Assassinations in the Qajar era Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar was assassinated on 17 June 1797 in the city of Susa
(Shushi), the capital of
Karabakh khanate, after about 16 years in power. While Mohammad Khan Qajar's assassination might be called part of the ancient practice of palace intrigue, or motivated simply by fear and/or revenge, the 1 May 1896 killing of
Naser al-Din Shah Qajar conforms more closely to the modern phenomenon of
terrorism as a tool of a political movement. Naser al-Din was shot and killed by
Mirza Reza Kermani, a follower of
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, an early promoter of modern
Pan-Islamism. Al-Afghani is reported to have said of the assassination, "surely it was a good deed to kill this bloodthirsty tyrant."
Fadayan-e Islam Fadayan-e Islam was an
Islamic fundamentalist secret society founded in Iran in 1946, by a theology student named
Navab Safavi. Safavi sought to "purify Islam" in Iran by ridding it of "corrupting individuals" by means of carefully planned assassinations of certain leading intellectual and political figures. Some of its targets in the late 1940s and early 1950s included secularist author
Ahmad Kasravi, former prime minister
Abdolhossein Hazhir, Education and Culture Minister Ahmad Zangeneh, and Prime Minister Haj-
Ali Razmara. Such was the group's influence and success that it was able to use its powerful clerical supporters to free its assassins from punishment. In the mid-1950s, after the consolidation of the power of the
Mohammad Reza Shah, the group was suppressed and Safavi executed. The group survived as supporters of the Ayatollah
Khomeini and the 1979
Iranian Revolution.
1978 Cinema Rex fire On 19 August 1978, more than 420 people were killed when the Cinema Rex in Abadan was set on fire during a showing of the movie
The Deer. The incident was initially blamed on
Muhammad Reza Pahlavi's regime, which contributed to the Shah's overthrow.
Haft-e Tir bombing and the 1981 Iranian Prime Minister's office bombing On 28 June 1981, a bomb
killed 70 high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic Party, including Chief Justice
Mohammad Beheshti who was the second highest official after
Ayatollah Khomeini at the time. The Iranian government said the culprits could be
SAVAK, or the
Iraqi regime, or the
People's Mojahedin of Iran. According to Kenneth Katzman, "there has been much speculation among academics and observers that these bombings may have actually been planned by senior IRP leaders, to rid themselves of rivals within the IRP." On 30 August 1981, the office of Prime Minister
Mohammad Javad Bahonar was bombed, killing Bahonar, President
Mohammad Ali Rajai, and six other Iranian government officials. The briefcase bombing came two months after the
Hafte Tir bombing. 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, including
Masoud Keshmiri, President Rajai, and Prime Minister Bahonar. It was later revealed that both Rajai and Bahonar had died in the explosion. 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.
The 1998 Chain murders Since the founding of the Islamic Republic, dissidents in Iran have complained of unsolved murders and disappearances of intellectuals and political activists who had been critical of the Islamic Republic system in some way. In 1998 these complaints came to a head with the killing of three dissident writers, political leader
Dariush Forouhar and his wife in the span of two months, in what became known as the
Chain Murders or 1998 Serial Murders of Iran. The deputy security official of the Ministry of Information,
Saeed Emami, was arrested for the killings and later committed suicide, although many believe higher level officials were responsible for the killings. According to Iranterror.com, "it was widely assumed that [Emami] was murdered in order to prevent the leak of sensitive information about
Ministry of Intelligence and Security operations, which would have compromised the entire leadership of the Islamic Republic."
Attacks by Taliban and Sunni extremists 1994 Mashhad bombing On 20 June 1994, the explosion of a bomb in a prayer hall of
Imam Reza shrine in
Mashhad killed at least 25 people. The Iranian government officially blamed
Mujahedin-e-Khalq for the incident to avoid sectarian conflict between
Shias and
Sunnis. However, the Pakistani daily
The News International reported on 27 March 1995, "Pakistani investigators have identified a 24-year-old religious fanatic Abdul Shakoor residing in Lyari in
Karachi, as an important Pakistani associate of
Ramzi Yousef. Abdul Shakoor had intimate contacts with Ramzi Ahmed Yousef and was responsible for the June 20, 1994, massive bomb explosion at the shrine Imam Ali Reza in Mashhad." According to the Jamestown Foundation Terrorism Monitor, "a report produced by the [Iranian]
Ministry of Intelligence in October 1994 identified the culprits as operatives of Pakistan's
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi the sister organization of
Sipah-e-Sahaba."
