Casualties of the Iranian Revolution
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The real and imaginary human rights violations and casualties of anti-Shah forces during the
Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
, such as Black Friday massacre at Jaleh Square and Cinema Rex fire in Abadan. were blamed on the Shah's forces and contributed directly to his overthrow. Observers differ on how many died. The Islamic government uses the figure of 60,000 killed; in reference to this figure, the military historian
Spencer C. Tucker Spencer C. Tucker is a Fulbright scholar, retired university professor, and author of works on military history. He taught history at Texas Christian University for 30 years and held the John Biggs Chair of Military History at the Virginia Milit ...
notes that "Khomeini's regime grossly overstated the revolution's death toll for propaganda purposes". The sociologist
Charles Kurzman Charles Kurzman is a Professor of Sociology at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who specializes in Middle East and Islamic studies. Education and employment After completing his B.A. at Harvard University in 1986, he completed his M.A. ...
, drawing on later more detailed records from the Islamic Republic, believes the number was closer to 2,000-3,000. Tucker explains that the consensus of historians regarding estimated deaths during the Iranian Revolution (from January 1978 to February 1979), numbers between 532 and 2,781. The number of protesters and political prisoners killed after the fall of the Shah by the new Islamic Republic as it consolidated power is estimated by human rights groups to be several thousand.Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions'' (1999), pp. 135–6, 167, 169 According to Tucker's estimations, in the period of 1980 to 1985, between 25,000 to 40,000 Iranians were arrested, 15,000 Iranians were tried and 8,000 to 9,500 Iranians were executed.


Casualties of the monarchy

The Preamble of the 1979 Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran speaks of the Islamic Revolution being "watered by the blood of more than 60,000 martyrs and 100,000 wounded and disabled". The revolution's leader, Ruhollah Khomeini also stated that "60,000 men, women and children were martyred by the Shah's regime."E. Baqi, 'Figures for the Dead in the Revolution', ''Emruz'', 30 July 2003. In reference to the 60,000 figure, the military historian
Spencer C. Tucker Spencer C. Tucker is a Fulbright scholar, retired university professor, and author of works on military history. He taught history at Texas Christian University for 30 years and held the John Biggs Chair of Military History at the Virginia Milit ...
notes that "Khomeini's regime grossly overstated the revolution's death toll for propaganda purposes". Tucker explains that the consensus of historians regarding estimated deaths during the Iranian Revolution (from January 1978 to February 1979), numbers between 532 and 2,781.
Emadeddin Baghi Emadeddin Baghi (born 25 April 1962) is an Iranian Journalist, human rights activist, prisoners' rights advocate, investigative journalist, theologian and writer. He is the founder and head of the Committee for the Defense of Prisoners' Rights an ...
, while a researcher at the
Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs The Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs ( fa, بنیاد شهید و امور ایثارگران ''Bonyad Shahid va Omur-e Ithargaran'') is an Iranian foundation that receives its funding directly from the national budget. Amir-Hossein Ghaz ...
(''Bonyad Shahid'') -- established after the revolution to compensate the survivors of fallen revolutionaries -- found a smaller number were killed. Between 1963 and 1979 he estimated 3164 in the anti-Shah movement were killed. The Foundation of Martyrs identified 744 dead in
Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
(where the majority of the casualties were supposed to have occurred). The coroner's office counted 895 dead; and Tehran's main cemetery, Behesht-e Zahra, 768 dead. According to Kurzman, "the shah frequently told foreign emissaries that he was unwilling to massacre his subjects in order to save his throne".


By date

According to one collection of 'martyrs of the revolution,` ''Laleh'he-ye Enqelab'', examined by Charles Kurzman, *35 demonstrators died in the first eight months of 1978, *33 in Shahrivar (August–September 1978) and *18 in Mehr (September–October 1978), when the revolution turned to strikes instead of street protests. When the military regime was installed in Mehr 1978, the number of deaths jumped to *45 in Aban (October–November 1978), then to *85 in Azar (November–December 1978), *137 in Dey (December 1978 – January 1979), and *179 in Bahman (January–February 1979).Kurzman, ''Unthinkable Revolution'', (2004), p. 109.
sources: "On martyrs of the revolution see ''Laleh'he-ye Enqelab''; this volume, published by a religious institution, features photographs of 'martyrs of the revolution,` including name, age, date and place of death, and sometimes occupation; the method of selection is not described. I am indebted to Prof. James A. Bill for directing me to ''Laleh'ha-ye Enqelab'', which he too has used as sampling of revolutionary fatalities" (Bill, James, ''The Eagle and the Lion'', p. 487


19 Day protest in Qom

The 9 January 1978 (Dey 19, 1356) protest in the holy city of Qom against a libelous story about the Ayatollah Khomeini was perhaps the first major protest of the revolution. The official death toll of monarchy was nine. U.S. diplomats first reported to Washington that 20 to 30 died, then fourteen. Rumors spread immediately that one hundred or more were killed, and "opposition estimates ranged up to 300." Public opinion at the time as reflected in "a small survey in Tehran the following week" found that "more people believed the opposition's casualty figures than the government's".Kurzman, ''Unthinkable Revolution'', (2004), p. 37 In contrast, a list recently produced by the Center for Documents on the Islamic Revolution, a "pro-revolutionary institute", found five people died in the protest.


29 Bahman protest in Tabriz

40 days later, on 18 February 1978, (Bahman 29), groups in a number of cities marched to honour the fallen and protest against the rule of the Shah. The state brought in "troops and tanks from nearby bases." This time, violence erupted in the northwestern city of
Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...
. According to the opposition, 500 demonstrators were killed there, according to the government ten were. "A recent irca 2004pro-revolutionary review of the event, however, has stated definitively that the total was 13 dead."


Cinema Rex fire in Abadan

The 19 August 1978 fire at a movie theater in Abadan killed at least 420 people. The event started when four men doused the building with airplane fuel before setting it alight. Khomeini immediately blamed the Shah and SAVAK for setting the fire, and, due to the pervasive revolutionary atmosphere, the public also blamed the Shah for starting the fire, despite the government's insistence that they were uninvolved. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets shouting "Burn the Shah!" and "The Shah is the guilty one!" Abrahamian (1982) According to
Roy Mottahedeh Roy Parviz Mottahedeh (born July 3, 1940) is an American historian who is Gurney Professor of History, Emeritus at Harvard University, where he taught courses on the pre-modern social and intellectual history of the Islamic Middle East and is an e ...
, author of ''The Mantle of the Prophet'', "thousands of Iranians who had felt neutral and had until now thought that the struggle was only between the shah and supporters of religiously conservative mullahs felt that the government might put their own lives on the block to save itself. Suddenly, for hundreds of thousands, the movement was their own business."Mottahedeh, Roy (2004). ''The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran'', page 375. After the revolution, many claimed that
Islamist militants ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term t ...
had started the fire.Afkhami, R. Gholam. 2009. ''The life and times of the Shah''.
University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facult ...
. . pp. 459, 465.
Ansari, M. Ali. 2007. ''Modern Iran: the Pahlavis and After''. Pearson Education. . p. 259.
Federal Research Division The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress. The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unit ...
. 2004. ''Iran A Country Study''.
Kessinger Publishing Kessinger Publishing LLC is an American print-on-demand publishing company located in Whitefish, Montana, that specializes in rare, out-of-print books. According to Kelly Gallagher, vice president of publishing services at a bibliographic inform ...
. . p. 78.
Bahl, Taru, and M. H. Syed. 2003. ''Encyclopaedia of the Muslim World''. Anmol Publications PVT. LTD. . p. 105.Curtis, Glenn Eldon, and
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
. 2008. ''Iran: a Country Study''.
Government Printing Office The United States Government Publishing Office (USGPO or GPO; formerly the United States Government Printing Office) is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States Federal government. The office produces and distributes information ...
. . p. 48.
After the Islamic Republic government executed a police officer for the act, a man claiming to be the lone surviving arsonist claimed he was responsible for starting the fire. After forcing the resignation of the presiding judges in an attempt to hamper the investigation, the new government finally executed Hossein Takb'alizadeh for "setting the fire on the Shah's orders," despite his insistence that he did it on his own accord as an ultimate sacrifice for the revolutionary cause.


"Black Friday," 17 Shahrivar

The clash between government and protestors that is said to have enraged anti-Shah forces and eliminated "any hope for compromise," occurred on 8 September 1978 (Shahrivar 17) in Tehran. The Shah introduced
martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...
, and banned all demonstrations, but thousands of protesters gathered in Tehran. Security forces shot and killed demonstrators in what became known as Black Friday. The clerical leadership declared that "thousands have been massacred by Zionist troops," "Estimate of casualties on ... Black Friday, range from fewer than 100 to many thousands. The post-revolutionary Martyr Foundation could identify only 79 dead, while the coroner's office counted 82 and Tehran's main cemetery, Beheshte-e Zahra, registered only 40."


