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Iranian Security Agents 'Forbid Commemoration' Of Dissidents' Murder

November 18, 2010

The daughter of assassinated Iranian dissidents Dariush Forouhar and Parvaneh Eskandari has been prevented from marking the anniversary of their death, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports.

Parastou Forouhar told Radio Farda on November 17 that security agents did not allow her to commemorate the 12th anniversary of her parents' murders in Tehran. "They told me that holding any kind of ceremony to commemorate my parents is forbidden," Forouhar said.

Prominent political activists Forouhar and Eskandari were stabbed to death at their home in 1998. Their assassination was followed by the murders of a number of Iranian dissidents and intellectuals, which later came to be known as the "chain murders of Iran."

In early 1999, during Mohammad Khatami's presidency, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry announced that the killings were committed "arbitrarily" by its own "rogue agents."

Parvaneh Forouhar, who lives in Germany, travels to Iran every year on the anniversary of her parents' death. She told Radio Farda that as in past years, her passport was confiscated upon her arrival at the airport without any reason being given.

Forouhar added that for the past six years, it has been forbidden to commemorate her parents not just publicly, but also at their home, which people call "the house of freedom."

"I have made a formal protest and will continue doing so. This is unjust, as the murder of my parents was a catastrophe," Forouhar said.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/Iranian_Security_Agents_Forbid_Commemoration_Of_Dissidents_Murder/2223523.html

Copyright (c) 2010. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.