The 'Butterfly' That Was Assassinated

At the age of sixty and with a feverish body, she became the target of numerous dagger strikes from the security forces of the Islamic Republic and was assassinated like her husband. Parvaneh Eskandari (Furouhar), born in 1938, was not only the life partner of Dariush Furouhar but also a long-time activist of the National Movement of Iran and a woman of intellect and opinion. Parvaneh emerged from a 'national' family, and her life was spent in the struggle for democracy and national sovereignty in Iran. She stated: 'I was born in a pure center that had national beliefs and strong roots of freedom-seeking. At the age of 12, I became acquainted with the unifying ideals of Iranians... At that time, I was arrested for writing slogans. Later, with the mediation of influential family members, I returned home. I stood firm against the decisions of close relatives who pressured my parents to prevent me from continuing the struggle, and eventually, I overcame my fears and made a great commitment that I have upheld until today [1998].' Alongside the National Movement and Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh, Parvaneh Furouhar became a supporter of Dr. Mossadegh. After the coup of August 19, she continued her political and patriotic efforts within the National Resistance Movement and as a member of the Iran Nation Party. This did not prevent her from simultaneously pursuing gender equality; as she wrote in a critical letter to the Central Council of the National Front in 1960: 'Tell me, between a man and a woman who have both chosen this path, fought equally, and possess a degree of awareness and social value, what difference can there be? In which of the various committees of the National Front does a woman have a role? What actions have been taken to organize women within the ranks of the National Front?' She became one of the important activists of the protest movement at Tehran University and the National Front. Her speech on the anniversary of December 7, 1960, was one of the famous instances. Following one of her speeches, she was arrested (February 1961). In a memorable note to Dariush Furouhar, she wrote: 'I have no fear... I will remain a butterfly, even if I am crushed... One should not be afraid of worries in the pursuit of great goals.' Parvaneh Eskandari married Dariush Furouhar, the secretary of the Iran Nation Party, in 1961. Dr. Mossadegh sent a congratulatory message from exile, stating: 'God is not a carpenter, but He knows how to fit wood and planks together well.' Parvaneh, as recounted by her daughter, Parastoo, was born in 1962, a year after her parents' marriage; her daughter's account of her idealistic mother is as follows: 'Her image in those childhood years is like fairies that disappear if you don't believe in them, but if you do, they open a window to a world unlike any other. I learned the miracle of love through loving her and watching her passionate affections... My mother was magical; she was always pregnant with hope.' The first child of the 'Mossadeghis' writes in her memoirs: 'The image of Mossadegh was like a small temple that, as far back as I can remember, had a place on the shelf in our home. My mother would recite poetry to him and confide in him, while my father would look at that picture with strange humility. In our home, everything related to Mossadegh was shrouded in a halo of sanctity and had to be protected.' Years later, when the security forces of the Islamic Republic targeted the Furouhar home with intimidation and threats, 'they wanted to take down the large portrait of Dr. Mossadegh from the mantelpiece of the living room; my mother stood in front of that picture, arms outstretched, and firmly said: As long as I am alive, no one will take Mossadegh's image down from my wall; you can only take this picture from my wall over my dead body.' The security agents refrained from seizing the portrait of Mossadegh. Dariush Furouhar was frequently in and out of prison; he spent over 14 years in the prisons of the monarchy. During one of his arrests (1969), in a house occupied by SAVAK agents, 'my mother was arguing with several of those men... She whispered to me to be 'brave and calm'... and said: 'Kiss your father and say goodbye to him'... My mother began singing the anthem 'Ey Iran' in the middle of the staircase, and my father's voice joined hers.' A fiery butterfly in the revolution, Parvaneh Furouhar, who had been a teacher since her student days, was banned from teaching in 1970; she had spoken about the nationalization of the oil industry, the national government of Mossadegh, and the coup of August 19 in her history class. Throughout the years following the coup, she faced constant threats and was frequently summoned to SAVAK and the country's prisons, either for her activities or to visit her husband, who was imprisoned multiple times for 14 years. With the expansion of the protest movement against the monarchy, Parvaneh Eskandari's activities increased. She took on the responsibility of preparing and publishing the newsletter 'National Front of Iran.' This responsibility continued in the publication 'Great Unity' after the revolution. The revolution led to a change in the political system; Parvaneh Furouhar wrote in a letter in March 1979: 'Thank God that all those dark and miserable years have ended, and the fruits of prisons, resistances, tortures, and martyrdoms today are the fresh air of the spring of freedom.' She quickly realized the