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given the sheer amount of sources for this assertion, it is a significant viewpoint that belongs in the lead, see talk
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Lt. Colonel '''Lewis Lee Hawkins''' (8 August 1930 – 2 June 1973) was a United States military aide to Iran who was assassinated.<ref>{{cite book|title=Mujahedin-E Khalq (MEK) Shackled by a Twisted History|author= Lincoln P. Bloomfield Jr. |year=2013|publisher=University of Baltimore College of Public Affairs|isbn=978-0615783840|pages=17 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|authors=Anthony H. Cordesman, Sam Khazai|title=Iraq in Crisis|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2014|isbn=978-1442228566|page=213}}</ref> Vahid Afrakhteh, a founding member of [[Peykar]], was captured and confessed to the assassination.<ref>Appeasing the Ayatollahs and Suppressing Democracy: U.S. Policy and the Iranian Opposition : a White Paper,Iran Policy Committee, page 57</ref><ref>{{cite book |title = The Mystery of Contemporary Iran |isbn = 9781351479134|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ypcuDwAAQBAJ&q=mojahedin+marxist+leninist+american&pg=PT222 |quote = The most notable actions of the Marxist Mojahedin were assassinations of Savak general, of two American military advisers, and a failed attempt against an American diplomat, all in 1975|last1 = Shirali|first1 = Mahnaz|date = 28 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title = Camp Ashraf: Iraqi Obligations and State Department Accountability : Joint Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, First Session, December 7, 2011 |year = 2011|isbn = 9780160905018|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LNcKdNiTHSQC&q=Vahid+Afrakhteh |quote = Referred to in the Iranian press as the "Iranian People's Strugglers", and later known as Peykar, this group led by Tagui Shahram, Vahid Arakhteh and Bahram Aram was one o several underground groups waging a covert war against the Shah's secret police, SAVAK. Afrakhteh, who later confessed to the killings o Americans, was executed}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title = Iran Almanac and Book of Facts, Volumen 15
Lt. Colonel '''Lewis Lee Hawkins''' (8 August 1930 – 2 June 1973) was a United States military aide to Iran who was assassinated.<ref>{{cite book|title=Mujahedin-E Khalq (MEK) Shackled by a Twisted History|author= Lincoln P. Bloomfield Jr. |year=2013|publisher=University of Baltimore College of Public Affairs|isbn=978-0615783840|pages=17 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|authors=Anthony H. Cordesman, Sam Khazai|title=Iraq in Crisis|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2014|isbn=978-1442228566|page=213}}</ref> Vahid Afrakhteh, a founding member of [[Peykar]], was captured and confessed to the assassination.<ref>Appeasing the Ayatollahs and Suppressing Democracy: U.S. Policy and the Iranian Opposition : a White Paper,Iran Policy Committee, page 57</ref><ref>{{cite book |title = The Mystery of Contemporary Iran |isbn = 9781351479134|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ypcuDwAAQBAJ&q=mojahedin+marxist+leninist+american&pg=PT222 |quote = The most notable actions of the Marxist Mojahedin were assassinations of Savak general, of two American military advisers, and a failed attempt against an American diplomat, all in 1975|last1 = Shirali|first1 = Mahnaz|date = 28 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title = Camp Ashraf: Iraqi Obligations and State Department Accountability : Joint Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, First Session, December 7, 2011 |year = 2011|isbn = 9780160905018|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LNcKdNiTHSQC&q=Vahid+Afrakhteh |quote = Referred to in the Iranian press as the "Iranian People's Strugglers", and later known as Peykar, this group led by Tagui Shahram, Vahid Arakhteh and Bahram Aram was one o several underground groups waging a covert war against the Shah's secret police, SAVAK. Afrakhteh, who later confessed to the killings o Americans, was executed}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title = Iran Almanac and Book of Facts, Volumen 15
|year = 1976|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KvgIAQAAIAAJ&q=Vahid+Afrakhteh |quote = Ten terrorists were sentenced to death... The condemned terrorists were Vahid Afrakhteh... The terroirsts were charged with the murders of Brigadier-general Reza Zandipur, United States Colonels Hawkins, Paul Shaffer and ack Turner, the U.S. Embassy's translator Hassan Hossnan}}</ref> Many sources attributed this assassination to the [[People's Mujahedin of Iran]].<ref name=statedepartment>{{cite web |title=Chapter 6 -- Terrorist Organizations |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2006/82738.htm |website=www.state.gov |access-date=13 September 2018}}</ref><ref name=encyclopediaterrorism>{{cite book |last1=Combs |first1=Cindy C. |last2=Slann |first2=Martin W. |title=Encyclopedia of Terrorism, Revised Edition |date=2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=9781438110196 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H7fT0BQxwDsC&pg=PA188 |access-date=11 September 2018 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=apnews/><ref name=rand>{{Cite book|authors=Goulka, Jeremiah; Hansell, Lydia; Wilke, Elizabeth; Larson, Judith|url=http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2009/RAND_MG871.pdf|title=The Mujahedin-e Khalq in Iraq: a policy conundrum|publisher=[[RAND Corporation]]|isbn=978-0-8330-4701-4|year=2009|page=56}}</ref><ref name=dennis/><ref name=horton>{{cite news|title=For Official Washington, Terrorism Is a Laughing Matter|url=https://harpers.org/2012/04/for-official-washington-terrorism-is-a-laughing-matter/|author=Scott Horton|date=2012-04-09|publisher=[[Harper's]]}}</ref><ref name=Abrahamian/><ref name=terrorismdatabase>{{citation|url=https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/IncidentSummary.aspx?gtdid=197306020001|title=Global Terrorism Database [Data file]|date=1973-06-02|publisher=National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START)|id=197306020001}}</ref>
|year = 1976|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KvgIAQAAIAAJ&q=Vahid+Afrakhteh |quote = Ten terrorists were sentenced to death... The condemned terrorists were Vahid Afrakhteh... The terroirsts were charged with the murders of Brigadier-general Reza Zandipur, United States Colonels Hawkins, Paul Shaffer and ack Turner, the U.S. Embassy's translator Hassan Hossnan}}</ref>


