Young Hejbar’s childhood coincided with the late Reza Shah years, a time of modernization and state centralization. Education was beginning to expand beyond urban elites, but for provincial families like the Yazdanis, opportunities were still scarce. His father recognized the importance of education and sent him to Tehran for schooling—a decision that would profoundly shape Hejbar’s trajectory.
He attended Zand Elementary School for grades one to five, then Jamshid Jam Elementary School for the sixth grade. For middle school, he enrolled at Firooz Bahram High School, a well-known Zoroastrian institution supported by the Parsi community of India. His high school diploma came from Modares High School, another reputable institution in Tehran.
These Zoroastrian schools, though not aligned with the Bahá’í faith, were renowned for their academic rigor and for cultivating a generation of modern-minded, business-oriented youth. They often had close ties to Iran’s political and economic elites, and some historians suggest that Yazdani’s early exposure to these circles allowed him to develop connections that later proved crucial to his rise.
According to Yazdani himself, he had a fondness for the number 13—so much so that he would regularly participate in the American lottery with that number. His birth certificate number, coincidentally, was also 113.
