1994 Imam Reza shrine bomb explosion

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1994 Imam Reza shrine bomb explosion
Imam Reza shrine bomb explosion - 20 June 1994.jpg
A police officer carrying body of a child victim after explosion
Date20 June 1994 (1994-06-20) (Ashura 1415 AH)
Location Mashhad, Iran
Casualties
25 (26 [1] ) dead
70 (over 200 [1] ) injured
Suspects Ramzi Yousef, Abdul Shakoor, MEK, Al-haraka al-islamiya al-iraniya (Sunni group claiming responsibility), [2]

A bomb explosion occurred at the shrine of Ali al-Ridha, the eighth Imam of Shia, on 20 June 1994 in a crowded prayer hall in Mashhad, Iran. To maximize the amount of casualties, the explosion took place on Ashura, one of the holiest days for Shia muslims, [3] when hundreds of pilgrims had gathered to commemorate the death of their third Imam, Husayn ibn Ali. [4]

Bomb explosive weapon

A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanical stress, the impact and penetration of pressure-driven projectiles, pressure damage, and explosion-generated effects. Bombs have been utilized since the 11th century starting in East Asia.

Imam Reza shrine Iranian national heritage site

The Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Iran is a complex which contains the mausoleum of Imam Reza, the eighth Imam of Twelver Shiites. It is the largest mosque in the world by area. Also contained within the complex are the Goharshad Mosque, a museum, a library, four seminaries, a cemetery, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, a dining hall for pilgrims, vast prayer halls, and other buildings.

Ali al-Ridha Eighth of the Twelve Shia Imams

'Alī ibn Mūsā ar-Riḍā, also called Abu al-Hasan, Ali al-Reza or in Iran (Persia) as Imam Reza, was a descendant of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, and the eighth Shi'ite Imam, after his father Musa al-Kadhim, and before his son Muhammad al-Jawad. He was an Imam of knowledge according to the Zaydi (Fiver) Shia school and Sufis. He lived in a period when Abbasid caliphs were facing numerous difficulties, the most important of which was Shia revolts. The Caliph Al-Ma'mun sought out a remedy for this problem by appointing Al-Ridha as his successor, through whom he could be involved in worldly affairs. However, according to the Shia view, when Al-Ma'mun saw that the Imam gained even more popularity, he decided to correct his mistake by poisoning him. The Imam was buried at the Imam Reza shrine in a village in Khorasan, which afterwards gained the name Mashhad, meaning the place of martyrdom.

Contents

The attack left at least 25 dead and at least 70 injured. [3] [lower-alpha 1] The bomb was equivalent to 10 pounds of TNT, according to experts. [6] Although a Sunni group claimed responsibility, the Iranian government laid the blame on the People's Mujahedin of Iran, and others have accused a Pakistani militant.

TNT Chemical compound

Trinitrotoluene (; TNT), or more specifically 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. This yellow solid is sometimes used as a reagent in chemical synthesis, but it is best known as an explosive material with convenient handling properties. The explosive yield of TNT is considered to be the standard measure of bombs and the power of explosives. In chemistry, TNT is used to generate charge transfer salts.

Sunni Islam denomination of Islam

Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam, followed by 75–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word sunnah, referring to the behaviour of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagreement over the succession to Muhammad and subsequently acquired broader political significance, as well as theological and juridical dimensions.

Peoples Mujahedin of Iran Iranian political party

The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran or the Mojahedin-e Khalq is an Iranian political–militant organization based on Islamic and socialist ideology and advocates overthrowing the Islamic Republic of Iran leadership and installing its own government. It was the "first Iranian organization to develop systematically a modern revolutionary interpretation of Islam – an interpretation that deferred sharply from both the old conservative Islam of the traditional clergy and the new populist version formulated in the 1970s by Ayatollah Khomeini and his government". The MEK is considered the Islamic Republic of Iran's biggest and most active political opposition group.

Bombing

On 20 June, the shrine was crowded with self-flagellating mourners, celebrating Ashura and commemorating the death of Husayn ibn Ali. At 14:26, a bomb exploded in a crowded prayer hall in the women's section of the shrine. [4] The Independent described it as "the first attack on such a holy place" or "the worst terrorist atrocity in Iran since 1981". [3] [6] In protest, people gathered outside the mosque and hospitals. [4]

Self-flagellation is the act of hitting oneself with a whip as part of a religious ritual.

Husayn ibn Ali Grandson of Muhammad, son of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatimah bint Muhammad, and third Shia Imam

Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abi Talib was a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a son of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muhammad's daughter Fatimah. He is an important figure in Islam as he was a member of the Bayt (Household) of Muhammad and the Ahl al-Kisā', as well as the third Shia Imam.

Damage included the destruction of one wall and the prayer hall's dome, and the breaking of crystal chandeliers. [4]

Suspects

The Iranian government blamed the Iraqi-backed People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK). [3] According to IRNA, the official Iranian news agency, a caller claimed responsibility for the event in the name of MEK. However, MEK condemned the attack. [4] Ramzi Yousef, a member of al-Qaeda who was responsible for several terrorist attacks worldwide, was also accused of being responsible, supposedly having been hired by MEK. [7] [8] [9] According to an anonymous US official, Yousef built the bomb and MEK agents placed it in the shrine. [10] According to the analysts, he was suspected of having connections with MEK because of his Iraqi background. [11] However, Raymond Tanter, a member of the United States National Security Council under President Ronald Reagan, believes that MEK was not involved, and that a Pakistani militant connected to Yousef was the perpetrator. [9] News, A Pakistani daily newspaper, identified that person to be Abdul Shakoor, a young religious radical living in Lyari in Karachi. [11]

Ramzi Yousef Terrorist convicted of 1993 World Trade Center bombing

Ramzi Yousef is a convicted and incarcerated international terrorist who was one of the main perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the bombing of Philippine Airlines Flight 434, and was a co-conspirator in the Bojinka plot. In 1995, he was arrested by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and U.S. Diplomatic Security Service at a guest house in Islamabad, Pakistan while trying to set a bomb in a baby doll, then extradited to the United States.

