April 1934: First National Baha’i Convention in Iran - First National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Iran

This Ridvan will go down in the history of Baha’i Persia because during the feast days the first national Baha’i Convention met in Tihran and elected the first National Assembly of Persia, with 84 delegates present from all over the country. Friends in the West will appreciate what achievement such a gathering represents in a country where travel is still a considerable adventure and where even a brief stay in the capital entails a long absence from home.

The delegates made their headquarters at the Haziratu’l-Quds, where the Central Assembly and the Service Committee had made the necessary arrangements for their reception; all kinds of furniture, beds, tables and the like had been requisitioned from Baha’is throughout town, and the fact that the delegates were in a sense the house guests of the Tihran friends added to the pleasure of the Convention. Many of the local friends entertained the delegates, both at the Haziratu’-l-Quds and at their homes; the social aspects of the Convention were highly important because the Persian friends of different centres cannot communicate with one another with the frequency enjoyed in the West. A significant event of this Convention was the sending of representatives by the four women’s committees to report to the delegates and submit their program for the coming year.

The members of the National Assembly are as follows:

Jenabi Fazel Mazandarani.

Haji Ghulam Reza Amin Amin.

Mirza Valiullah Khan Varqa.

Dr. Yunis Khan Afrukhtih.

Mirza Shuaullah Khan Alai.

Mirza Ahmed Khan Yazdani.

Mirza Ali Akbar Khan Froutan.

Mirza Mahmud Khan Badiyi.

Mirza Enayatullah Ahmed Poor.

(Baha’i News, no. 86, August 1934)