== Early life ==
== Early life ==
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According to an American military advisor, Hawkins was killed "by an Iranian terrorist".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/82798291/American-Killings|title = American Killings &#124; PDF &#124; National Security &#124; Government}}</ref> The assassination seemed to have been motivated by political considerations. Although there were two witnesses, assassins were wearing motorcycle helmets and could not be identified. Some GOI officials believed the group responsible to be left-wing and Iraq-supported, while others suspected [[Mujahedin-e-Khalq]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v27/d18|title = Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume XXVII, Iran; Iraq, 1973–1976 - Office of the Historian}}</ref>
According to an American military advisor, Hawkins was killed "by an Iranian terrorist".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/82798291/American-Killings|title = American Killings &#124; PDF &#124; National Security &#124; Government}}</ref> The assassination seemed to have been motivated by political considerations. Although there were two witnesses, assassins were wearing motorcycle helmets and could not be identified. Some GOI officials believed the group responsible to be left-wing and Iraq-supported, while others suspected [[Mujahedin-e-Khalq]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v27/d18|title = Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume XXVII, Iran; Iraq, 1973–1976 - Office of the Historian}}</ref>


On May 11, 1976, the Washington Post reported that in January of that year, "nine terrorists convicted of murdering the three American colonels… were executed. The leader of the group, Vahid Afrakhteh, one of the founders of [[Peykar]] (Marxist group that broke off from [[Mujahedin-e-Khalq]]) stated that he personally killed col. Lewis Lee Hawkins in Tehran in 1973.<ref>{{cite book|title=Mujahedin-E Khalq (MEK) Shackled by a Twisted History|author= Lincoln P. Bloomfield Jr. |year=2013|publisher=University of Baltimore College of Public Affairs|isbn=978-0615783840|pages=17 (p.A9)}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|authors=Arash Reisinezhad |title=The Shah of Iran, the Iraqi Kurds, and the Lebanese Shia |year=2018|publisher= Palgrave Macmillan|page=8|asin=B07FBB6L8Y}}</ref> The Country Reports issued a statement saying "A Marxist element of the MEK murdered several of the Shah's U.S. security advisers prior to the Islamic Revolution."<ref>[https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2005/65275.htm Chapter 8 -- Foreign Terrorist Organizations ]</ref> Many sources have attributed these assassinations to the [[Mujahedin-e-Khalq]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Chapter 6 -- Terrorist Organizations |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2006/82738.htm |website=www.state.gov |access-date=13 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Combs |first1=Cindy C. |last2=Slann |first2=Martin W. |title=Encyclopedia of Terrorism, Revised Edition |date=2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=9781438110196 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H7fT0BQxwDsC&pg=PA188 |access-date=11 September 2018 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/f8cd86c1a6de470781c8b5f37ef70f5f|title=Trump Cabinet pick paid by controversial Iranian exile group|date=24 April 2021}}</ref><ref name=rand>{{Cite book|authors=Goulka, Jeremiah; Hansell, Lydia; Wilke, Elizabeth; Larson, Judith|url=http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2009/RAND_MG871.pdf|title=The Mujahedin-e Khalq in Iraq: a policy conundrum|publisher=[[RAND Corporation]]|isbn=978-0-8330-4701-4|year=2009|page=56}}</ref><ref name=dennis>{{cite book|title=Anti-american Terrorism: From