Assassination of Ali Sayyad Shirazi

Last updated
Assassination of Ali Sayyad Shirazi
General Shirazi.jpg
Ali Sayyad Shirazi
Location Tehran, Iran
DateApril 10, 1999;25 years ago (1999-04-10)
6:45 a.m. local time
Target Ali Sayyad Shirazi
Attack type
 Assassination by gunshot
DeathsAli Sayyad Shirazi
Perpetrator Mojahedin-e Khalq [1] (claimed responsibility) [2]

On 10 April 1999, 6:45 a.m local time, Ali Sayyad Shirazi, the deputy chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, was assassinated while leaving his home for work. [3] He was killed by an Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) assailant, an Iranian opposition group, who was disguised as a street cleaner and handed Shirazi a letter just before shooting him. [3]

Contents

Background

There had been several attacks on senior officials in Iran in the months before Sayyad Shirazi's assassination, among them a senior judge, Ali Razini, the head of Iran's largest charity organisation, and Mohsen Rafighdoost, who were injured during separate assassination attempts. [4] According to a spokesman for Mojahedin-e Khalq, an Iranian opposition group which advocates the end of Iran's clerical regime, [1] several of the group's units had carried out the killings in northern Tehran. [3] Mojahedin-e Khalq claimed the responsibility for the assassination of Asadollah Lajevardi, a former Iranian chief prosecutor and head of Iran's Prisons Organization, who was assassinated on 23 August 1998. [1]

Ali Sayyad Shirazi had personally commanded several of Iran's major offensives in the Iran–Iraq War, earning him the nickname "Iron Man". [4]

Assassination

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei - Funeral of Ali Sayad Shirazi (2).jpg
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei showing respect to Sayyad Shirazi's coffin
Funeral of General Sayyad Shirazi.jpg
Funeral of Sayyad Shirazi in Tehran

Ali Sayyad Shirazi was fatally shot by an unknown assailant while leaving home for work. He was taken to Farhang hospital where he was pronounced dead at 54. [5] The assailant was disguised as a municipality street sweeper. [6] According to witnesses, Sayyad Shirazi received three bullets. [5] His son, Mahdi, who was present at the assassination scene, described the incident: [7]

" On the terror day, me and my brother were ready for going to school and our father were supposed to take us there...I opened the parking door and my father drove the car out of the parking lot at 6:30 a.m and waited for my brother to join us. I was closing the parking door when I witnessed a masked man wearing the orange clothes of the municipality street sweepers approach my father while sweeping the street and hand a letter to him. When my father began reading the letter, the guy pulled out the gun he was hiding under his clothes and fired four bullets at my father's head. The assassin then ran away to the alley located before ours; then I heard a motorbike, hence he was not alone most probably."

Shirazi was assassinated in retribution for his role in Operation Mersad during the Iran-Iraq War, where the MEK forces were defeated by Iranian forces under his command. [6] According to Rahim Safavi, commenting 11 years after Sayyad Shirazi's death, the assassination operation was allegedly carried out at Saddam Hussein's order. [8]

A MEK spokesman said that Shirazi had been targeted because for "purging and executing military personnel and for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of child soldiers during the Iran-Iraq War, when he commanded Iran's ground forces." [9]

Perpetrator

Shahin Gobadi, the spokesman for MEK in Paris, told the Associated Press in Cairo via a telephone call that "the group's units inside Iran were responsible for the killing." [1] Zahra Ghaemi was described by the Iranian media as being in the charge of the assassination team. [10]

Aftermath

Shirazi's funeral was held the day after his assassination. Iranian supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was present at Shirazi's funeral. [8] According to Shirazi's son, Mahdi, the assassination file was being prosecuted by a court in France, and he was summoned in 2009 by the court to detail the incident. [11]

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 group. Its headquarters are currently in Albania. The group's ideology is rooted in "Islam with revolutionary Marxism", and offered a revolutionary reinterpretation of Shia Islam influenced by the writings of Ali Shariati. After the Iranian Revolution, the MEK opposed the new theocratic Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, seeking to replace it with 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. It is also sometimes presented as deeply unpopular today within Iran, largely due to its siding with Iraq in the Iran–Iraq War, while the group's representatives contend that their organization had few choices but to stay in Iraq if it wished to have any possibility of overthrowing the Iranian clerical regime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Council of Resistance of Iran</span> Political alliance aiming to establish a democratic, secular Iranian republic

The National Council of Resistance of Iran is an Iranian political organization based in France and Albania and was founded by Massoud Rajavi and Abolhassan Banisadr. The organization is a political coalition calling to overthrow the Islamic Republic of Iran. The coalition is made up of different Iranian dissident groups, with its main member being the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK). It is currently led by Maryam Rajavi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryam Rajavi</span> Iranian opposition leader (born 1953)

Maryam Rajavi is an Iranian dissident politician and the leader of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), an organization advocating the overthrow of the Iranian government, and president-elect of its National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). She is married to Massoud Rajavi, who is the co-leader of MEK.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massoud Rajavi</span> Iranian political activist (born 1948)

Massoud Rajavi was an Iranian politician and revolutionary who became the leader of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) in 1979. After leaving Iran in 1981, he resided in France and Iraq. He went missing shortly before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, leaving his then wife and co-leader Maryam Rajavi as the public face of the MEK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Mersad</span> Iranian military operation in the Iran–Iraq War

Operation Forough Javidan and Operation Mersad were among the last major military operations of the Iran–Iraq War.

