Cold case · 1988
Also known as Serial murders of Iranian dissidents · Iran's chain murders
The short answer
Between 1988 and 1998, more than 80 Iranian writers, translators, political activists and ordinary citizens critical of the Islamic Republic were killed or disappeared in a pattern of car crashes, stabbings, staged robberies and lethal injections, later attributed to rogue elements within Iran's Intelligence Ministry.
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Suggest coverage for Chain murders of IranBetween 1988 and 1998, a series of murders and disappearances targeted Iranian dissident intellectuals — writers, translators, poets, political activists and others critical of the Islamic Republic system. Victims were killed by varied methods including staged car crashes, stabbings, shootings disguised as robberies, and potassium injections intended to simulate cardiac arrest. The pattern became widely recognized only in late 1998, after the murders of Dariush Forouhar, secretary general of the opposition Nation of Iran Party, and his wife Parvaneh Eskandari Forouhar, who were stabbed to death in their south Tehran home on 22 November 1998. Within weeks, writers Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh disappeared and were found dead, apparently strangled, and translator Majid Sharif was found dead by a Tehran roadside, officially attributed to heart failure.
Following public outcry, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denied government responsibility and blamed unspecified foreign enemies. In mid-1999, Iranian prosecutors announced that Saeed Emami, a deputy security official in the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), had led "rogue elements" responsible for the killings. Emami reportedly died by suicide in prison before his arrest was publicly disclosed six months later, on 3 June 1999. Colleagues including Mehrdad Alikhani, Mostafa Kazemi and Khosro Basati were also arrested. In a trial described by victims' families and international human rights organizations as a sham, three Intelligence Ministry agents were sentenced to death and twelve others to prison terms in a December 2000–January 2001 proceeding for the murders of two of the victims; the identities of those tried were kept a state secret and no photographs were published.
Investigative journalists Akbar Ganji and Emadeddin Baghi pursued reporting that implicated senior officials beyond the convicted agents; Ganji publicly named former Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahian as the "Master Key" behind the killings and alleged clerical involvement, claims rejected by government officials. Ganji was subsequently imprisoned for years on charges related to classified documents and propaganda against the state; Baghi also served a prison term. Saeed Hajjarian, a reformist newspaper editor believed to have played a key role in exposing the killings, was shot in the head on 12 March 2000 and left permanently paralyzed.
The full scope of responsibility for the chain murders remains publicly unresolved.
Kazem Sami, Iran's first post-revolutionary Health Minister, is stabbed to death by an assailant posing as a patient at his Tehran clinic; regarded as among the earliest chain murders.
Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou and his assistant Abdullah Ghaderi Azar are murdered in Vienna during negotiations with Iranian government representatives.
Former Prime Minister Shapour Bakhtiar and his secretary Soroush Katibeh are stabbed to death in France, reportedly by Islamic Republic agents.
Sadegh Sharafkandi and three other Kurdish opposition figures are killed in the Mykonos restaurant assassinations in Berlin.
Body of Mehdi Dibaj, a Christian convert previously convicted of apostasy, is found after his abduction.
Writer and translator Ahmad Mir Alaei dies in Isfahan under suspicious circumstances officially attributed to cardiac arrest.
An attempt is made to steer a bus carrying 21 writers off a cliff near the Heyran Pass in northern Iran; passengers intervene and survive.
Editor Ebrahim Zalzadeh's body is found stabbed to death after he went missing.
Teacher and poet Hamid Hajizadeh and his 9-year-old son are found stabbed to death in Kerman.
Body of translator and journalist Majid Sharif is found beside a Tehran road; official cause of death given as heart failure.
Bodies of Dariush Forouhar and his wife Parvaneh Eskandari Forouhar are found stabbed to death in their south Tehran home, an event that brings the pattern of chain murders to public attention.
Writer Mohammad Mokhtari disappears; his body is identified about a week later.
Author and translator Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh disappears; his body is discovered four days later, apparently strangled.
Fifty writers publicly call on President Mohammad Khatami to find those responsible for the killings.
A group calling itself devotees of Mostafa Navvab issues a statement in Tehran claiming responsibility for at least some of the killings.
Iran's Ministry of Information issues a press release stating that rogue staff within the ministry committed the murders.
Saeed Emami's arrest and reported prison suicide are publicly disclosed, six months after they reportedly occurred.
Newspaper editor Saeed Hajjarian, believed to have played a key role in uncovering the killings, is shot in the head and left paralyzed.
Journalist Akbar Ganji publicly identifies former Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahian as the 'Master Key' behind the chain murders.
