Chain murders of Iran

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The Chain murders^[1]^[2] (قتل‌های زنجیره‌ای) of Iranian intellectuals or 1998 Serial Murders of Dissident Intellectuals were a series of murders and disappearances^[3]^[4] during President Mohammad Khatami's first term, from about 1996 to 2001. It is said that "rogue elements" in Iran's intelligence ministry were responsible for the event, and a few well known clerics reportedly had key roles in the crimes by their fatwas.

Akbar Ganji (left) and Saeed Hajjarian (right) risked their lives by exposing the main figures behind the 1998 Serial Murders

1 Chain murders
2 Investigations
3 Survivors
4 Notable victims
5 Partial list of victims
6 See also
7 References and notes
8 Further reading
9 External links

[edit] Chain murders

Saeed Emami remained unknown to the public until the fall of 1998, when it was declared that Dariush Forouhar and his wife Parvaneh Eskandari Forouhar, leaders of Mellat Iran, an Iranian opposition party, were found dead at their house in southern Tehran. Several weeks later, the Ministry of Intelligence officially declared that their deaths were murders and that some members of the intelligence ministry were responsible and had acted without the approval of the then-minister, Ghorban Ali Dorri-Najafabadi. According to the general military prosecutor, Emami was the primary leading figure of these political criminals. In spring 1998, military prosecutor Niazi declared that Emami had committed suicide in prison using Vajebi, a strong hair removal powder.^[5]

In late 1999, the Iranian press revealed that Emami was the one directly responsible for political murders in the 1980s and 1990s including: Saidi Sirjani's mysterious death, the Mykonos restaurant assassinations, an unsuccessful attempt to throw the bus of 21 Iranian journalists into a valley on their way to Armenia, the unexpected death of Ahmad Khomeini (Ayatollah Khomeini's son), the murders of Mohammad Jaafar Pooyandeh, Mohammad Mokhtari, Peerooz Davani, and Majid Sharif. Later on, a videotape of his speech at the University of Hamadan was published in which Emami enthusiastically promotes his Islamist perspective on social issues. Later, during the amendment of the Press Law by the 5th Majlis, Emami was called the designer of the draft law by Salam newspaper, for which Salam was banned by the Tehran prosecutor and this finally resulted in the 1999 student demonstrations in Tehran.

The last time Emami was brought to public attention was when Iranian opposition groups aired another videotape showing his wife under torture by Iranian intelligence agents as an example of the government's disregard for the rule of law. Torture is officially illegal in Iran, but is often carried out in prisons.^[5]

[edit] Investigations

Akbar Ganji and Saeed Hajjarian in a series of articles in Sobh Emrouz daily, tried to expose and bring to justice government officials involved in the murder of intellectuals and journalists in the 1990s, which came to be known in Iran as the "serial murders".

[edit] Survivors

[edit] Notable victims

[edit] Partial list of victims

Victims of serial killings by the information ministry^[6]

[edit] See also

[edit] References and notes

[edit] Further reading

Iran, Islam and Democracy: The Politics of Managing Change By A. M. ANSARI (London: The Royal Institute of International Affairs). 2000, 256 pp. ISBN 1862031177