Eisenhower To Trump - A Chronicle Of The Threat And Response: Volume I: The Eisenhower Through Carter Administrations|author=Dennis Pluchinsky|page=54-55|publisher=[[World Scientific]]}}</ref><ref name=horton>{{cite news|title=For Official Washington, Terrorism Is a Laughing Matter|url=https://harpers.org/2012/04/for-official-washington-terrorism-is-a-laughing-matter/|author=Scott Horton|date=2012-04-09|publisher=[[Harper's]]}}</ref><ref name=Abrahamian>{{cite book|title=The Iranian Mojahedin|publisher=[[Yale University Press]]|date=1989|author=[[Ervand Abrahamian]]|page=141}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/IncidentSummary.aspx?gtdid=197306020001|title=Global Terrorism Database [Data file]|date=1973-06-02|publisher=National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START)|id=197306020001}}</ref>
On May 11, 1976, the Washington Post reported that in January of that year, "nine terrorists convicted of murdering the three American colonels… were executed. The leader of the group, Vahid Afrakhteh, one of the founders of [[Peykar]] (Marxist group that broke off from [[Mujahedin-e-Khalq]]) stated that he personally killed col. Lewis Lee Hawkins in Tehran in 1973.<ref>{{cite book|title=Mujahedin-E Khalq (MEK) Shackled by a Twisted History|author= Lincoln P. Bloomfield Jr. |year=2013|publisher=University of Baltimore College of Public Affairs|isbn=978-0615783840|pages=17 (p.A9)}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|authors=Arash Reisinezhad |title=The Shah of Iran, the Iraqi Kurds, and the Lebanese Shia |year=2018|publisher= Palgrave Macmillan|page=8|asin=B07FBB6L8Y}}</ref> The Country Reports issued a statement saying "A Marxist element of the MEK murdered several of the Shah's U.S. security advisers prior to the Islamic Revolution."<ref>[https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2005/65275.htm Chapter 8 -- Foreign Terrorist Organizations ]</ref>

Many sources attributed this assassination to the [[Mujahedin-e-Khalq]].<ref name=statedepartment/><ref name=encyclopediaterrorism/><ref name=apnews>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/f8cd86c1a6de470781c8b5f37ef70f5f|title=Trump Cabinet pick paid by controversial Iranian exile group|date=24 April 2021}}</ref><ref name=rand/><ref name=dennis>{{cite book|title=Anti-american Terrorism: From Eisenhower To Trump - A Chronicle Of The Threat And Response: Volume I: The Eisenhower Through Carter Administrations|author=Dennis Pluchinsky|page=54-55|publisher=[[World Scientific]]}}</ref><ref name=horton/><ref name=Abrahamian>{{cite book|title=The Iranian Mojahedin|publisher=[[Yale University Press]]|date=1989|author=[[Ervand Abrahamian]]|page=141}}</ref><ref name=terrorismdatabase/>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 10:49, 22 December 2021

Lt. Colonel Lewis Lee Hawkins (8 August 1930 – 2 June 1973) was a United States military aide to Iran who was assassinated.[1][2] Vahid Afrakhteh, a founding member of Peykar, was captured and confessed to the assassination.[3][4][5][6] Many sources attributed this assassination to the People's Mujahedin of Iran.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

Early life

Hawkins was born to Herman and Mary Hawkins in Chicago on 8 August 1930. He graduated from Plymouth High School and enlisted in South Carolina Presbyterian college on a basketball scholarship. He graduated in 1952 and joined the United States Army as a second Lieutenant. Hawkins later obtained a master's degree in Business Administration from Syracuse University.

In the 1970s Hawkins became the Director of the Department of Finance at U.S. Army Finance School at Indiana. In 1972 Hawkins was assigned to be in U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group to the Imperial Iranian Armed Forces in Iran. He lived with his wife and children in the Abbasabad district.