Al-Qaeda Salafi jihadist organization

Al-Qaeda is a militant Sunni Islamist multi-national organization founded in 1988 by Osama bin Laden, Abdullah Azzam, and several other Arab volunteers during the Soviet–Afghan War.

United States National Security Council U.S. federal executive national security and intelligence forum

The White House National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military matters, and foreign policy matters with senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Since its inception under Harry S. Truman, the function of the Council has been to advise and assist the President on national security and foreign policies. The Council also serves as the President's principal arm for coordinating these policies among various government agencies. The Council has counterparts in the national security councils of many other nations.

A month after the attack, a Sunni group calling itself “al-haraka al-islamiya al-iraniya” claimed responsibility for the attack. Despite this, the Iranian government continued to hold the MEK responsible. [2] According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran, in a trial in November 1999, Interior Minister Abdollah Nouri claimed it was a false flag attack by the Iranian regime to blame MEK. [12] [13]

National Council of Resistance of Iran The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), is a broad coalition of democratic Iranian organizations, groups and personalities, aiming to establish a democratic and non-nuclear republic in Iran, based on the separation of religion and state.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran is an Iranian political organization based in France. The organization has appearance of a broad-based coalition; however many analysts consider NCRI and the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) to be synonymous, taking the former to be an umbrella organization or alias for the latter, and recognize NCRI as an only "nominally independent" political wing or front for MEK. Both organizations are considered to be led by Massoud Rajavi and his wife Maryam Rajavi.

Abdollah Nouri Iranian politician

Abdollah Noori is an Iranian cleric and reformist politician. Despite his "long history of service to the Islamic Republic," he became the most senior Islamic politician to be sentenced to prison since the Iranian Revolution when he was sentenced to five years in prison for political and religious dissent in 1999. He has been called the "bête noire" of Islamic conservatives in Iran.

False flag Covert operation designed to deceive

A false flag is a covert operation designed to deceive; the deception creates the appearance of a particular party, group, or nation being responsible for some activity, disguising the actual source of responsibility.

Aftermath

Strict security measures were applied after this attack, and visitors are now searched before entering the shrine. [14] The event caused further political unrest in Iran. [15] [ not in citation given ]

Portrayals

A 2013 play entitled "the picture of Aziz's event" narrated the life of a woman who was going to visit Imam Reza shrine on the day of the bombing. [16]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Other estimates range from 200 to nearly 300. [5] [6] [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Staff writers. "Context of 'June 20, 1994: Ramzi Yousef Bombs Iranian Shrine'". www.historycommons.org. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  2. 1 2 Buchta, Wilfried (2000), Who rules Iran?: the structure of power in the Islamic Republic, Washington DC: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, p. 112-114, ISBN   978-0-944029-39-8
  3. 1 2 3 4 Haeri, Safa (21 June 1994). "Bomb kills 25 and injures 70 at Iran's holiest shrine". The Independent. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Staff writers (21 June 1994). "Bomb Kills 25 At Holy Place In Iranian City". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  5. ↑ Atkins, Stephen E. (2 June 2011). The 9/11 Encyclopedia: Second Edition. ABC-CLIO. ISBN   9781598849219 . Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 "Bomb explosion in Imam Reza Holy Shrine". Islamic Revolution Document Center. 1994. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  7. ↑ Warner, Judith Ann (2010). U.S. Border Security: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO. ISBN   9781598844078 . Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  8. ↑ Kushner, Harvey W. (4 December 2002). Encyclopedia of Terrorism. SAGE Publications. ISBN   9781452265506 . Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  9. 1 2 Staff (15 February 2012). "Iran Policy Committee: NBC Deceived By Iran's Intelligence Ministry And Anonymous U.S. Sources". The Street. Archived from the original on 2016-10-13. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  10. ↑ Brian Williams. "Israel teams with terror group to kill Iran's nuclear scientists, U.S. officials tell NBC News". Rock Center. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  11. 1 2 Raman, B. (1 July 2002). "Sipah-E-Sahaba Pakistan, Lashhar-E-Jhangvi, Bin Laden & Ramzi Yousef". South Asia Analysis Group. Archived from the original on 19 March 2009. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  12. ↑ Jafarzadeh, Alireza (2008). The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 205–6. ISBN   978-0230601284.
  13. ↑ "Response from the National Council of Resistance of Iran". NBC News.
  14. ↑ Harris, Mark Edward (2 March 2012). Inside Iran. Chronicle Books. p. 129. ISBN   9781452113623 . Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  15. ↑ Cronin, Stephanie (30 October 2003). The Middle East and North Africa 2004. Regional Surveys of the World (50th ed.). Europa Publications. p. 376. ISBN   9781857431841 . Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  16. ↑ "نگاهی متفاوت به شهدای بمب‌گذاری در حرم مطهر امام رضا(ع)". Tasnim news agency. Retrieved 12 February 2013.

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