Behrooz Araz

Behrooz Araz was the 17-year-old son of Navi Araz and Dina Araz, terrorists who were instrumental in the first three phases of a series of terrorist attacks planned by terrorist Habib Marwan.

Before Day 4
The Araz family immigrated to the United States five years before Day 4 to assist Habib Marwan succeed in breaking the country and exacting revenge for America's foreign policies in the Middle East. Behrooz's parents tried carefully to ensure that the boy would not become fully assimilated into American society, and he was forbidden from relationships with American girls. Behrooz was cooperative in his parents' cause until his faithfulness was tested during Day 4, when all of the terrorist plans were executed.

Behrooz may have been abused or controlled by his parents whilst planning for the terrorist attack. Navi stated "I listen to your phone calls, I read your e-mail", and also struck Behrooz on the face several times during the day.

Day 4
The Araz family and Tomas Sherek orchestrated a train wreck to recover a briefcase carried by Brody, a corporate messenger who was transporting a device that could cause the meltdown of every nuclear power plant in the country (known as the override device). The terrorist waiting at the crash, Dar, delivered the briefcase to the Araz house, where Behrooz was then sent to take it to the compound where the terrorist sub-commander Omar was secretly holding Secretary of Defense James Heller captive. Before leaving to make the delivery, Behrooz experienced a rift with his parents because they disapproved of his American girlfriend, Debbie Pendleton. He lied to cover it up, and insisted that he stopped seeing her, but she called before he left. Behrooz told Debbie that he's busy and cannot talk, and then left to deliver the briefcase.

As he delivered the briefcase to Omar's guard, however, he was shadowed by Debbie who followed him to the compound. He spotted her and revealed that his parents don't want him to go out with her to prove that his prior awkwardness was not on account of infidelity. Omar's guard at the compound spotted them talking, and informed his superiors.

Navi hears of Debbie's intrusion, and, fearing for the secrecy of the conspiracy he confronts his son when he arrives home. Behrooz claims Debbie didn't see anything, but Navi tells him to call her and get her to come to their house. Desperate for a way out, and fearing for Debbie's life, Behrooz asked his mother Dina to talk Navi out of it. Navi departs, but when Dina called him, she simply says she would "take care of it." She told Behrooz he doesn't have to bring Debbie over, but instead invites the girl over herself.

After Debbie arrives, Dina gives her tea and asks her about what she saw when she followed Behrooz. Debbie tells her that she did not tell anyone about the location, and Dina goes into the other room to call Navi. They decided Behrooz should kill her, and Dina calls Behrooz into the other room and hands him a gun. Behrooz panicked, and in an attempt to save Debbie, he tried to convince her to leave. But she collapsed and died anyway: Dina, having predicted Behrooz would not shoot the girl, had poisoned the tea. She then took the gun from Behrooz and shot Debbie's body, to make it appear as though Behrooz had killed her so Navi would be satisfied.

Navi returned to the house soon after, and seemed to accept that Behrooz killed Debbie. They were briefly interuppted by Debbie's worried mother Karen Pendleton, but manage to convince her that they haven't seen Debbie. After that, Dina left to make sure Debbie's mother would not go to the police, while Navi sent Behrooz to bury the body with a terrorist associate, Tariq.

As they dig the ditch, Behrooz noticed that Tariq was carrying a pistol. Suspecting that Tariq had orders to kill him, Behrooz beat Tariq with his shovel and knocked the gun away. Behrooz demanded to know why Habib Marwan - who he knew was Tariq's superior and believed gave the kill order - wanted him dead, but Tariq responded the order did not come from Marwan; it came from Navi. Shocked and angry, Behrooz hit Tariq with the shovel repeatedly, screaming until Tariq was dead, then fled in Tariq's car.

On the road, Behrooz desperately called Dina for help, telling her Navi wants him dead. Dina told him to meet her at a train station. Though Dina appeared to arrive alone, she met Behrooz and informed that Navi had followed them. Navi, seeing that Dina was betraying him for their son, shot at the car, hitting Dina in the arm. Behrooz got in and managed to maneuver the car from the passenger seat, and escaped from Navi and his men without further harm.



