1981 Iranian Prime Minister's office bombing

Last updated
1981 Iranian Prime Minister's office bombing
8shahrivar1360.jpg
The Iranian PM building after the explosion
Location Tehran, Iran
Date30 August 1981 (1981-08-30)
15, [1] 14:45 [2] (+3:30)
TargetIranian officials
Attack type
Bombing
Deaths8
Injured23
Assailants Masoud Keshmiri (agent of MEK)

The office of Mohammad Javad Bahonar, Prime Minister of Iran, was bombed on 30 August 1981 by the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), [3] [4] killing Prime Minister Bahonar, President Mohammad Ali Rajai, and six other Iranian government officials. [5] The briefcase bombing came two months after the Hafte Tir bombing, which killed over seventy senior Iranian officials, including Chief Justice Mohammad Beheshti, then Iran's second-highest official. It is also reported that the director general of the prime minister's administration (as a result of suffocation in the elevator) and an elderly woman bystander outside the building were killed.

Contents

According to sources, nobody "knew exactly who had been in the room at the time of the detonation." Eventually, there were three participants that had been unaccounted for that including Masoud Keshmiri, Rajai, and Bahonar. It was later revealed that both Rajai and Bahonar had died in the explosion. [6] According to author Albert Benliot, Ayatollah Khomeini charged the MEK with responsibility for the bombing, "however, there has been much speculation among academics and observers that these bombings may have actually been planned by senior Islamic Republican Party (IRP) leaders, including later Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, to rid themselves of rivals within the IRP." [7]

Afterward, the interim presidential council announced five national days of mourning, and Iran's Parliament selected Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani as the next prime minister. Parliament held an election on 2 October 1981 to elect Bahonar's successor; [5]

Bombing

Front page of Ettela'at newspaper, reporting the blast. Etelaat-9-shahrivar-60(2).jpg
Front page of Ettela'at newspaper, reporting the blast.
The Iranian Prime Minister's office after the 1981 explosion. The exploded office.jpg
The Iranian Prime Minister's office after the 1981 explosion.

On 30 August 1981 a bomb exploded in the office of Mohammad Javad Bahonar, Prime Minister of Iran, which killed Bahonar, President Mohammad Ali Rajai and some other officials.

According to the survivors, the bomb exploded when one of the victims opened a briefcase brought by Masoud Keshmiri as an "agent of MEK". [8]

The explosion destroyed the first floor. Due to their severe burns, the corpses were not easily identified. Rajai and Bahonar were identified through their teeth. [6] They had won the election with 91 percent of the vote and had been in power for less than four weeks before the assassination. [8] Their funeral was held the next day with nearly 500,000 attendees. [6]

Prominent officials killed

Suspects

Although no group claimed responsibility for the bombing, it was nevertheless attributed to the MEK. [10] Ann K. Reed notes that Western observers believe the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) was "most likely to have been responsible for the bomb blasts of June 28 and August 30." However, Van England notes that "the explosions were set off by insiders – the first by an accomplice working in the offices of the IRP, the second by the guard in charge of security at Prime Minister Bahonar's headquarters." Mangol Bayat also expressed doubts that the MEK would be capable of the attacks "since infiltration of the regime at the very high level would have been necessary." [11] The Islamic Republic of Iran later claimed that the attack was carried out by MEK agent Masoud Keshmiri, secretary of Bahonar's office and of the Supreme National Security Council, [12] who used a fake passport to escape Iran after the attack.

More than twenty suspects were identified in the subsequent investigation, including Masoud Keshmiri, Ali Akbar Tehrani, Mohammad Kazem Peiro Razawi, Khosro Ghanbari Tehrani, Javad Ghadiri, Mohsen Sazgara, Taghi Mohammadi, and Habibollah Dadashi. [13]

Perpetrator

The Islamic Republic of Iran identified Masoud Keshmiri (who had served as Bahonar's office secretary for a year prior to the bombing) as the perpetrator. An official in the Prosecutor General's office said that Keshmiri had concealed his anti-government activities so well that a corpse mistaken for his was buried on 31 August with full honors as a martyr of the Islamic revolution. [5]

Abdol Hossein Daftarian was stuck in the elevator after the explosion, where he suffocated to death. The MEK bought some time for Keshmiri by spreading the rumor that the man found in the elevator was actually him. Although the Iranian authorities arrested and executed numerous MEK agents, [8] Keshmiri fled the country using a fake passport. [9]

Aftermath

Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani elected as prime minister by parliament in 1981 Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani - 1971.jpg
Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani elected as prime minister by parliament in 1981

