Nabavi pursued his education at Amir Kabir University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in electronics. However, it was not just academics that shaped him during this period. Nabavi’s exposure to political movements began as early as the 1950s, when he became involved with the National Front, a group advocating for democratic and progressive reforms. His political journey took a more radical turn when he met Mostafa Shoaian, a Marxist revolutionary influenced by the ideas of Leon Trotsky. This meeting laid the foundation for Nabavi’s deeper involvement in leftist ideologies.
His activism, however, did not go unnoticed, and in 1968, Nabavi, along with other young militants, formed the People’s Democratic Front, a clandestine and armed group dedicated to opposing the government. Nabavi’s activities in this period led to multiple arrests, including one in 1972, and he became a target of the regime’s security apparatus, SAVAK. He recounts one harrowing experience during his arrest in 1972, when he attempted to evade capture by taking cyanide, though, as fate would have it, the poison did not work, and he was arrested.
