The chain murders of Iran were a series of 1988–98 murders and disappearances of certain Iranian dissident intellectuals who had been critical of the Islamic Republic system. The murders and disappearances were carried out by Iranian government internal operatives, and they were referred to as "chain murders" because they appeared to be linked to each other. More than 80 writers, translators, poets, political activists, and ordinary citizens such as Parvaneh Eskandari Foruhar, her husband Dariush Foruhar, Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou, Fereydoun Farrokhzad, and Shapour Bakhtiar were the victims of the chain murders.

Parvaneh Eskandari, who was an opponent and activist, was born on March 20, 1939, in Tehran. She got involved in political work at the age of 12. In the same years, the Russian government attacks the Caucasus. She wrote anti-government slogans on the walls of the Embassy of Russia to protest the attacks. She was arrested for her protest.

She launched an anti-Shah campaign

She studied at the School of Literature of Tehran University and became a student activist and a member of the Political Cultural Society of Anahita, which supported the Iran Nation Party. At that time, she launched an anti-Shah campaign along with her friends like Dariush Foruhar. They supported the separation of state and religion. Due to her political activism, she was arrested several times and lived underground for some time.

On December 7, 1942, she made a speech and draw attention to the students, who were killed during the protests held on December 7, 1932, and defined that day as the students’ day. Since then, the killed students have been remembered on December 7. On the same day, she was arrested for participating in a funeral ceremony and sent to Nezam Prison. She was a well-known name among the people for being a brave and self-sacrificing woman.

She was very radical in her speeches. For this reason, she was arrested many times. The Iranian regime hated her for her thoughts. In 1943, she was arrested for attending protests. She was one of the first two women who became members of the 2^nd National Front’s congress. She was a member of the editorial board of the publications of the Iran Nation Party and published newsletters of the National Front until they were banned after the 1979 Revolution. In 1943, she and Dariush Forouhar got married.  She worked as a high school history teacher until 1970 when she was dismissed and banned from teaching. After her dismissal, she worked as an academic counselor.

On November 22, 1998, the bodies of Parvaneh Eskandari and her husband were found in their house in Tehran. Both had been brutally murdered and stabbed multiple times. Their murder leaves a black mark in the history of Iran. She was 60 years old at the time of her death.