February 4. On this date in 1954, Mahvash Sabet was born. She is one of the Yaran, the ad hoc administrative structure established in Iran after that country banned the Bahá'í Administrative Order.

 

February 4. On this date in 1954, Mahvash Sabet was born. She is one of the Yaran, the ad hoc administrative structure established in Iran after that country banned the Bahá'í Administrative Order. 

Born Mahvash Shahriyari on February 4, 1953 in Ardestan, Mahvash Sabet moved to Tehran when she was in the fifth grade. In university, she studied psychology, obtaining a bachelor’s degree. 

She began her professional career as a teacher and also worked as a principal at several schools. In her professional role, she also collaborated with the National Literacy Committee of Iran. After the Islamic revolution, however, she was fired from her job and blocked from working in public education. 

After her termination from public education, she became director of the Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education, where she also has taught psychology and management. 

She married Siyvash Sabet on May 21, 1973. They have a son, Foroud Sabet, and a daughter, Negar Sabet, both born in Hamadan. 

While all of the other Yaran were arrested at their homes in Tehran on May 14, 2008, Mahvash Sabet was arrested in Mashhad on March 5, 2008, where she had been summoned by the Ministry of Intelligence.

Sabet was released from Evin prison on September 18, 2017.

While in prison, Sabet wrote a number of poems. These were eventually adapted by Bahiyyih Nakhjavani from translations into English from the original Persian completed by Violette and Ali Nakhjavani. These English adaptations were published by George Ronald in 2013. 

On October 10, 2017, Mahvash Sabet was named 2017 International Writer of Courage by PEN International and co-winner of the annual Pinter Prize.