1998 Mazar-i-Sharif killings On 8 August 1998, the
Taliban, assisted by
Al-Qaeda, attacked the Afghan city of
Mazar-i-Sharif, killing 11 Iranian diplomats and journalists along with thousands of Afghan civilians, in what was considered an attack motivated by
takfir against
Shias. More infuriating for Iran was that
Pakistan's ISI had guaranteed their security. Tehran had earlier contacted the Pakistan government to guarantee the security of their Consulate, because the Iranians knew that ISI officers had driven into Mazar with the Taliban. The Iranians had thought that Dost Mohammed's unit had been sent to protect them so had welcomed them at first. .... At first the Taliban refused to admit the whereabouts of the diplomats but then as international protests and Iranian fury increased, they admitted that the diplomats had been killed, not on official orders but by renegade Taliban. But reliable sources said that Dost Mohammed had spoken to
Mullah Omar on his wireless to ask whether the diplomats should be killed and Omar had given the go-ahead." Iran was also angry at the lack of support from Western countries, particularly America, which considered Iran an enemy. Referring to the attack, Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei alleges that "neither the Americans, nor the Europeans, who are now pursuing Al-Qaeda agents as members of the most dangerous terror organization, showed any reaction at all." The Taliban were also thought to have "secretly" backed anti-regime Iranian groups. These groups received weapons and support from the Taliban and "Iranians were convinced that the Pakistanis were also sponsoring them." The group sought to overthrow the Shia Iranian government, despite the fact that Iran was overwhelmingly Shia. The Iranian government responded to the killings by putting its forces on alert and moving troops to the Afghan border, though tensions would subside.
Jundallah (since 2003) Jundallah, a
Sunni Islamist
Baloch insurgent organization based in
Balochistan, claims to be fighting for the rights of Sunni in Iran. It is believed to have 1,000 fighters and claims to have killed 400 Iranian soldiers. The group has been identified as a
terrorist organization by Iran and Pakistan and many believe it is linked to
Al-Qaeda. It is also believed to receive support from the US government.
2007 Zahedan bombing A car filled with explosives stopped in front of a bus full of Revolutionary Guards in Ahmabad district,
Zahedan,
Sistan-Baluchestan Province at 6:30 a.m. on 14 February 2007. The car, parked in the middle of the road, forced the bus to stop. The car's driver and passengers then got out of the car and used motorbikes to leave the scene while they shot at the bus. A few seconds later the bombs exploded, killing 18 Guards. Guards commander Qasem Rezaei said, "This blind terrorist operation led to the martyrdom of 18 citizens of Zahedan." Rezaei attributed the attack to "insurgents and elements of insecurity." Majid Razavi, an Interior Ministry official, said Iranian police arrested a suspect within an hour of the bombing.
Jundallah, an organization some alleged to be affiliated with
Al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack on 15 February and said it is retaliation for the executions of those accused of carrying out the
Ahvaz Bombings. The Iranian government arrested five suspects, two of whom were carrying camcorders and grenades when they were arrested, while the police killed the main "agent" of the attack. Hossein Ali Shahriari, Zahedan's representative in parliament, rhetorically asked, "Why does our diplomatic apparatus not seriously confront the
Pakistani government for harboring bandits and regime's enemies? Why do security, military and police officials not take more serious action?" :Two bombs were hidden in toilets within the building of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and at the Office of Construction and Civil Engineering. The third bomb exploded in front of the house of the governor of Khuzestan Province. All three of these explosions were in the city center of Ahvaz. Another bomb was hidden in the doorway of the house of a [state] radio and television official in Ahvaz. The bomb went off when the door was opened.
2008 Shiraz bombing A terrorist bombing inside a mosque in
Shiraz in April 2008 killed 14 people including 10 men, 2 women and 2 children. More than 200 were also injured. Responsibility for the attack has not been determined. However,
The Jamestown Foundation reported that the
Kingdom Assembly of Iran (API) took responsibility for the attack.
2008 convoy bombing According to Western news reports, at least 15 people were killed and scores wounded in a July 2008 explosion in Tehran. Initially there was a news black-out on the explosion in Iran and Revolutionary Guards launched an investigation into the causes of the blast and the possibility that sabotage was involved. There had been "a number of unexplained explosions in recent months." The convoy was reported to be carrying arms for Hezbollah when it exploded.
2010 Chabahar suicide bombing The 2010 Chabahar suicide bombing was carried out on 14 December 2010 by two
suicide bombers, who blew themselves up in the crowded
Shiite Muslim mourning procession in Southeastern
Iranian
coastal city of
Chabahar outside Imam Husain Mosque. The bombings took place in the day of Tasua, when Shiite Muslims gathered there to commemorate the martyrdom of
Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of
Muhammad. The bombing resulted in killing at least 38 people.
