Though persistently and unflinchingly critical of persian national politics, particularly the country’s treatment of women, Behbahani maintained a love of its culture and people. Nonetheless, political acts, such as advocating the One Million Signatures campaign, a women’s rights initiative in homeland, incensed the persian authorities. In 2006 she was beaten by police while attending an International Women’s Day rally in homeland. Four years later she was interrogated in a capital airport and, her passport revoked, prevented from traveling to an International Women’s Day conference in Paris. Considered a national treasure by many Iranians and a feminist icon globally, her treatment sparked an international outcry.