1981 attempted assassination of Ali Khamenei

1981 assassination attempt in Tehran, Iran September 2024 Ayatolla Ali Khamenei in Hospital after Assassination Attempt by khamenei.ir03 (cropped to remove waternark).jpg Khamenei recovering in Baharloo Hospital, Tehran, following the attack Ali Khamenei Explosion 1981 06 27 yes Abuzar Mosque, Tehran, Iran 1 (Khamenei) Flag of the People's Mujahedin of Iran.svg People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran Assassination 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 right arm, vocal cords and lungs.O'Hern Steven K. Iran's Revolutionary Guard: The Threat that Grows While America Sleeps 2012 Potomac Books 978-1597977012 https://books.google.com/books?id=Rk178rd9DkkC&q=bombing++Beheshti+MEK&pg=PT53 32 Background With the collapse of the Pahlavi monarchy following the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini prioritized the establishment of absolute clerical hegemony through the Islamic Republican Party (IRP). Consequently, rival factions ranging from secular nationalists and Marxist leftists to the People's Mojahedin of Iran (MEK) found themselves marginalized, and the tenuous coalitions formed during the revolution began to disintegrate rapidly.Krähmer Daniel How the clerics crushed the Iranian revolution Amandla 2009-06-21 https://www.amandla.org.za/how-the-clerics-crushed-the-iranian-revolution/ 2025-11-21 Loyalist forces mobilized the Revolutionary Committees and the Revolutionary Guards to suppress dissent, a campaign that culminated in the banning of organizations such as the National Democratic Front in August 1979.Iranian revolution: the struggle for power after the revolution Liga Internacional dos Trabalhadores - Quarta Internacional 2022-10-19 https://litci.org/en/iranian-revolution-the-struggle-for-power-after-the-revolution/ pt 2025-11-21 Amidst this factional strife and political turbulence, Ali Khamenei was appointed to the Revolutionary Council, a body established to oversee the interim government and consolidate power. Tasked with the grave responsibility of shielding the nascent government from multifaceted internal threats, he also served a brief tenure supervising the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in December 1979.Iran: How Ayatollah Khamenei became its most powerful man BBC News 2014-09-09 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29115464 2025-11-21 In a definitive turning point for the political landscape, Islamist students besieged the US Embassy in Tehran on 4 November 1979, taking 52 Americans hostage. This incident, bolstered by Khomeini's endorsement, forced the resignation of the moderate Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan, thereby further entrenching the control of the hardline clergy.1979: Iran and America Brookings 2022-03-09 https://www.brookings.edu/articles/1979-iran-and-america/ 2025-11-21 Subsequently, in January 1980, Khomeini appointed Khamenei as the Friday Prayer Imam (Khatib) of Tehran, succeeding Ayatollah Mahmoud Taleghani. Delivering weekly sermons from the pulpit of Tehran University, Khamenei emphasized unity under Islamic governance and launched scathing critiques against opposition factions, including the MEK, accusing them of undermining the revolution's core principles.Gobadi Shahin Who is Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran's regime? People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran 2020-10-04 https://english.mojahedin.org/article/who-is-ali-khamenei-the-supreme-leader-of-irans-regime/ 2025-11-21 Through these addresses, he personified the state's drive to assert clerical supremacy over rival ideologies, establishing himself as a preeminent guardian of religious conservatism.The Reign of Terror Country Studies 1981-06-21 https://countrystudies.us/iran/92.htm 2025-11-21Merat Arron Terrorists, cultists – or champions of Iranian democracy? The wild wild story of the MEK the Guardian 2018-11-09 https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/nov/09/mek-iran-revolution-regime-trump-rajavi 2025-11-21 Meanwhile, the intense resentment aimed at the purges of suspected "internal enemies" along with the arrest and execution of former allies coalesced into organized opposition by 1980. By early 1981, as President Abolhassan Banisadr's grip on power became increasingly precarious, opposition violence escalated dramatically.KHAMENEI IS PROCLAIMED WINNER OF IRANIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION The New York Times 1981-10-06 https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/06/world/khamenei-is-proclaimed-winner-of-iranian-presidential-election.html 2025-11-21 A wave of assassinations targeting Revolutionary Guards and government officials swept through Tehran and the provinces; dozens of such attacks occurred in the first half of the year alone.Naji Kasra In Iran, the Wounds of the Revolution Reopen Foreign Affairs 2016-08-17 https://www.foreignaffairs.com/iran/iran-wounds-revolution-reopen 2025-11-21 Exploiting the security lapses and the deeply polarized environment resulting from the mass protests and severe government crackdowns in June, insurgents intensified their operations. It was against this backdrop of turbulence in mid-1981 that Ali Khamenei's ascent as a paramount figure in the national leadership reached its fruition. Event Five days after Banisadr was deposed, the news of the day was about the Iran–Iraq War after the declaration of armed conflict. On 27 June 1981,Maloney Suzanne Iran's Political Economy since the Revolution 2015 Cambridge University Press 978-0521738149 152 https://books.google.com/books?id=6aIyCgAAQBAJ&q=Assassination+attempt+on+Ali+Khamenei%E2%80%8F&pg=PA152 while Khamenei had returned from the frontline and had visited Khomeini, he went to the Abuzar Mosque to give a speech to the prayers as per his Saturday schedule. At that time, he was Khomeini's