Extraterritorial Assassinations

1979 Assassination of Shahriar Shafiq in Paris, France

• Nephew of the late Shah and captain in the former Imperial Navy

• First known Islamic Republic assassination abroad

• Resources: Iranwire

1980 Assassination of Ali Akbar Tabatabai in Bethesda, Md.

• Former press attache of the Iranian Embassy

• Resources: Iranwire

1980 Failed assassination of Shapour Bakhtiar in Paris

• Former Prime Minister of Iran under the Shah

• A neighbor and a policeman killed

• Resources: Iranwire

1982 Shahrokh Misaghi in Manila, Phillippines

• Student activist and member of the Fedayian-e Khalq organization

• Resources: Iranwire

1982 Shahram Mirani, India

• Kurdish student and member of Fedayian-e-Khalq organization

• Suspects released due to pressure from the Islamic Republic

• Resources: Iranwire

1982 Ahmad Zolanvar, Karachi, Pakistan

• Former political leaders in Sistan/Balochistan province

• Resources: Iranwire

1982 Abdolamir Rahdar, Bangalore, India

• A student leader campaigning against the Islamic Republic

• Resources: Iranwire

1984 General Gholam Ali Oveissi, Paris

• Former military governor of Tehran in 1978

• Command-in-Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces before the revolution

• His brother was also killed in the attack

• Islamic Jihad led by Imad Mughniyeh claimed responsibility for the attack

• Resources: Iranwire

1984 Malcolm Kerr in Beirut, Lebanon

• American University of Beirut President

• Killed outside his office by Hezbollah terrorists

• Resources: Iranwire

1985 Behrooz Shahverdilou, Istanbul, Turkey

• Former colonel in the Iranian army

• Member of Shapour Bakhtiar's National Movement of the Iranian Resistance (against Islamic Republic)

• Resources: Iranwire

1985 Hadi Aziz-Moradi in Istanbul, Turkey

• Former Colonel in the Iranian Army's special forces

• Resources: Iranwire

1986 Bijan Fazeli, London, UK

• Son of Reza Fazeli, former actor and the director of an anti-Islamic Republic TV station

• Killed in bomb blast outside store in London where he sold monarchist literature

• Resources: Iranwire

1986 Ahmad-Hamed Monfared in Istanbul, Turkey

• The Shah's former bodyguard and senior military officer

• Gun shot

• Resources: Iranwire

1987 Ali Akbar Mohammadi in Hamburg, Germany

• Former personal pilot of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

• Defected by plane to Baghdad, Iraq in protest against the Iran-Iraq war

• Shot six times

• Resources: Iranwire

1987 Hamid Reza Chitgar in Vienna, Austria

• Member of the Iran Labor Party

• Resources: Iranwire

1987 Faramarz Aghaei and Alireza Pourshafizadeh in Pakistan

• Members of the MEK (MKO)

• Two simultaneous attacks in Quetta & Karachi

• Resources: Iranwire

1987 Attempted assassination of Amir Hossein Amir Parviz in London, UK

• Minister of Agriculture under prior to the Islamic Republic

• Widely recognized as architect of The Shah's land reforms

• Resources: Iranwire

1987 Ahmad Moradi Talebi in Geneva, Switzerland

• Colonel in the Imperial Iranian Air Force and F-14 pilot

• Resources: Iranwire

1988 Abdolhassan Mojtahedzadeh in Istanbul, Turkey

• Senior member of the MEK(MKO)

• Resources: Iranwire

1989 Abdul Rahman Ghasemlou, Abdullah Ghaderi-Azar, Fazel Rasoul in Vienna, Austria

• Killed at negotiation meeting with Islamic Republic officials

• Resources: Iranwire

1990 Kazem Rajavi in Geneva, Switzerland

• Member of the NCRI (MEK)

• Resources: Iranwire

1990 Cyrus Elahi in Paris, France

• Advisory to the Iranian Minister of Education before the 1979 revolution

• Founding member of opposition group Derafsh-e Kaviani (Flag of Freedom)

• Resources: Iranwire

1990 Abdorrahman Boroumand in Paris, France

• Leading member of the National Resistance Movement of Iran

• Stabbed to death in front of his home

• Resources: Iranwire

1991 Shapour Bakhtiar in Paris, France

• Final prime minister of Iran in the Pahlavi era

• Survived an initial assassination attempt in 1981

• Stabbed to death with kitchen knives at his home along with his associate, Soroush Katibeh

• Assailants fled to Iran and received as heroes

• Resources: Iranwire

1992 Fereydoun Farrokhzad in Bonn, Germany

• Iranian singer and critic of the Islamic Republic & Ruhollah Khomeini

• Regularly voiced his opinions at concerts

• Stabbed to death at his home

• Resources: Iranwire

1992 Infamous Mykonos Terror Attack in Berlin, Germany

• Assassinations of Sadeh Sharafkandi, Homayoun Ardalan, Fattah Abdoli, and Nouri Dehkordi

