December 1934: Tarbiyat and other Baha'i schools are closed down by the order of the Persian government

The Tarbiyat Boys' School and the Girls' School by the same name, together with all the other Bahá'í schools in major cities, were closed down in December 1934 by order of the government for not heeding a warning by the Ministry of Education (headed by 'Ali-Asghar-i-Hikmat, a well-known Azali) that the schools would officially be closed if they failed to remain open during Bahá'í holy days. Despite several representations by the National Spiritual Assembly, the authorities remained adamant and all the Bahá'í schools in Persia were closed down after closing on a Bahá'í holy day. (Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha'u'llah vol. 4)

The Tarbiyat boys' school was established in 1898 in Tihran, while the girls' school was founded by Dr Susan Moody after her arrival in Tihran in 1909. Both schools were owned and managed entirely by Baha’is, although children of all religions attended, particularly the children of government and civic officials. The schools had always closed on the nine Baha'i holy days but on the pretext that the Baha’is belonged to a denomination not officially recognized in Iran, the Ministry of Education in 1934 demanded that the schools remain open for these days. Shoghi Effendi refused to allow this and ordered the schools to close on the anniversary of the martyrdom of the Báb. As he would not let the Baha'is deny their Faith, nor allow the schools to remain open on holy days, the government refused permission for the schools to re-open after the holy day. The Tarbiyat Schools remain closed to this day. (A Basic Baha’i Dictionary, by Wendi Momen)