Revolution and Exile, 1979-present
1978 proved to be a year of radical unrest and upheaval in Iran. Demonstrations were happening across the nation and on August 19, 1978, Islamists attacked and set fire to twenty-eight cinemas, killing 377 citizens. On August 27 of that same year, Prime Minister Jamshid Amouzegar, along with his cabinet stepped down, and the role of minister for women's affairs, held by Mahnaz Afkhami, was abolished.
As the unrest grew, and in fear of retaliation for her work as the minister for women's affairs and secretary general of WOI, Mahnaz sent her son Babak to live with her mother Ferdows in the United States. A few months later, in October of that year, Mahnaz flew to New York City, New York to the United Nations headquarters. There, she would lead the negotiations to draft an agreement between the United Nations and the government of Iran to establish the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).
Early in the morning on November 27, 1978, Mahnaz was woken by a phone call from her husband, Gholam. Gholam had called to tell her the queen, Farah Pahlavi, had implied to him that Mahnaz should stay in the United States and not return to Iran. It was no longer safe for her to return home. Mahnaz was charged in absentia with "Corruption on Earth and Warring with God". It would be another year before Gholam could leave hiding and escape to the United States to reunite with Mahnaz and Babak.
Mahnaz has never return to Iran and has lived in the United States in exile since 1979.
