Iranian Writers' Association, disappeared, and on December 18, Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh, a translator and one of the most active members of the Iranian Writers' Association, also disappeared, with their bodies later found. The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence declared 'rogue elements' within the ministry responsible for these four murders, which became known as the chain murders. Saeed Imami (Islamic), a former deputy of the Ministry of Intelligence, was arrested in connection with this case, which was later reported as having committed suicide in prison. Several officials of the Ministry of Intelligence were also arrested alongside Saeed Imami (Islamic). Ultimately, the accused in these murders were not 'executed' after what was declared as 'the forgiveness of the victims' families' and were sentenced to 10 years in prison. According to reports, these defendants were released after serving less than half of their sentences. Parastoo Farahvar's trial at the Revolutionary Court in Tehran took place three days after the anniversary of the murder of Dariush and Parvaneh Farahvar in their home on Hedayat Street. The memorial ceremony for these two victims of the 'chain murders' was held last Wednesday, observing two hours of silence. In previous years, security agents had prevented public attendance at the ceremony by blocking access routes hours before it began.