representative at the Supreme Council of National Defense. After the first prayer, Khamenei began to answer questions submitted by attendees. A tape recorder with papers was set on the desk in front of Ali Khamenei by a young man who pressed the play button. After one minute, the tape recorder began blaring a loud whistling sound and then exploded.Kahlili Reza A Time to Betray: A Gripping True Spy Story of Betrayal, Fear, and Courage 2013 Threshold Editions; Reprint edition 978-1439189689 155 https://books.google.com/books?id=YfL9zcW1-qAC&q=Assassination++Ali+Khamenei+Mojahedin+1981&pg=PA155 After the bombing, the clerics praying at the mosque said that the tape recorder was divided into two parts and on the inner wall of the tape recorder was written "the gift of Forqan Group to Islamic republic".Qaffari Mostafa Report about assassination attempt on adventure of 27 June 1981 http://farsi.khamenei.ir/file/terror-6-tir/4_1.htm Khamenei.irStaff writer Review on the assassination attempt on Ayatollah Khamenei http://www.asriran.com/fa/news/76074/%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B2%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A-%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B1-%D8%A2%D9%8A%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%86%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%8A-%D8%AF%D8%B1-28-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84-%D9%82%D8%A8%D9%84 AsrIran The convalescence of Ayatollah Khamenei took several months, and his vocal cords, and lungs were seriously injured; his right arm would be paralyzed for the remainder of his life due to the attack.Murphy John Ali Khamenei 2007 Chelsea House Publications 978-0791095171 91 https://books.google.com/books?id=ybThRB7rT-wC&q=Assassination+attempt+on+Ali+Khamenei%E2%80%8F&pg=PA93 thumb|right|Place of the assassination attempt in the lecture hall in Abuzar Mosque Perpetrator Khamenei's website claims that the assassination was planned by the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK).27 June 2017 Details of the attempted assassination on Imam Khamenei on 27 June 1981 https://english.khamenei.ir/news/4948/Details-of-the-attempted-assassination-on-Imam-Khamenei-on-June Khamenei.ir2024-10-04 Many attempts on Khamenei's life and Iran's turbulent post-revolution leadership https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/ayatollah-ali-khamenei-assassination-attempts-iran-turbulent-post-revolution-leadership-israel-2611557-2024-10-04 2024-10-05 India Today en In an article by self-proclaimed political activist Iraj Mesdaghi, who the MEK claims is an agent of the Iranian regime,Staff Writer 2020-09-11 Iranian Intelligence Operative Posing as a Former Political Prisoner https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/iranian-intelligence-operative-posing-as-a-former-political-prisoner/?amp=1 2024-10-05 NCRI en-US Mesdaghi suggested the assassination attempt was perpetrated by a man named Amir Khan Zade. The Islamic Revolution Document Center identified the person who delivered the recorder as Masud Taqi Zade.Alavi Hamid Assassination attempt on Ali Khamenei 35 years later http://www.bbc.com/persian/iran/2016/06/160626_l10_ha_khamenei_assassination_attempt BBC 26 June 2016 Subsequent incidents The day after the attempted assassination, a large bombing at the headquarters of the Islamic Republican Party (IRP) in Tehran was conducted by Khalq, according to several non-Iranian sources.Colgan Jeff Petro-Aggression: When Oil Causes War 31 January 2013 Cambridge University Press 2013 978-1-107-02967-5 167 https://books.google.com/books?id=enReCU97-zQC&q=set+off+a+bomb+in+the+conference+hall+of+the+IRP+headquarters%2C+which+killed&pg=PA167S. Ismael Jacqueline Perry Glenn Y. Ismael Tareq Government and Politics of the Contemporary Middle East: Continuity and change 5 October 2015 Routledge (2015) 978-1-317-66283-9 181 https://books.google.com/books?id=7AKpCgAAQBAJ&q=From+June+through+September%2C+bombs+planted+by+MEK-notably+in+the+IRP+headquarters+and+governmental+offices%2C+killed+hundreds&pg=PA181Newton Michael Famous Assassinations in World History: An Encyclopedia 17 April 2014 ABC-CLIO (2014) 978-1-61069-286-1 27 https://books.google.com/books?id=F4-dAwAAQBAJ&q=One+week+after+his+removal%2C+MEK%27s+militants+bombed+IRP+headquarters%2C+killing+70+high-ranking+members&pg=PA27Pedde Nicola ROLE AND EVOLUTION OF THE MOJAHEDIN E-KA https://ojs.uniroma1.it/index.php/vaseteh/article/download/3153/3137 ojs.uniroma1 2019-06-01 2018-06-12 https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143527/https://ojs.uniroma1.it/index.php/vaseteh/article/download/3153/3137 dead McGreal Chris Q&A: what is the MEK and why did the US call it a terrorist organisation? https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/sep/21/qanda-mek-us-terrorist-organisation The Guardian 21 September 2012 21 September 2012 The bombing killed at least 74.MEK's violent past looms over US lobby for regime change in Iran https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/3/29/meks-violent-past-looms-over-us-lobby-for-regime-change-in-iran 13 September 2025 See also Assassination and terrorism in Iran References Category:1980s crimes in Iran Category:1981 crimes in Asia Category:1981 in Iran Attempted Assassination Category:Failed assassination attempts in Asia Category:1981 in politics Category:1981 building bombings Category:Mosque bombings in Iran Category:June 1981 in Asia Category:1980s in Tehran Category:Improvised explosive device bombings in 1981 Category:20th-century disasters in Iran Category:Terrorist incidents in Asia in 1981 Category:Terrorist incidents in Iran in the 1980s Category:Attacks on mosques in the 1980s Category:Attacks in Tehran Category:Terrorist incidents against Shia Muslims Category:Terrorist incidents against Muslims in the 1980s Category:Violence against Shia Muslims in Iran