One of his most important books is Pre-Islamic Persian Literature. Jaleh Amouzegar contributed in editing it.
In January 1997, Ahmad Tafazzoli was found dead[2] in Punak, a suburb northwest of Tehran near Jannat Abad. He was known to have contacts with Iranian academics working abroad, and many of his colleagues believed that the authorities were behind his death, as part of the chain murders of Iran. While the precise circumstances remained unclear, Tafazzoli's death created a climate of fear at the university and discouraged criticism of the government.[3]
Contemporary Persian and Classical Persian are the same language, but writers since 1900 are classified as contemporary. At one time, Persian was a common cultural language of much of the non-Arabic Islamic world. Today it is the official language of Iran, Tajikistan and one of the two official languages of Afghanistan.