2010–2012 scientist assassinations Four Iranian nuclear scientists were assassinated between 2010 and 2012, and a fifth was wounded in a failed assassination attempt. The Iranian government has accused Israel of committing the attacks, a claim which Israel has denied.
2017 Tehran attacks On 7 June 2017,
two simultaneous terrorist attacks were carried out by five terrorists belonging to the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The
Iranian Parliament building and the
Mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini, both in
Tehran,
Iran, were hit, leaving 17 civilians dead and 43 wounded.
2018 Ahvaz attack On 22 September 2018, a military parade was attacked in
Ahvaz, a southwestern Iranian city.
2018 Chabahar suicide bombing On 6 December 2018, a suicide bomber detonated his car near a police station killing two policemen and wounding dozens more.
2022 stabbings at Imam Reza shrine On 5 April 2022, a
stabbing attack took place at the
Imam Reza Shrine in
Mashhad,
Iran, killing two
Shia clerics and wounding a third. The perpetrator, identified as foreign national Abdullatif Moradi, was immediately arrested along with six others accused of assisting him. The victims were active members of non-profit constructing and cultural communities. The attacker, Abdullatif Moradi, a 21-year-old ethnic
Uzbek illegal immigrant from
Afghanistan, has been called as a "
Takfiri who viewed
Shia Muslims as
heretics and believed their blood should be spilled". Moradi and his brother were reportedly active in social networks under the names of "Abdullatif al-Salafi", "Hassan Moradi" and "Abulaqib al-Mowahid", criticizing Shia Muslims and promoting
Takfiri thoughts. (The "Abdullatif al-Salafi" alias indicates
Salafi sympathies.) He was
executed by hanging in June 2022.
2022–2023 attacks on Shah Cheragh shrine On 26 October 2022, a gunman shot and killed 15 pilgrims at the
Shah Cheragh shrine in
Shiraz, including women and children, and wounding scores of others. The man was shot by security forces and later died of his wounds. On 13 August 2023, another gunman, later identified as Rahmatollah Nowruzo, shot and killed two and injuring seven at the same shrine. He was convicted and sentenced to death twice for "moharebeh" (waging war against God) and other offenses on 22 September 2023, by a Revolutionary court. According to a statement by Iran's Intelligence Ministry reported by Iranian state media, the ministry's forces had captured a "Daesh-linked" loyalist who performed the "most pivotal" role in the August 13 attack on the shrine, and that 196
Takfiri terrorists were caught or killed between the Ocoter 2022 and August 2023 attacks on the holy site, all of whom were non-Iranians. They were from Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan.
2024 Kerman bombings On 3 January 2024, between 15:50 and 16:00 (
Iran time),
two bombs exploded during a commemorative ceremony marking the
assassination of Qasem Soleimani in
Kerman. The twin explosions struck a procession going towards
Soleimani's
tomb in the
Golzar Shohada cemetery, around the
Saheb al-Zaman mosque, to commemorate the fourth anniversary of
his death. The first explosion occurred 700
metres from
Soleimani's grave near a
parking lot, while the second occurred one kilometre away at
Shohada Street, where many had fled. At least 89 people were
killed and at least another 171 were
injured, including three
paramedics who responded to the site of the first
explosion and were caught in the second
blast. Most of the fatalities were believed to have been killed in the second explosion. The
Iranian government declared the
bombings a
terrorist attack,
2026 assassination of Ali Khamenei An unnamed Israeli official said that Khamenei's body was located following the strikes, which was reportedly shown to Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu. US President
Donald Trump echoed these reports, calling the reported assassination "justice for people of Iran". Reports around Khamenei's death were initially disputed by Iranian sources, with
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman
Esmail Baghaei stating that Khamenei is "safe and sound". Despite this, several outlets, such as
Reuters and
Iran International, citing Israeli government sources, reported that Khamenei was deceased. Following the further spread of the news about the alleged assassination, Iranian media
Tasnim and
Mehr stated that Khamenei was "steadfast and confirm in commanding the field", once again asserting their claim that Khamenei was not killed during the missile strikes. Trump, commenting on Khamenei's alleged death, called him "one of the most evil people in history" and announced that the US would continue to bomb Iran. Some members of Congress from the
Democratic Party, including Senator
John Fetterman, reacted positively to the announcement, while many from the
Republican Party, such as Representative
Tom Emmer, cheered Trump's post. Khamenei was the first
Iranian head of state to be assassinated since
Naser al-Din Shah Qajar in 1896. ==Alleged attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran==