List of Iranian assassinations explained

List of Iranian assassinations refers to a list of alleged and confirmed assassinations, reported to have been conducted by the Islamic Republic of Iran and previously by the Pahlavi Dynasty and several underground Resistance Opposition groups.

It includes attempts on notable persons who were reported to have been specifically targeted by the various Iranian security and intelligence, most notably Kurdish dissidents of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran in 1980s and 1990s.

Prior to the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979, the Organization of Intelligence and National Security also allegedly performed a number of political motivated assassinations against dissidents and opposition leaders.

By Pahlavi regime (1953–1979)

DateCityCountryTargetPositionKiller
12 August 1970BaghdadTeymur BakhtiarFormer founder of SAVAK.Alleged SAVAK operation.
29 June 1976Hamid AshrafLeader of Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas.A SAVAK operation.

By the Islamic Republic of Iran

DateCityCountryTargetPositionKiller
7 December 1979ParisShahriar ShafiqHead of the Iran Azad Group, nephew of the last Shah of IranMuslim Liberation Group
22 July 1980Bethesda, MarylandAli Akbar TabatabaeiPresident of the Iran Freedom Foundation, former press attache to the Iranian embassyDawud Salahuddin
7 February 1984ParisGholam Ali Oveisiformer Chief Commander of the Imperial Iranian Armed ForcesIslamic Jihad Organization
19 May 1987ViennaHamid Reza ChitgarRepresentative of Labor Party of IranSuspected Iranian agents
13 July 1989Abdul Rahman GhassemlouHead of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
Abdullah Ghaderi AzarAssistant to the Head of Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
1 April 1990NynäshamnKarim MohammedzadehIranian Kurdish dissidentReza Taslimi
24 April 1990CoppetKazem RajaviRepresentative of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.Former Ambassador of Iran to the UNSuspected Iranian agents
15 August 1990KonyaElî KaşifpûrMember central committee of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran
6 September 1990VästeråsEfat GhaziMember of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran
6 August 1991SuresnesShapour Bakhtiarformer Prime Minister of Iran. Head of the National Resistance Movement of IranAli Vakili Rad
7 August 1992BonnFereydoun FarrokhzadIranian dissidentSuspected Iranian agents
17 September 1992BerlinSadegh SharafkandiHead of the Democratic Party of Iranian KurdistanMykonos restaurant assassinations
Fattah AbdoliOne of the leaders of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
Homayoun Ardalan
Nouri Dehkordi
6 July 1996StockholmKamran HedayatiIranian Kurdish dissidentSuspected Iranian agents
15 December 2015Almere NetherlandsMohammad-Reza Kolahi SamadiPeople's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK)Suspected Iranian agents
29 April 2017Istanbul TurkeySaeed KarimianIranian television executive, owner of Dubai-based GEM TVVAJA
8 November 2017The Hague NetherlandsAhmad Mola NissiArab Struggle MovementSuspected Iranian agents

By Resistance Opposition groups

DateCityCountryTargetDescriptionKiller
11 March 1946TehranAhmad KasraviIranian linguist, historian and Democrat Party memberFada'iyan-e Islam
5 November 1949Abdolhossein HazhirPrime Minister of Iran
7 March 1951Haj Ali Razmara
27 January 1965Hassan Ali Mansur
23 April 1979Mohammad-Vali GharaniChief-of-Staff of the Iranian ArmyForghan group
1 May 1979Morteza MotahhariPresident of Council of Islamic Revolution
2 November 1979TabrizMohammad Ali Qazi TabatabaeiRepresentative of the Supreme Leader in East AzerbaijanPeople's Mujahedin of Iran
28 June 1981TehranMosa KalantariMinistry of Roads & Urban Development
Mohammad BeheshtiChief Justice of Iran
Mohammad Montazerimember of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards
30 August 1981Mohammad-Ali RajaiPresident of Iran
Mohammad-Javad BahonarPrime Minister of Iran
21 September 1981TabrizMir Asadollah MadaniRepresentative of the Supreme Leader in East Azerbaijan
22 August 1998TehranAsadollah LajevardiIranian prosecutor
10 April 1999Ali Sayad ShiraziIranian Army Commander

See also