News ID: 205
On February 27, 1971, SAVAK announced in a confidential report, "Achieving a position in the Ministry of Education during the reign of Ms. Farrokh Ro Parsa has been monetized; and everyone can reach different positions by paying certain rates."
Publish Date : 08:15 - 2021 February 21

Irdc: On February 27, 1971, SAVAK announced in a confidential report, "Achieving a position in the Ministry of Education during the reign of Ms. Farrokh Ro Parsa has been monetized; and everyone can reach different positions by paying certain rates."

Farrokh Ro Parsa was born in March 1923 in Qom, Her mother Farrokh Afagh Parsa, editor of Jahan Zanan magazine, was exiled to Qom for writing an article on "the need for equal education for girls and boys." She returned to Tehran after giving birth to her child through the mediation of the then Prime Minister. Her father, Farrokhuddin Parsa, was an employee of the Ministry of Commerce and the editor of "the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines" and "the New Age" magazine. Because she became the highest student in the elementary teachers college, she went to the superior teachers college and in 1942 she received a bachelor's degree in natural sciences. From the same year she studied in different high schools, in the same year she married Ahmad Shirin Sokhan and in 1950 she graduated with a doctorate from the University of Tehran. Despite studying medicine, she left medicine to work for the Ministry of Culture. Along with a group of teacher, in1954, farrokh ro established the "Association of Cultural Women" to solve the problems of girls' schools.


 In 1956, the "Cooperation Council of Iranian Women's Communities" began its activities in order to create cooperation between different communities of women and Farkhro Parsa was elected as a member of its board. Later the severe criticism was mentioned against this population for its inactivity in the press, and the council was dissolved and replaced by the Iranian Women's Organization.


During the preparations for the formation of the "Iranian Women's Organization", influential people in the Supreme Council of Women's Communities (which consisted of 29 women) announced in a message that the Supreme Council of Women would not consider itself dissolved. They also did not allow the six-member commission of inquiry, which was designer of the women's organization, to enter in their meeting. Farrokh Ro Parsa was the spokeswoman for the council's resistance group. She denied the news of the dissolution of the Women's Council, saying that the Supreme Council has been registered and that the dissolution or any change in it must be in accordance with the statute or the approval of two-thirds of the members of the council.


The conflict between the two factions lasted for a month, until Ashraf Pahlavi announced in a press conference the official dissolution of the Supreme Council of Women's Communities. Among the council's activities were the establishment of "girls' schools" and the creation of "women's house." In 1957, Farrokh Ro Parsa was elected as the director of Dr. Vali Allah-e-Nasr High School and in 1958 she became the director of Reza Shah High School. During her presidency at Reza Shah High School, many financial violations were recorded by her. The following is about her first financial deviations in SAVAK documents: 
"Ms. Parsa used to be the director of Reza Shah Girls' High School, and at that time, Ms. Bedil was teaching at that high school and has received a tuition fee. Ms. Parsa manipulated the Ms. Bedil's tuition fees and increased her working hours and took advantage of this overtime, so after a while Ms. Bedil realized the matter and complained to the Criminal Court and the Education Inspectorate about this issue. "Mr. Mirhashemi, the head of the Academy's inspection department at the time, was satisfied to take a bribe from Ms. Parsa and refuse to pursue the complaint."


In 1961, a "progressive center" was formed. The center was founded by a group of educated youth and some government officials such as Amir Abbas Hoveida and Hassan Ali Mansour. Farrokh Ro Parsa also became a member in the same year. The members of this center participated in the elections of the 21st term of the National Assembly in 1963 and Farrokh Ro Parsa entered the parliament from Tehran as a representative. In the same year, the Iran Novin Party was founded, which was led by Hassan Ali Mansour. She also became a member, according to SAVAK documents:
"On November 28, 1963, a number of women with university education gathered at the Palace Hotel to form a group of university women and elected the board of directors, after drafting the statute, they introduced their existence to the I.F.U.W (International Federation of University Women), which was accepted",  the Iranian University Women's Association is headed by Dr. Parsa. 

According to its founders, the aim of this community was to increase the level of information and support the rights and interests of women around the world and to create understanding and friendship between educated women in different countries.

In May 1965, Hadi Hedayat, the then Minister of Education, appointed Farrokh Ro Parsa as the Parliamentary Deputy Minister of that ministry. After being elected to this position, she tried to bring a number of party members (Novin Party) into the system, which this decision was opposed by the then Minister.

Of course, from the very beginning of Farrokhro Parsa's appointment as deputy, there were objections from clerics and some cultural figures to the fact that this person was a Baha'i.

This is stated in SAVAK documents on this issue:
"The election of Dr. Farrokhro Parsa as the Deputy Minister of Education, who is attributed to being a Baha'i and belongs to its Azali sect, has had a very bad reflection among experienced cultural figures and has disappointed those who have served with pure hands and hearts, also, the reflection of this act among the clerics and religious fanatics has provoked protests."

Although an attempt was made to conceal Farrokh Ro Parsa's Baha'i identity, some events turned any doubt into certainty, including:
"The wedding ceremony of the nephew of Ms. Parsa, Minister of Education, with the son of Brigadier general Sanei, former Minister of War, was held at the house of Ms. Parsa's brother, who is a judge of justice. The ceremony was attended by Engineer Rouhani, Minister of Agriculture, and other followers of the Baha'I sect. Ms. Parsa and Commander Shirin Sokhan were also present in this ceremony. The wedding sermon, which usually it must be read by a clergyman, was not performed, and the wedding program was performed according to Baha'i customs. More importantly, during his tenure as prime minister, Hoveyda gave a lot of prominence to the Baha'is and included a number of Baha'is in his cabinet; For example, he elected Farrokh Ro Parsa, a Baha'i, as Minister of Education.

Finally, the sabotage of Farrokh Ro Parsa and her friends against the then prime minister, hadi hedayati, came to fruition and she was appointed to the ministry of education on  August 27, 1968 by Hoveyda. It was not until a few months after her appointment to the ministry that she made stubborn decisions against the clergy, although her opposition was to the principle of Islam. One of her anti-Islam actions was the elimination of Arabic from high school, which was also protested by some teachers and students. (In a meeting) with Farrokh Ro Parsa and an American behind the podium, the American person was constantly enumerating the advantages and benefits of the new program. The minister was translating his words to the public… in that meeting as well I was for the permission and stated that: "our country has at least 2500 years of historical and ancient history, on what occasion should it follow the example of a country that has a history of 200 years and show itself obedience?"

She also opposed the issue of hijab in one of the meetings she had in the schools of the Islamic Education Society, calling it a superstition. During Farrok Ro Parsa's ministry, the minister addressed two issues; one is the appointment of relatives to important positions in the ministry of education and the other is receiving money for the position assigned to them. Farrokh Ro Parsa, had many embezzlements in different parts of the ministry during her ministry.

"As minister of education, Farrokh Ro Parsa soon found ways to profit from building deals and the establishment of private schools."

Of course, her managerial weakness also led to public dissatisfaction, and even the scope of these dissatisfactions led to the protests of those who once tried hard to get Farrokh Ro to the ministry.

Eventually, public pressure led to his dismissal from the ministry in 1974, Parsa dealt the biggest blows to the structure of Amir Abbas Hoveyda's cabinet during his seven years in the ministry.
After the victory of the Islamic revolution, she was tried and sentenced to death on May 8, 1980.

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