According to Iran's constitution If President of Iran was unable to perform his/her legal duties due to impeachment, resignation, absence, illness or death, the president's duties will hand over to Prime Minister but in 1981 since Prime Minister Bahonar was also assassinated along with president Rajai, Parliament had to elect new prime minister first. [14] Parliament held an election on 2 October 1981 and elected Mr Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani as Bahonar's successor with 178 votes in favor, 10 votes against and 8 abstentions. Mahdavi Kani introduced a new cabinet, In his cabinet all the positions were similar to the cabinet of Mr Bahoner, only changes were Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Road Transport. [15] Tehran radio also said that the Islamic Republic would "continue the firing squad executions of opponents blamed for assassinating the original inner circle of the Islamic leadership". [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran</span> Political party in Iran

The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO), is an Iranian dissident organization that was previously armed but has now transitioned primarily into a political advocacy group. Its headquarters are currently in Albania. The group's ideology is rooted in "Islam with revolutionary Marxism", but after the Iranian Revolution became about overthrowing the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and installing its own government. At one point the MEK was Iran's "largest and most active armed dissident group", and it is still sometimes presented by Western political backers as a major Iranian opposition group, but it is also deeply unpopular today within Iran, largely due to its siding with Iraq in the Iran–Iraq War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammad-Ali Rajai</span> 2nd President of Iran in 1981

Mohammad-Ali Rajai was an Iranian politician who served as the second president of Iran from 2 August 1981 until his assassination four weeks later. Before his presidency, Rajai had served as prime minister under Abolhassan Banisadr, while concurrently occupying the position of foreign affairs minister from 11 March 1981 to 15 August 1981. He died in a bombing on 30 August 1981 along with then-prime minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammad-Javad Bahonar</span> Iranian Islamic cleric and politician (1933–1981)

Mohammad-Javad Bahonar was a Shia Iranian theologian and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Iran for less than one month in August 1981. Bahonar and other members of Mohammad-Ali Rajai's government were assassinated by Mujahideen-e Khalq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prime Minister of Iran</span> Former political post in Iran

The prime minister of Iran was a political post that had existed in Iran (Persia) during much of the 20th century. It began in 1906 during the Qajar dynasty and into the start of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1923 and into the 1979 Iranian Revolution before being abolished in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interim Government of Iran (1981)</span>

The interim government of the Islamic Republic of Iran was established after the assassination of Mohammad-Ali Rajai (President) and Mohammad Javad Bahonar on 30 August. In accordance with the constitution, a Provisional Presidential Council formed the same day and proposed Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani as prime minister to the Majlis. Majlis voted in favour of him on 2 September. His cabinet also received approval of the Majlis on 3 September. The main responsibility of this government was holding presidential elections. On 13 October, Ali Khamenei officially became president. His prime minister, Mir-Hossein Mousavi received Majlis's approval on 29 October and then the new government replaced Mahdavi-Kani's interim government.

Presidential elections were held in Iran on 2 October 1981, after the assassination of Mohammad-Ali Rajai, the previous President of Iran, during the interim premiership of Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani. It led to the uncontested victory of Ali Khamenei.

Presidential elections were held in Iran on 24 July 1981 after the previous Iranian president, Abolhassan Banisadr, was impeached by the Majlis on 21 June and then sacked by the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, on 22 June. The elections occurred after the Hafte Tir bombing, which killed Mohammad Beheshti and dozens of other Iranian officials on 28 June 1981. This led to the election of Mohammad Ali Rajai, the previous prime minister, winning 13,001,761 votes out of the 14,573,803 votes cast, which was 89% of the votes. The vote turnout was 65.29%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani</span> Iranian Ayatollah (1931–2014)

Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani was an Iranian Shia cleric, writer and conservative and principlist politician who was Prime Minister of Iran from 2 September until 29 October 1981. Before that, he was Minister of Interior in the cabinets of Mohammad-Ali Rajai and Mohammad-Javad Bahonar. He was the leader of Combatant Clergy Association and Chairman of the Assembly of Experts and also founder and president of Imam Sadiq University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic Republican Party</span> 1979–1987 state political party in Iran

The Islamic Republican Party was formed in 1979 to assist the Iranian Revolution and Ayatollah Khomeini in their goal to establish theocracy in Iran. It was disbanded in 1987 due to internal conflicts.

Numerous civilians, including men, women, children, government officials, activists, secular intellectuals and clerics have been victims of assassination, terrorism, or violence against non-combatants, over the course of modern Iranian history. Among the most notable acts of terrorism in Iran in the 20th century have been the 1978 Cinema Rex fire and the 1990s chain murders of Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the Iranian Revolution</span>

This article is a timeline of events relevant to the Islamic Revolution in Iran. For earlier events refer to Pahlavi dynasty and for later ones refer to History of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This article doesn't include the reasons of the events and further information is available in Islamic revolution of Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haft-e Tir bombing</span> 1981 attack in Tehran, Iran, on the Islamic Republican Party headquarters

