Esfandiar Ekhtiyari,[1][a] (Persian: اسفندیار اختیاری, born 1966), full name Esfandiar Ekhtiyari Kasnavieh Yazd (Persian: اسفندیار اختیاری کسنویه یزد),[4] is a Zoroastrian Iranian scientist and politician. He is both a professor in Textile Engineering at Yazd University, and was the holder of the Iranian Parliament's reserved seat for the Zoroastrian minority from 2008 to 2024. As a former Member of Parliament, he used to speak on behalf of the Zoroastrian community of Iran. He has rebuked, and worked to prevent or end, laws and practices discriminatory towards his coreligionists. He was a member of the Education and Research Committee of the Iranian Parliament.
Ekhtiyari describes his primary political role as that of a "community advocate" whose purpose is "to speak on behalf of any Zoroastrian in Iran, regardless of what his or her situation is."[3] He maintains office hours for meeting fellow Zoroastrians who seek his assistance, usually over religious discrimination at school or at work and over property disputes, and spends much of his time writing letters and appealing to relevant authorities to safeguard his coreligionists' rights.[3] For example, when a Zoroastrian student who had performed the best on a university entrance exam had his rank lowered due to "additional factors," Ekhtiyari appealed the student's case to the university administration and the Ministry of Education. In 2009, he rebuked the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance for not censuring a film in which a criminal character had the sacred faravahar on his clothes.[3] In 2017, Ekhtiyari protested attacks on the Zoroastrian Sadeh festival by Muslim individuals,[9] and criticized a court decision that removed a Zoroastrian from the Yazd city council on grounds that a non-Muslim should not govern a majority-Muslim city.[10] The decision was ultimately overturned by the Expediency Council.[11] In 2019, Ekhtiyari wrote a public letter demanding that the government annul a new decree prohibiting non-Muslims from working at kindergartens with Muslim children, calling it an "inhumane and unethical decision". A "corrected" version of the directive was eventually published.[11] Ekhtiyari has urged Zoroastrians living outside Iran to "return to [their] motherland," saying that the Iranian Zoroastrian community would welcome them "with open arms."[12]
In 2015, Ekhtiyari strongly opposed a proposal to allow advertisements on the walls of schools, stating that "when students watch advertisements they will find no food for thought culture-wise and education-wise," and that schools should instead focus on creating a "happy environment" for students that will "enhance the character of the school children."[13]