Camp Ashraf or Ashraf City was a camp in Iraq's Diyala Governorate, having the character of a small city with all basic infrastructure, and headquarters of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The population used to be around 3,400 in 2012, but in 2013 nearly all were relocated to Camp Liberty near Baghdad International Airport after pressure by then-prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali Sayad Shirazi</span> Iranian military general (1944–1999)

Ali Sayad Shirazi was an Iranian military officer. He served as commander of the Iranian Ground Forces during the Iran–Iraq War and was a key military figure during the war. He was assassinated by Mojahedin-e Khalq in 1999 while serving as the deputy chief of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff.

<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">Organization of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class</span> Political faction in Iran (1975–1983)

The Organization of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class, or simply Struggle, also known by the earlier name Marxist Mojahedin, was a splinter group from the People's Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sayyad Expressway</span> Expressway in Tehran, Iran

Sayyad Expressway is an expressway in Tehran. It starts from Babayi Expressway and ends in Sabalan Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sayyad Shirazi Expressway</span>

Sayyad Shirazi Expressway is an expressway in eastern Isfahan, Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sayyad-e-Shirazi Metro Station (Mashhad Metro)</span> Mashhad Metro station

Sayyad-e Shirazi Metro Station is a station of Mashhad Metro Line 1. The station opened on 10 October 2011. It is located on Vakilabad Expressway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1981 Iranian Prime Minister's office bombing</span> Assassination bombing of Iranian leaders

The office of Mohammad Javad Bahonar, Prime Minister of Iran, was bombed on 30 August 1981 by the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), killing Prime Minister Bahonar, President Mohammad Ali Rajai, and six other Iranian government officials. 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 and an elderly woman bystander outside the building were killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attempted assassination of Ali Khamenei</span> 1981 assassination attempt by MEK members

On 27 June 1981 in the Abuzar Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Ali Khamenei was injured after he gave a speech for prayers, when a bomb placed on the tape recorder in front of him exploded, damaging his arm, vocal cords and lungs.

Lt. Colonel Lewis Lee Hawkins was a United States military aide to Iran who was assassinated. Vahid Afrakhteh, a member of the Mojahedin M.L. (Marxist–Leninist) and later a founding member of Peykar, was captured and confessed to the assassination. Some sources attribute the assassination to the People's Mujahedin of Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assassination of Paul R. Shaffer and John H. Turner</span> 1975 murders in Tehran, Iran

Colonel Paul R. Shaffer (1930–1975) was a United States military aide to Iran who served as an air force pilot in both Korea and Vietnam. In 1975, he was assassinated along with Lieutenant Colonel Jack H. Turner. Vahid Afrakhteh, a founding member of Peykar, confessed to the killing and later was executed. Nevertheless, some sources have said the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) the group which Vahid Afrakhteh and Peykar tried to eliminate was responsible.

Operation Shining Sun, also known as Operation Sunshine or Operation Aftab, was the first major military operation of the National Liberation Army of Iran, the militant arm of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization. The goal of the leftist organization was to overthrow the Khomeini regime.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Army General is Assassinated; Opposition Group Claims Credit". chicagotribune.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  2. ↑ "Global Terrorism Database [Data file]". National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism . 1999-04-10. 200003130001. Archived from the original on 2013-12-22. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
  3. 1 2 3 "Iranian General Is Assassinated in Teheran". The New York Times. The Reuters. 11 April 1999. Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  4. 1 2 "Iranian army general killed". news.bbc.co.uk. 10 April 1999. Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  5. 1 2 "The biography of Ali Sayyad Shirazi". Hamshahri Online. Hamshahri. 8 April 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  6. 1 2 Abedin, Mahan (2019). Iran Resurgent: The Rise and Rise of the Shia State. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9781849049559 . Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  7. ↑ "Special file for Sayyad Shirazi" (in Persian). Tasnim News Agency. 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  8. 1 2 "Ali Sayyad Shirazi was assassinated". Iranian History (in Persian). Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  9. ↑ "Iranian General Is Assassinated in Teheran". The New York Times. April 11, 1999.
  10. ↑ "The photo of Zahra Ghaemi's corpse; The assassin of Sayyad Shirazi". IRI News Network. Archived from the original on 10 December 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  11. ↑ "Untold details of Sayyad Shirazi's assassination" (in Persian). Archived from the original on 14 April 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.