On 28 June 1981, a powerful bomb went off at the headquarters of the Islamic Republican Party (IRP) in Tehran, while a meeting of party leaders was in progress. Seventy-four leading officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran were killed, including Chief Justice Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, who was the second most powerful figure in the Iranian Revolution. The Iranian government first blamed SAVAK and the Iraqi regime. Two days later, on 30 June, the People's Mujahedin of Iran was accused by Khomeini of being behind the attack. Several non-Iranian sources also believe the bombing was conducted by the People's Mujahedin of Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organizations of the Iranian Revolution</span>

Many organizations, parties and guerrilla groups were involved in the Iranian Revolution. Some were part of Ayatollah Khomeini's network and supported the theocratic Islamic Republic movement, while others did not and were suppressed when Khomeini took power. Some groups were created after the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty and still survive; others helped overthrow the Shah but no longer exist.

Premiership of Mir-Hossein Mousavi were the third and fourth government of Iran after the Iranian Revolution. At that time, Ali Khamenei was the president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Premiership of Mir-Hossein Mousavi (1985–1989)</span>

In August 1981, President Mohammad-Ali Rajai and Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar were assassinated in an explosion. Ali Khamenei was then elected as the third president of Iran in the October 1981 Iranian presidential election. He put forward Ali Akbar Velayati as his prime minister, but the Iranian parliament did not give him the vote of confidence, and he was defeated with a vote of 80 to 74. Subsequently, Ali Khamenei, though he had strong disagreements with Mousavi, as a compromise with the left-leaning parliament, agreed to offer him, Mousavi, for the post of premier. On 28 October, the parliament approved Mousavi with a vote of 115 to 39. Mousavi became the 79th Prime Minister of Iran on 31 October 1981, and remained the prime minister of Iran until 3 August 1989, for eight years.

The Government of Mohammad-Javad Bahonar was the second government of Iran after the Iranian Revolution. During that time, Mohammad-Ali Rajai was president and Mohammad-Javad Bahonar was prime minister.

The following lists events that happened during 1981 in Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masoud Keshmiri</span> Iranian militant and undercover politician

Masoud Keshmiri was an Iranian militant who was the member of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) who infiltrated the Islamic Republican Party (IRP) and came up through the ranks, reaching the position of secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, before planting an incendiary bomb in his briefcase that blew up the Prime Minister's office in 1981. Victims of the explosion were President Mohammad-Ali Rajai and Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar among others.

References

  1. "Shahrivar 8th in the mirror of memories; The hard times of bitter assassinations: Today is the anniversary of the explosion of the Office of the Prime Minister". Farhikhtegan Newspaper (in Persian). Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  2. "The documents of suspects of PM office + Handwriting of the bomber" (in Persian). Fars News Agency. Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  3. Newton, Michael (17 April 2014). Famous Assassinations in World History. ABC-CLIO. p. 27. ISBN   9781610692861. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  4. Rubin, Barry; Colp Rubin, Judith (28 January 2015). Chronologies of Modern Terrorism. Routledge. p. 246. ISBN   9781317474654. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 United Press International (14 September 1981). "Iranian Says Secretary to Premier Hid Fatal Bomb in Teheran Office". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 Muravchik, Joshua (23 July 2013). Trailblazers of the Arab Spring: Voices of Democracy in the Middle East. Encounter Books. ISBN   978-1594036798.
  7. Katzman, Kenneth (2001). "Iran: The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran". In Benliot, Albert V. (ed.). Iran: Outlaw, Outcast, Or Normal Country?. Nova. p. 101. ISBN   978-1-56072-954-9.
  8. 1 2 3 Newton, Michael (17 April 2014). Famous Assassinations in World History: An Encyclopedia [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 77. ISBN   9781610692861 . Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  9. 1 2 "When the secret of prime minister's elevator was decoded". Defa Press. Archived from the original on 19 May 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  10. Ram, Haggay (Summer 1992). "Crushing the Opposition: Adversaries of the Islamic Republic of Iran". Middle East Journal. 46 (3): 426–439. JSTOR   42763892.
  11. Reed, Ann K. (1 January 1981). "Iran's Mujahideen: At the Center of Opposition". Harvard International Review . 4 (3): 10–12. JSTOR   42763892.
  12. "Iran: Secret agent was bomber". The Spokesman-Review . Associated Press. 14 September 1981. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  13. "Unsaid facts about Keshmiri, prime suspect of PM office bombing". Political Studies and Research Institute (in Persian). Archived from the original on 4 February 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  14. "خلأ قدرت پس از ترور شهید رجایی چگونه مدیریت شد؟ +سند". مشرق نیوز (in Persian). 2017-09-02. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  15. "خلأ قدرت پس از ترور شهید رجایی چگونه مدیریت شد؟ +سند". مشرق نیوز (in Persian). 2017-09-02. Retrieved 2024-07-21.