2012 in Iran

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See also:	Other events of 2012 Years in Iran

Events in the year 2012 in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Incumbents

• Supreme Leader – Ali Khamenei
• President – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
• Vice President – Mohammad Reza Rahimi
• Speaker of Parliament – Ali Larijani
• Chief Justice – Sadeq Larijani

Events

• January 9 – Iranian authorities sentence Amir Mirza Hekmati, a U.S. citizen of Iranian descent, to death on espionage charges. ^[1]
• March 2 – Iranian parliamentary elections for the 9th Islamic Consultative Assembly were held. ^[2]
• March 12 – Ali Daei, Iran's football legend and the world's all-time leading goalscorer, is rushed to hospital following a serious car accident. ^[3]
• March 26 – Somali pirates hijack an Iranian-owned cargo ship with 23 crew in waters off the Maldives. ^[4]
• April 14 – Iran and world powers, including the United States, Russia, and China, begin talks about Iran's nuclear program. ^[5]
• April 23 – Iran's oil ministry and its National Iranian Oil Company suffers a malware attack by a computer virus. ^{[6] [7]}
• May 1 – Egypt security services foil an alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador in Cairo. ^[8]
• May 5 – Voters in Iran go to the polls for the second round of legislative elections. ^[9]
• May 12 – President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls Israel "nothing more than a mosquito" and downplays the idea of war between the two countries, ahead of talks regarding Iran's nuclear program. ^[10]
• May 15 – Majid Jamali Fashi, convicted of killing Iranian quantum field theorist and elementary-particle physicist Masoud Alimohammadi, is executed. ^[11]
• June 11 – Ali Larijani is sworn in as Chairman of the Parliament of Iran for another term.
• June 24 – The United States admits that it infected Iranian computers with Spyware. ^[12]
• June 28 – Vice President of Iran Mohammad-Reza Rahimi delivers an anti-Semitic speech at a United Nations conference on the illegal drug trade saying that a central Jewish text, the Talmud, was responsible for the spread of illegal drugs around the world; his speech draws condemnation from U.N. and the European Union diplomats. ^{[13] [14]}
• July 2 – Officials in Kenya say that two Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards arrested with explosives planned to attack Israeli, American, British and Saudi Arabian targets inside Kenya. ^{[15] [16]}
• July 4 – Two Iranian suspects held by Kenyan police reportedly confess that they planned to detonate a series of 30 bombs simultaneously across Kenya. ^[17]
• July 17 – United States President Barack Obama announces additional sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program. ^[18]
• August 4 – Iran claims to have successfully test fired a fourth generation Fateh-110 missile. ^[19]
• August 11 – Two earthquakes, the strongest a magnitude 6.4, strike near the northwestern Iranian cities of Tabriz and Ahar, killing at least 250 people and injuring up to 1,800 others.
• August 21 – Iran unveils a new version of a short range surface-to-surface ballistic missile, named the Fateh-110 or Conqueror, and five pieces of military hardware. ^{[20] [21]}
• August 26 – Heads of state meet at the 16th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran, Iran, until August 31. ^{[22] [23] [24]}
• August 30 – The International Atomic Energy Agency releases a report on the Nuclear program of Iran, stating that Iran has doubled its number of centrifuges at the Fordow facility and highlighting concern over the nuclear program. ^[25]
• August 30 – Iran and Egypt describe each other as "strategic allies" at the 16th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Iran.^{[ citation needed ]}
• September 7 – Canada closes its embassy in Iran and orders all Iranian diplomatic staff out of Canada, citing Iran's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Iran's "among the worst" human rights record, its lack of respect for the Vienna conventions, its nuclear program and the security of Canadian diplomatic personnel. It sees Iran as the world's "most significant threat to global peace and security." Minister of foreign affairs Baird says the Canadian government files Iran as a "state sponsor of terrorism" under the Canadian Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act. ^{[26] [27]}
• September 23 – Iran blocks use of the Google search engine, as it prepares to switch its citizens to a domestic internet network. ^[28]
• October 11 – Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah confirms that the drone aircraft shot down over Israel's Negev Desert on 6 October belonged to the organization and was supplied by Iran. ^[29]
• November 9 – Two Iranian Revolutionary Guard fighter jets fire on an unmanned American General Atomics MQ-1 Predator drone in international airspace near Kuwait. ^[30]

Notable deaths

Hassan Kassai

• January 11 – Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, Iranian nuclear scientist. ^[31]
• January 13 – Abdollah Mojtabavi, Iranian wrestler. ^[32]
• March 8 – Simin Daneshvar, Iranian writer and academic ^[33]
• March 18 -Jalal Zolfonun, Iranian setar player and composer^{[ citation needed ]}
• April 5 -Abd al-Rahim Aqiqi Bakhshayishi, religious writer, journalist and translator. ^[34]
• May 6 – Iraj Ghaderi, Iranian film director and actor. ^[35]
• May 23 – Sattareh Farmanfarmaian, Iranian writer and princess. ^[36]
• May 30 – Farideh Mashini, Iranian feminist activist. ^[37]
• June 14 – Hassan Kassai, Iranian musician. ^[38]
• July 12 – Hamid Samandarian, Iranian film and theater director.^{[ citation needed ]}
• July 19 – Mohammad Hassan Ganji, Iranian meteorologist and academic. ^[39]
• October 22 – Ahmad Ghabel, Iranian religious scholar and political dissident. ^[40]
• November 3 – Sattar Beheshti, blogger tortured to death by the Iranian Cyber Police
• November 22 – Fahimeh Rastkar, Iranian actress and dubbing artist.^{[ citation needed ]}
• December 2 – Ehsan Naraghi, Iranian sociologist and writer, Director of UNESCO's Youth Division (1980–1996). ^[41]
• December 3 – Amir Mahmud Anvar Iranian literary academic and poet (born 1945) ^[42]
• December 10 – Khalil Omrani, Iranian poet. ^[43]