Three Intelligence Ministry agents are sentenced to death and twelve others to prison terms in a trial for the murders of two of the victims, in proceedings criticized as a sham by victims' families and human rights organizations.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
Former supporter of Mohammad Mosaddegh and National Front member; stabbed to death in France in 1991.[3]
Kurdish opposition figure; murdered in Vienna in July 1989 during negotiations with Iranian government representatives.[3]
Assistant to Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou; murdered alongside him in Vienna in July 1989.[3]
Writer and translator; died in Isfahan in October 1995 under suspicious circumstances officially attributed to cardiac arrest.[3]
Scholar of ancient Iranian literature and culture; found dead in January 1997.[3]
Writer, poet and journalist; imprisoned in 1994 and died shortly after in prison, reportedly from a potassium suppository.[3]
Secretary general of the opposition Nation of Iran Party; stabbed to death with his wife in their Tehran home in November 1998.[3]
Editor and publishing house director; found stabbed to death in March 1997 after going missing.[3]
Singer, writer and political opposition figure murdered in Bonn, Germany; case remains unsolved.[3]
Iran's first post-revolutionary Health Minister; stabbed to death at his Tehran clinic in November 1988, regarded as an early chain murder victim.[3]
Translator and journalist; found dead beside a Tehran road in November 1998, officially attributed to cardiac arrest.[3]
Christian convert previously convicted of apostasy; abducted and found dead in July 1994.[3]
Author and translator; disappeared and was found strangled to death in December 1998.[3]
Writer who supported freedom of speech and the press; disappeared and was found dead by apparent strangulation in December 1998.[3]
Political activist; stabbed 24–25 times and killed alongside her husband in their Tehran home in November 1998.[3]
Kurdish opposition leader killed in the 1992 Mykonos restaurant assassinations in Berlin.[3]
Reformist newspaper editor believed to have played a key role in exposing the chain murders; shot in the head on 12 March 2000 and left permanently paralyzed.[3]
Former Prime Minister of Iran; stabbed to death in France in 1991, reportedly by Islamic Republic agents.[3]
Secretary to Shapour Bakhtiar; killed alongside Bakhtiar in France in 1991.[3]
Defendant who admitted murdering Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh, stating he acted under orders from Mostafa Kazemi and Mehrdad Alikhani.[3]
Convicted in 2001 by Iran's Judicial Organization of the Armed Forces (military court) in the chain murders case and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment (also reported in some sources as "Khosrow Barati").[3]
Convicted in 2001 by Iran's Judicial Organization of the Armed Forces (military court) in the chain murders case and sentenced to four consecutive life terms.[3]
Convicted in 2001 by Iran's Judicial Organization of the Armed Forces (military court) in the chain murders case and sentenced to four consecutive life terms.[3]
From the record
Coverage is not a source: every fact in this file rests on the records below.
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UNSOLVEDListenIslamic Republican Party headquarters, Tehran, Iran · 1980s
A bomb detonated at the Islamic Republican Party headquarters in Tehran on 28 June 1981, killing 74 senior Iranian officials including Chief Justice Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, during a period of intense political violence following the Iranian Revolution.
UNSOLVEDListenIran (nationwide, including Tehran) · 1980s
Between June 1981 and March 1982, the Islamic Republic of Iran carried out a state-sponsored campaign of mass arrests, torture, and executions targeting political and religious opponents, with a UN Special Rapporteur later characterizing the atrocities as genocide and crimes against humanity.
UNSOLVEDListenTehran, Iran · 1990s
Ali Sayyad Shirazi, deputy chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, was fatally shot outside his Tehran home on 10 April 1999 by an assailant disguised as a street sweeper; the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) claimed responsibility.
Credit: Jgb23CC BY-SA 4.0SourceSOLVEDListenBlacktown / Prospect, New South Wales, Australia · 1986
Anita Cobby, a 26-year-old nurse, was abducted while walking home from Blacktown railway station in Sydney on 2 February 1986, then raped, tortured and murdered by five men. Her body was found two days later; all five perpetrators were convicted in 1987 and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
Credit: D4444n at en.wikipediaCC BY-SA 3.0SourceSOLVEDListenGrand Hotel, Brighton, England · 1984
On 12 October 1984 the IRA detonated a long-delay bomb at the Grand Hotel in Brighton in an attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet during the Conservative Party Conference. Five people were killed and more than thirty injured; Thatcher was uninjured. IRA member Patrick Magee was convicted in 1986 and sentenced to eight concurrent life terms.
Credit: English WikipediaEditorial useSourceSOLVEDListenMercy Road offramp, Interstate 15, San Diego County, California · 1986
Cara Knott, a 20-year-old San Diego State University student, disappeared on December 27, 1986, while driving home from her boyfriend's house. Her body was found the next day below a bridge near an isolated freeway offramp. California Highway Patrol officer Craig Alan Peyer was convicted of her murder in 1988 after a second trial.
