Fe:ZnSe nanopowders were synthesized via the co-precipitation method for fabricating transparent ceramics. FexZn1-xSe (0.00 <= x <= 0.06) powders that were calcined at 400 degrees C yielded a single-phased cubic ZnSe, but when the calcination temperature was raised to 500-600 degrees C, ZnO phase was created. Introduction of pressure could avoid appearance of ZnO. XRD Scherrer analysis revealed a monotonic increase in lattice parameter with increasing Fe2+ content. The average powder particle size increased with calcination temperature from several nanometers at 80 degrees C to hundreds of nanometers at 600 degrees C. Attempts to pressurelessly sinter ZnSe powders resulted in the partial decomposition of ZnSe, thus spark plasma sintering was employed to sinter Fe0.01Zn0.99Se transparent ceramics with pure ZnSe phase composition, which could be well sintered at 950 degrees C for 30 minutes under an applied pressure of 60 MPa. SEM observations of the polished and thermally etched microstructure of the ceramic revealed a dense microstructure with average grain size of approximately 35 mu m, and a few micropores were observed at the grain boundaries. The transparent ceramic exhibited good transmittance in the mid-far infrared range, with the highest transmittance 57% at 12 mu m. This paper confirmed the scheme of synthesis of Fe:ZnSe nanopowders by liquid-phase co-precipitation method for sintering transparent ceramics.