Assassination

On June 2, 1973 Hawkins was walking to the street corner to be picked up by his driver when two terrorists riding on a motorcycle shot him at point blank range, killing him instantly. Hawkins' wife rushed outside to see his body in a pool of blood. The terrorists immediately fled the scene and were not captured.[15][16]

According to an American military advisor, Hawkins was killed "by an Iranian terrorist".[17] The assassination seemed to have been motivated by political considerations. Although there were two witnesses, assassins were wearing motorcycle helmets and could not be identified. Some GOI officials believed the group responsible to be left-wing and Iraq-supported, while others suspected Mujahedin-e-Khalq.[18]

On May 11, 1976, the Washington Post reported that in January of that year, "nine terrorists convicted of murdering the three American colonels… were executed. The leader of the group, Vahid Afrakhteh, one of the founders of Peykar (Marxist group that broke off from Mujahedin-e-Khalq) stated that he personally killed col. Lewis Lee Hawkins in Tehran in 1973.[19][20] The Country Reports issued a statement saying "A Marxist element of the MEK murdered several of the Shah's U.S. security advisers prior to the Islamic Revolution."[21]

Many sources attributed this assassination to the Mujahedin-e-Khalq.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

References

  1. ^ Lincoln P. Bloomfield Jr. (2013). Mujahedin-E Khalq (MEK) Shackled by a Twisted History. University of Baltimore College of Public Affairs. p. 17. ISBN 978-0615783840.
  2. ^ Iraq in Crisis. Rowman & Littlefield. 2014. p. 213. ISBN 978-1442228566. {{cite book}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |authors= (help)
  3. ^ Appeasing the Ayatollahs and Suppressing Democracy: U.S. Policy and the Iranian Opposition : a White Paper,Iran Policy Committee, page 57
  4. ^ Shirali, Mahnaz (28 July 2017). The Mystery of Contemporary Iran. ISBN 9781351479134. The most notable actions of the Marxist Mojahedin were assassinations of Savak general, of two American military advisers, and a failed attempt against an American diplomat, all in 1975
  5. ^ Camp Ashraf: Iraqi Obligations and State Department Accountability : Joint Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, First Session, December 7, 2011. 2011. ISBN 9780160905018. Referred to in the Iranian press as the "Iranian People's Strugglers", and later known as Peykar, this group led by Tagui Shahram, Vahid Arakhteh and Bahram Aram was one o several underground groups waging a covert war against the Shah's secret police, SAVAK. Afrakhteh, who later confessed to the killings o Americans, was executed
  6. ^ Iran Almanac and Book of Facts, Volumen 15. 1976. Ten terrorists were sentenced to death... The condemned terrorists were Vahid Afrakhteh... The terroirsts were charged with the murders of Brigadier-general Reza Zandipur, United States Colonels Hawkins, Paul Shaffer and ack Turner, the U.S. Embassy's translator Hassan Hossnan
  7. ^ a b "Chapter 6 -- Terrorist Organizations". www.state.gov. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  8. ^ a b Combs, Cindy C.; Slann, Martin W. (2009). Encyclopedia of Terrorism, Revised Edition. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 9781438110196. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Trump Cabinet pick paid by controversial Iranian exile group". 24 April 2021.
  10. ^ a b The Mujahedin-e Khalq in Iraq: a policy conundrum (PDF). RAND Corporation. 2009. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-8330-4701-4. {{cite book}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |authors= (help)
  11. ^ a b Dennis Pluchinsky. Anti-american Terrorism: From Eisenhower To Trump - A Chronicle Of The Threat And Response: Volume I: The Eisenhower Through Carter Administrations. World Scientific. p. 54-55.
  12. ^ a b Scott Horton (2012-04-09). "For Official Washington, Terrorism Is a Laughing Matter". Harper's.
  13. ^ a b Ervand Abrahamian (1989). The Iranian Mojahedin. Yale University Press. p. 141.
  14. ^ a b Global Terrorism Database [Data file], National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), 1973-06-02, 197306020001
  15. ^ "Lt. Col. Lewis Lee HAWKINS".
  16. ^ "LTC Lewis Lee Hawkins (1930-1973) - Find a Grave".
  17. ^ "American Killings | PDF | National Security | Government".
  18. ^ "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume XXVII, Iran; Iraq, 1973–1976 - Office of the Historian".
  19. ^ Lincoln P. Bloomfield Jr. (2013). Mujahedin-E Khalq (MEK) Shackled by a Twisted History. University of Baltimore College of Public Affairs. pp. 17 (p.A9). ISBN 978-0615783840.
  20. ^ The Shah of Iran, the Iraqi Kurds, and the Lebanese Shia. Palgrave Macmillan. 2018. p. 8. ASIN B07FBB6L8Y. {{cite book}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |authors= (help)
  21. ^ Chapter 8 -- Foreign Terrorist Organizations
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