Hadi Ghaffari
Hojatoleslam Hadi Ghaffari (حجت الاسلام هادی غفاری) is a member of the central council of Imam assembly forces and the president of the Al-Hadi Institute in Iran. He was accused to have executed the ex-Prime Minister Amir-Abbas Hoveida during the trials by Sadeq Khalkhali on April 7, 1979.[1] He was also in charge of supervising Hezbollah of Iran.[2] [3]
According to Dr Mir Ali Montazam, one-time first secretary at the Iranian embassy, Ghaffari, was nicknamed the "machinegun mullah" , since he was seen mostly seen with guns in the early revolution years. Montazam further alleges that Ghaffari played a key part in funding the Provisional IRA during the Troubles. Iranian officials deposited £4 million into a secret Jersey bank account, funded by the sale of artwork from the Iranian Embassy in London. Ghaffari was sent to Belfast and organized the distribution of the money via sympathetic Irish businessmen.[4]
Hoveida Execution
On April 7, 1979, Amir-Abbas Hoveida was transported to Qasr Prison. Quickly shuffled back in front of Khalkhali's tribunal, Hoveida heard the court's indictment at three in the afternoon. Behind locked doors, after final efforts at stalling Hoveida's execution ended in failure, the ex-Prime Minister was taken into the prison's yard. Before reaching the area designated for firing squad executions, Hadi Ghaffari from behind pulled out a pistol and shot Hoveida twice in the neck. As Hoveida fell to the ground, a mercy shot was fired off, ending his life.[5]
See also
References
- ^ Abbas Milani, The Persian Sphinx: Amir Abbas Hoveyda and the Riddle of the Iranian Revolution (Mage Publishers, 2000)
- ^ Moin, Khomeini (2000), p.211
- ^ Habib Ladjevardi, Iranian Oral History Project (Harvard University, 2001)[1]
- ^ Iran paid millions to fund IRA Adrian Levy and Anna Pukas. The Times , 21 Aug 1994
- ^ Ebrahim Yazdi's Interview about Amir Abbas Hoveida
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