Dina and Behrooz wandered, and stopped briefly at an emergeny medical center to get treatment for Dina's injury. When Dr. Martinez called the police about the suspicious gunshot wound, they fled to a hotel, where Behrooz left Dina to go to nearby hopsital where Dina's brother, Naseem, worked as a pharmacist. Behrooz hoped that Naseem would give him pain medication for his mother, but Naseem is instead suspicious of him and calls Navi. Navi told Naseem to keep Behrooz there, and drove over.

Shortly before Navi arrived, Behrooz received a call from his mother - government agents have found her, and she agreed to make a deal to pardon him if she gave them information concerning the Override device. She told Behrooz to meet the agents in the ER so they can pick him up, but as Behrooz tried to leave, Naseem caught up with him and told him that he'd called Navi. Panicking, Behrooz fled with Naseem close behind, where they both ran into Navi. Navi killed Naseem and dragged Behrooz into a stairwell, and was about to kill him as well when Behrooz informed him that Dina had been arrested and that the agents were coming for him. If Navi shoots him, Dina will betray him.

As the agents arrive, Navi forced Behrooz at gunpoint into the hospital basement, touse Behrooz as a hostage to get past the Jack Bauer and the other authorities. Jack managed to sneak into the basement through a laundry chute, and fought with Navi to apprehend him. However, Navi's gun was knocked away during the fight, and Behrooz picked it up and shot his father just as Jack was about to arrest him. Dina and Behrooz were ultimately transported to CTU.

Behrooz and Dina were taken to separate holding cells, where each was questioned. He saw his mother again several hours later, when she was brought into his cell prior to departing with Jack on a mission to help locate Marwan (in return for the pardon for her son). Behrooz realized that this mission was dangerous and begged her not to go, but she left anyway to ensure that her son would have immunity, and a future.



After this, Behrooz was taken to interrogation room, where he is questioned by Curtis Manning. Curtis tells him his mother is fine, then gruffly pulls him up and shoves him against a wall, demanding information about Marwan. Behrooz fearfully insisted he didn't know anything, and he yielded no useful information when CTU agents used drugs to disorient him.

Curtis later informed Behrooz that Marwan had offered them a deal - that CTU trade him for Jack, whom Marwan was holding hostage. CTU put a tracker in his wristwatch and an implanted tracking devices in his scalp, and went through with the trade despite Behrooz's protests. The terrorists who received him put him in a van and drove off, and one of them, Abdullah, quickly found and destroyed both trackers.

Memorable quotes

 * Behrooz Araz: I'm not afraid of father.
 * Dina Araz: You should be.
 * Behrooz Araz: He tried to kill me.  (looks at Dina's wounded arm)  And then he did this to you.  He's not my father anymore. ("Day 4: 2:00pm-3:00pm")


 * Behrooz Araz: I hate you.  I've always hated you!  The only reason I never said so was because I was afraid of you.  But I'm not afraid of you anymore!
 * Navi Araz: (opens car door) Get in!
 * Behrooz Araz: Go to hell. ("Day 4: 3:00pm-4:00pm")

Background information and notes

 * What happened to Behrooz after being handed over to Marwan's men is never revealed over the course of the season. Two deleted scenes were filmed, both with different outcomes to the storyline, but both were cut for time. Following the season finale, one of the show's producers told TVGuide in its June 12, 2005 issue that Behrooz was rescued shortly before being "shipped off for reeducation and also to make room for parts of Mitch Anderson's crime."
 * There are two deleted scenes included in the Season 4 DVDs that deal with this storyline. In the first, Curtis narrowly saves Behrooz from execution at the hands of Marwan's men. In the second, which branches out from "Day 4: 6:00am-7:00am," Behrooz is led into CTU, and Edgar Stiles comments that he was found at the port "in a shipping container registered to Marwan."
 * Behrooz's abrupt disappearance has been a source of great consternation to many fans, to the point where any character who similarly vanishes without any closure, like John Keeler or Evelyn Martin, is jokingly said to have been "Behroozed."
 * Little is known about the Araz family prior to their immigration to the States. None of the characters speak a language other than English, and a terrorist connected to their cell is at one point said to be "out of Ankara". It could be presumed that they were of Turkish decent, as was Habib Marwan. The name "Behrooz" is of Iranian origin, meaning they could have some Iranian ancestry as well.