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Mykonos restaurant assassinations

SOLVED1992Mykonos Greek restaurant, Prager Strasse, Berlin3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
Illustrative

On the night of 17 September 1992, four men were shot at the Mykonos Greek restaurant on Prager Strasse in Berlin, Germany. The victims were the Iranian-Kurdish opposition figures Sadegh Sharafkandi, Fattah Abdoli and Homayoun Ardalan, together with their translator, Nouri Dehkordi. According to contemporaneous reporting, the attack took place at about 11 p.m.; three of the victims died at the scene and the fourth died later in hospital. The killings occurred during the KDPI insurgency of 1989-1996, a period of Kurdish separatist conflict in Iran, and the men were associated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran.

The restaurant had also been the planned venue for a meeting involving senior figures from the Swedish Social Democratic Party, among them a former prime minister of Sweden. The Swedish party members had left Berlin for Sweden earlier the same day after a telephone call urged the former prime minister's immediate return, and they were not present when the shooting took place. Three of the victims, Sharafkandi, Abdoli and Ardalan, were later buried at the Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

A trial opened before the Berlin court in October 1993. The court found several defendants guilty of the murders, including Kazem Darabi, an Iranian who worked as a grocer in Berlin and was described as an employee of Iran's intelligence service; Abdolraham Banihashemi, identified as an Iranian intelligence officer; and Abbas Hossein Rhayel, a Lebanese national. Those defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment. Two further Lebanese nationals, Youssef Amin and Mohamed Atris, were convicted as accessories to murder.

During the proceedings, a former president of Iran who had left the country in 1981 testified that the killings had been ordered at the highest levels of the Iranian state. In its ruling of 10 April 1997, the court concluded that the assassination had been ordered by Iran's intelligence minister, Ali Fallahian, and issued an international arrest warrant for him, adding that the operation had been carried out with the knowledge of Iran's most senior political leadership. The finding prompted a diplomatic crisis between Iran and several European governments that continued until November 1997. Despite international and domestic protests, Darabi and Rhayel were released from prison and deported to their home countries on 10 December 2007. The events and the subsequent trial were later recounted in a 2011 non-fiction book by Roya Hakakian, Assassins of the Turquoise Palace.

Key facts

Victims
Nouri Dehkordi, Homayoun Ardalan, Sadegh Sharafkandi, Fattah Abdoli
Date
1992
Location
Mykonos Greek restaurant, Prager Strasse, Berlin
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 1992-09-17

    Sadegh Sharafkandi, Fattah Abdoli, Homayoun Ardalan and Nouri Dehkordi were shot at the Mykonos restaurant on Prager Strasse in Berlin; three died at the scene and the fourth died in hospital.

  2. 1993-10

    The trial of the suspects opened before the Berlin court.

  3. 1997-04-10

    The court ruled that the assassination had been ordered by Iran's intelligence minister and issued an international arrest warrant for him.

  4. 1997-11

    The diplomatic crisis between Iran and several European governments prompted by the ruling continued until this point.

  5. 2007-12-10

    Kazem Darabi and Abbas Hossein Rhayel were released from prison and deported to their home countries.

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People

  • Youssef Amin

    CONVICTED

    Lebanese national convicted as an accessory to murder.

  • Nouri Dehkordi

    VICTIM

    Translator for the Iranian-Kurdish delegation, killed in the attack.

  • Mohamed Atris

    CONVICTED

    Lebanese national convicted as an accessory to murder.

  • Ali Fallahian

    CHARGED

    Iranian intelligence minister; the Berlin court issued an international arrest warrant for him in its 10 April 1997 ruling after finding he had ordered the assassination.

  • Homayoun Ardalan

    VICTIM

    Iranian-Kurdish opposition figure killed in the attack.

  • Kazem Darabi

    CONVICTED

    Iranian described as an intelligence-service employee who worked as a grocer in Berlin; convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment; released and deported on 10 December 2007.

  • Sadegh Sharafkandi

    VICTIM

    Iranian-Kurdish opposition leader killed in the attack.

  • Abdolraham Banihashemi

    CONVICTED

    Identified as an Iranian intelligence officer; found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

  • Abbas Hossein Rhayel

    CONVICTED

    Lebanese national convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment; released and deported on 10 December 2007.

  • Fattah Abdoli

    VICTIM

    Iranian-Kurdish opposition figure killed in the attack.

Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.

Places

Mykonos Greek restaurant, Prager Strasse, Berlin

52.4947, 13.3342

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
Three Iranian-Kurdish opposition figures and their translator were shot dead at a Berlin restaurant in 1992, and a German court later convicted several men and found the killings had been ordered by Iranian state officials.
Where did the crime happen?
Mykonos Greek restaurant, Prager Strasse, Berlin.
Who was convicted?
Youssef Amin (Lebanese national convicted as an accessory to murder.), Mohamed Atris (Lebanese national convicted as an accessory to murder.), Kazem Darabi (Iranian described as an intelligence-service employee who worked as a grocer in Berlin; convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment; released and deported on 10 December 2007.), Abdolraham Banihashemi (Identified as an Iranian intelligence officer; found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.), and Abbas Hossein Rhayel (Lebanese national convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment; released and deported on 10 December 2007.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved. Last verified July 2026.
More cases in Germany

Sources

  1. ENCYCLOPEDICMykonos restaurant assassinationsWikipedia · 2026-07-05
  2. PRESSContemporaneous news coverage of the Mykonos restaurant assassinationsAgence France-Presse · 2026-07-05
  3. PRESSDer Spiegel coverage of the Mykonos restaurant assassinations caseDer Spiegel · 2026-07-05

Record history

First published
JUL 06, 2026
Last verified against sources
JUL 06, 2026