12 Facts About Parviz Nikkhah

Parviz Nikkhah was initially a leftist political activist and one of the main leaders of the Confederation of Iranian Students - one of the most important opposition groups to Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi in Europe and the United States - who changed his mind in prison and became one of the country's theorists.

In 1964, Parviz Nikkhah was one of the first to declare himself ready to return to Iran and "lead the masses in the revolutionary struggle against the Shah regime".

Parviz Nikkhah had previously accepted an invitation to the People's Republic of China to receive ideological education and training in guerrilla warfare.

Back in Iran, Parviz Nikkhah took a position as a physics lecturer at the Amir Kabir University in Tehran and began his underground work as a revolutionary parallel to his teaching activities.

Parviz Nikkhah recruited students for the ROTP, sent them to China for further training and discussed the planned popular uprising with workers and peasants.

Parviz Nikkhah was arrested along with several other members of the ROTP and brought to justice.

Parviz Nikkhah wrote a letter in which he apologized for the mistakes he had made in the past and described his previous ideological position as "absurd".

Parviz Nikkhah offered to make his new political views public.

Parviz Nikkhah wrote an article about the positive effects of the land reform implemented as part of the White Revolution, which was published uncensored in the daily Kayhan.

Parviz Nikkhah offered a criticism of his previous ideological standpoint and called on the students of the Confederation, instead of fighting against the Shah, to use their energies for the construction and development of Iran.

Parviz Nikkhah began to work for the Ministry of Information and later for National Iranian Radio and Television.

Parviz Nikkhah attempted to defend himself, arguing that he could not have written the article, and tried to justify his reasons for cooperation with the Shah's government.