• Kurdish opposition leaders gunned down by assailants with machine guns

• Resources: Iranwire

1993 Mohammad Hossein Naghdi in Rome, Italy

• Former charge d'affairs of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic in Italy

• Resigned in 1984 and defected to join the NCRI (MEK)

• Resources: Iranwire

2007 Frood Fouladvand in Turkey

• Founder of the monarchist group Kingdom Assembly of Iran, known as Tondar

• Host of TV show that sharply criticized Islam and called for overthrow of the Islamic Republic

• Went missing in Turkey with two associates Nazem Schmidtt and Alexander Valizadeh

• Tondar members believe he had been murdered

• Resources: Iranwire

2007 Abduction of Robert 'Bob' Levinson Kish Island, Iran

• Retired FBI Agent

• U.S. declared in 2020 that he most likely died in custory

• Resources: NY Times, Help Bob Levinson

2011 Tom Anderson (Ahmad Rezaei Mirghaed) in Dubai, UAE

• Eldest son of Maj. Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

• Fled Iran in the late 1990s

• Body found in hotel

• Resources: Iranwire

2013 Abbas Yazdanpanah Yazdi in Dubai, UA

• Was planning to sue the UK's Serious Fraud Office for providing information about his business concerns to Iranian prosecutors

• Abducted by Islamic Republic according to Dubai police and taken back to Iran

• Resources: Iranwire

2015 Mohammad Reza Kolahi in Almere, Netherlands

• Member of MEK

• Accused of bomb attack that killed 73 at the Islamic Republic Party's headquarters

• Resources: Iranwire

2017 Saeed Karimian in Istanbul, Turkey

• Owner of Persian-language channel Gem TV

• Killed with Kuwaiti business partner

• Previously threatened multiple times by Islamic Republic due to the content of his TV shows

• Resources: Iranwire

2020 Jamshid Sharmahd in Dubai, UAE

• German-Iranian member spokesman of the Kingdom Assembly of Iran (Tondar)

• Abducted in Dubai

• Forced fake recantation on Iranian TV

• Executed in 2024

• Resources: Iranwire

2020 Ruhollah Zam in Baghdad, Iraq

• Director of dissident Telegram journalism channel Ahmad News and Paris resident

• Lured to Baghdad on false pretencse by IRGC agents

• Abducted and dispatched to Iran

• Hanged in 2020

• Resources: Iranwire

2022 Salman Rushdie in New York, NY

• British author of "The Satanic Verses"

• Lived in hiding due to Fatwa (decree) by Ruhollah Khomeini

• Survived the attack with one-eye blinded

International Acts of Terrorism

• 1982 French Embassy bombing Beirut, Lebanon

  • Hezbollah car bomb inside French Embassy

  • 12 Killed, 27 wounded

• 1983 Bombing Attacks on U.S and French Embassies in Kuwait

  • 5 non-American & non-French civilians killed

  • Hezbollah implicated

  • Resources: AIPAC

• 1983 U.S. Embassy Bombing Beirut, Lebanon

  • 63 Killed, including 52 Lebanese & American Embassy employees

  • Resources: U.S. Embassy in Lebanon

• 1983 U.S. Marine Corps Barracks Bombing

  • 241 U.S. service members killed and 58 French military and civilian personnel in Beirut

  • Resources: AIPAC

• 1984 U.S Embassy Annex Bombing in Beirut, Lebanon

  • 23 killed including two Americans

  • U.S Ambassador & visiting British Ambassador injured

  • Resources: AIPAC

• 1985 Hiacking of TWA flight 847 in Athens, Greece

  • Murdering of U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem

  • Resources: AIPAC

• 1992 Israeli Embassy Bombing in Buenos Aires, Argentina

  • 29 killed including 2 Israelis

  • 242 civilians injured

  • Resources: AIPAC

• 1994 Bombing of Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) in Buenes Aires, Argentina

  • VAN exploded by Hezbollah suicide bomber

  • 85 killed

  • 300 wounded

  • Resources: Guardian

• 1994 Bombing of Panamanian Airline Alas Chiricanas Fligh 00901

  • Suicide bombing targeting Jewish passengers

  • All 21 onboard killed

  • Resources: AIPAC

• 1996 Khobar Towers Bombing in Saudi Arabia

  • Hezbollah in Hijaz suicide bombing

  • 19 U.S. airmen and a Saudi civilian killed

  • 498 injured

  • Resources: AIPAC, Wikipedia

• 2012 Suicide Bombing of Israeli Tourist Bus in Burgas, Bulgaria

  • Mainly youth transport

  • Five Israelis killed

  • 36 Injured

  • Resources: AIPAC