• Full date unknown:
  • Daniel Mahgerefteh, a murdered Iranian Jewish man ^[44]

References

1. "Iran sentences US man to death for spying". NBC News . 2012-01-09.
2. Iran starts registering candidates for March parliamentary elections; reformists stay out Archived 2019-01-02 at the Wayback Machine By Associated Press, 24 December 2011
3. "Iran legend Ali Daei injured in car accident". Goal.com.
4. "AFP: Somali pirates hijack Iran cargo ship in Maldives". Archived from the original on May 25, 2012.
5. "At Nuclear Talks, Iran and 6 Nations Agree to Meet Again". The New York Times. 15 April 2012.
6. "Iranian oil terminal 'offline' after 'malware attack'". BBC News. 23 April 2012.
7. "Facing Cyberattack, Iranian Officials Disconnect Some Oil Terminals From Internet". The New York Times. 24 April 2012.
8. "AFP: Iran plot to kill Saudi envoy in Cairo foiled: reports". Archived from the original on May 25, 2012.
9. "Iran holds run-off parliamentary election". Reuters. 4 May 2012.
10. "Iranian president: Israel 'nothing more than a mosquito' to Iran". CNN. 12 May 2012.
11. "Iran hangs 'Israel spy' over nuclear scientist killing". BBC News. 15 May 2012.
12. Ellen Nakashima,Greg Miller (19 June 2012). "U.S., Israel developed Flame computer virus to slow Iranian nuclear efforts, officials say". Washington Post.
13. "Anti Semitic Drug Speech". Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
14. "UN head calls on Iran to refrain from anti-Semitic comments". The Times of Israel.
15. "Officials say Iranians in Kenya planned attacks on Israeli, US, UK, Saudi targets - The Washington Post". The Washington Post . 3 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2012.
16. "Iranian agents planned to bomb Israeli targets, Kenyans say". thespec.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-08. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
17. Cyrus Ombati (4 July 2012). "Standard Digital News – Kenya : Iranians' 30-bomb plot on Kenya". Standard Digital News.
18. "U.S. announces new sanctions against Iran". CNN. Archived from the original on 2012-09-03. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
19. "Iran tests short-range missile with new guidance system – Yahoo! News". Archived from the original on August 7, 2012.
20. "Iran unveils upgraded ballistic missile". BBC News. 21 August 2012.
21. MehrNews.com – Iran, world, political, sport, economic news and headlines Archived August 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
22. "Oman Tribune – the edge of knowledge". omantribune.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-30.
23. "Haneya not to attend NAM Summit in Tehran: Hamas". Xinhua. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014.
24. "NAM Summit Opens With Call To Resist 'Egotistic Interference'". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty.
25. "IAEA: Iran doubles underground nuclear capacity". Ynetnews. Ynetnews.com. 30 August 2012. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
26. "Canada closes embassy in Iran, expels Iranian diplomats – Politics". CBC News. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
27. "Canada Closes Embassy in Iran, Expels Iranian Diplomats from Canada". International.gc.ca. 2013-01-17. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
28. "Iran readies domestic Internet system, blocks Google". Reuters. 23 September 2012.
29. "Drone downed by Israel 'sent by Hezbollah'". Al Jazeera English. 2012-10-11. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
30. Starr, Barbara (2012-11-09). "After attack on U.S. drone, Iran backs right to defend territory". CNN.com. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
31. "Iran car explosion kills nuclear scientist in Tehran". BBC News. 2012-01-11.
32. "تسلیت فدراسیون کشتی/". iawf.ir.
33. ebi amirhosseini. "Simin Daneshvar: Influential author has died". Iranian.com. Archived from the original on 2018-12-25. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
34. "حجت الاسلام عقيقي بخشايشي درگذشت". asriran.com (in Persian). 5 April 2012. Archived from the original on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
35. "ایرج قادری درگذشت". Bartarinha.ir. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
36. "ستّاره فرمانفرماییان درگذشت". Voice of America. 2012-05-23. Retrieved 2012-06-28.
37. "درگذشت فریده ماشینی، عضو جبهه مشارکت و فعال حقوق زنان" (in Persian). rahesabz.net. Archived from the original on April 24, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
38. "حسن کسایی، نوازنده سرشناس نی، درگذشت" (in Persian). BBC Persian. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
39. "پدر علم جغرافیای ایران درگذشت | رادیو زمانه". Radiozamaneh. 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
40. "Prominent Iranian Dissident Cleric Ahmad Ghabel Dies". Radio Free Europe. 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
41. Tabnak (2 December 2012). "Ehsan Naraghi passes away". Tabnak (in Persian). Retrieved 2 December 2012.
42. Hozhabr Kalali, Pourandokht (2013). Yadegarnameh Seyyed Amir Mahmoud Anwarیادگارنامه دکتر سید امیر محمود انوار (in Persian) (first ed.). Tehran: Baz. p. 13-30. Archived from the original on 2022-08-30. Retrieved 2022-08-30.
43. "Iran, world, political, sport, economic news and headlines". MehrNews.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
44. "Iranian Jewish man murdered in Tehran". Archived from the original on 2013-11-06. Retrieved 2013-11-04.