changing political-social atmosphere influenced by a repressive and monopolistic discourse. On March 8, 1980, she protested against the mistreatment of unveiled women in the National Front's publication, writing: 'There is undoubtedly a conspiracy at work; a calculated and dangerous conspiracy... The shameful provocations and inappropriate behaviors of a few pseudo-revolutionaries harm and damage our great and pure revolution.' In another article, Parvaneh Furouhar again protested against the treatment of unveiled women, writing: 'Perhaps women were mistaken in thinking that all their lost rights would be restored with the revolution and with hope for true justice... Why is the life of an Iranian woman dependent on a few meters of cloth? Why is it assumed that these few meters of cloth guarantee a woman's modesty and purity? Isn't it astonishing that we divide the Iranian nation into two parts, women and men, and ask them to distance themselves from each other in the twentieth century?' A year after the revolution, Parvaneh Furouhar, disillusioned and saddened, requested retirement from the Ministry of Education; as she put it: 'I have passed through all those beautiful dreams.' This occurred while her husband was the Minister of Labor in the provisional government and one of the regime's supporters. She protested against 'the erasure of women' in education and warned of the 'stigma of reaction' on the body of the revolution, stating: 'The footsteps of the demon of exploitation and reaction have echoed in my life and that of all the women of this land.' Less than a year after the revolution's victory, Parvaneh Furouhar wrote about the emergence of 'oppression' and 'intolerance in the political system' and the need for the government to respect freedom of thought and the prerequisites for expanding democracy. Parastoo recounts a day when her mother harshly addressed Furouhar: 'So what are you doing?… What are you doing?' According to this report: 'She was shouting and only repeating that sentence… Her tears were falling, and the repetition of this sentence was drowned in her sobs. That day, Mrs. Farrokh Parsa — who had been the Minister of Education for years — and Mohammad Reza Ameli Tehrani, a member of parliament — who had only briefly held a ministerial position — were executed.' Standing firm until the end in an oppositional position, Parvaneh Furouhar increasingly found herself in an oppositional stance; she, alongside Dariush Furouhar, criticized the autocracy and monopolism in the Islamic Republic. She described 'the only rational way' to improve Iran's situation as achieving elections in an open political atmosphere. While striving for political structural change, she emphasized: 'Undemocratic changes will have such detrimental consequences that they will even affect future generations.' In her critique and assessment of the 1979 revolution, she wrote: 'Democracy did not take root in Iran because democracy is not an abstract process; it is a cultural, nurturing, and organizational phenomenon, a social system, the product of a worldview, and a mental state — identification and discipline and reward and punishment.' She even emphasized that achieving women's rights in Iran requires the cooperation of both genders: 'I do not believe that an independent women's movement can be very successful; if we can align men with us, it would be better.' Under the shadow of insecurity, threats, repression, and censorship that loomed over her and her husband, Parvaneh Furouhar wrote poetry, articles, prepared the Iran Nation Party newsletter, interviewed with foreign radios when possible, and engaged in discussions in limited gatherings and political circles. While opposing the established political order, she also tried to realistically assess the situation; as she stated three months after the 1997 presidential election in an interview: 'What exists in the end is different from what we can achieve at the present time. Within this framework, with this constitution — which is very flawed — changes can occur; actions can be taken that will help people emerge from this bitter situation.' At the same time, she emphasized that Khatami — the president of the reform movement — must 'insist' on his promises and the demands of the majority of the Iranian people and refrain from mere rhetoric. Like her husband, Parvaneh Furouhar emphasized the separation of religion from the state; in her view: 'As long as religion is in power in this form [Islamic Republic], it is impossible to achieve prosperity and happiness.' Two weeks before her assassination, she stated in another interview: 'The leaders of the Islamic Republic have harmed the religious beliefs of the people with their monopolism and reactionism.' Her last written piece, a speech commemorating Dr. Hossein Fatemi on November 10, 1998, states that Parvaneh Furouhar speaks of the necessity to fight against the trend of 'monopolization' and the 'bitter image within the homeland,' adding: 'With every vein in my body, I cry out that Iran is going through a bitter and difficult time; a dark abyss has opened up in our national existence; let us not leave it alone; let us combine our strengths so that the cradle and grave of our unparalleled people may be freed from oppression.' A few days later, on December 1, 1998, Parvaneh Furouhar and her husband were brutally murdered by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence, victims of the 'chain murders' and political assassinations in the Islamic Republic.