Revolutionary casualties

Following the overthrow of the Shah's government on 11 February 1979 (22 Bahman 1357), members of the old regime, including senior generals, were executed by the revolutionary leadership. For this purpose, the Islamic regime formed komitehs (committees) in all provinces. Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani was the chief of the Central Provisional Komiteh for the Islamic Revolution. In the first couple of months, over 200 of the Shah's senior civilian officials were killed as punishment and to eliminate the danger of coup d'état. The first death sentences were for four of the shah's generals and were approved by the Tehran court in February 1979. They were Mehdi Rahimi, the military commander of Tehran,
Reza Naji Reza Naji is an Iranian actor and an iconic figure of Iranian cinema. Naji started his career in theater when he was a teenager. While serving in the Iranian army, he continued to perform in different roles. His first role in a film goes back to ...
, the military governor of Isfahan,
Nematollah Nassiri Nematollah Nassiri ( fa, نعمت‌الله نصیری; 4 August 1910 – 15 February 1979) was the director of SAVAK, the Iranian intelligence agency during the rule of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, and later the Ambassador of Iran to Pakistan. ...
, the head of SAVAK, and Manuchehr Khosrodad, an air force general. All four generals were executed by firing squad on the roof of the then Ayatollah Khomeini's headquarters on 15 February. On 7 April 1979,
Amir-Abbas Hoveyda Amir-Abbas Hoveyda ( fa, امیرعباس هویدا, Amīr 'Abbās Hoveyda; 18 February 1919 – 7 April 1979) was an Iranian economist and politician who served as Prime Minister of Iran from 27 January 1965 to 7 August 1977. He was the lo ...
, former prime minister of Iran, was executed. Two days later on 9 April ten senior officials of the Shah, including two generals and a cabinet member, were executed in Tehran. Those killed included commander-in-chief of the air force, Amir Hossein Rabi'i. On 11 April, former foreign minister,
Abbas Ali Khalatbari Abbas Ali Khalatbari ( fa, عباسعلی خلعتبری, Abbās-'Alī Khal’atbarī; 1912 – 11 April 1979), also known as Abbas Ali Khal'atbari, was an Iranian diplomat, who served as the minister of foreign affairs from 1971 to 1978. He was ...
, former agriculture minister Mansour Rouhani and former mayor of Tehran, Gholam‐Reza Nikpey and seven other senior figures were killed. On 8 May, a total of 21 former Iranian officials, including three former high-level politicians, were executed. They were
Javad Saeed Javad Saeed ( fa, جواد سعید) was an Iranian politician who served as the last Speaker of the Parliament of Iran during Pahlavi dynasty, and was the last secretary-general of the ruling Resurgence Party. He represented Sari in the parlia ...
, former Majlis speaker, Gholam Reza Kianpor, former information minister, and Mohammad Reza Ameli Tehrani, former education minister. On 9 May, eight men, including the prominent Jewish executive
Habib Elghanian Habib (Habibollah) Elghanian ( fa, حبیب (حبیب‌الله) القانیان, 5 April 1912 – 9 May 1979) was a prominent Iranian Jewish businessman and philanthropist who served as the president of the Tehran Jewish Society and acte ...
, and former information minister, Abdul Hassan Saadatmand, were executed, raising the number of the executed people 119 since February 1979. On 23 July 1979, five more men were executed in the Khuzestan province. The death toll became 363 with these executions since February 1979. In August 1979, the courts began to try the members of the ethnic minorities in the country who participated in demonstrations against the new Islamic government , and the trials resulted in massive death sentences. By November 1979, the death toll was 550 and by January 1980, the number had reached at least 582. Critics complained that the brief trials lacked defense attorneys, juries, transparency or opportunity for the accused to defend themselves, were held by revolutionary judges such as
Sadegh Khalkhali Mohammed Sadeq Givi Khalkhali (27 July 1926 – 26 November 2003) ( fa, صادق خلخالی) was an Iranian Shia cleric who is said to have "brought to his job as Chief Justice of the revolutionary courts a relish for summary execution" that ...
, the '' Sharia'' judge. Those who escaped Iran were not immune. A decade later, another former Prime Minister, Shapour Bakhtiar, was assassinated in Paris, one of at least 63 Iranians abroad killed or wounded since the Shah was overthrown, although these attacks are thought to have stopped after the early 1990s. The pace of executions then accelerated, leading to at least 906 executions between January 1980 and June 1981. After president Abulhassan Banisadr was impeached on 20 June 1981 (30 Khordad 1360), a concerted effort was made to find and prosecute the erstwhile supporters turned opposition, primarily leftists. Bloodletting became much worse. According to Shaul Bakhash,
The number who lost their lives will probably never be known with certainty. Amnesty International documented 2,946 executions in the 12 months following Bani-Sadr's impeachment. A list compiled the following year by the Mojahedin-e Khalq cited 7,746 persons who had lost their lives through executions, in street battles, or under torture in the short period from June 1981 to September 1983.
According to historian
Ervand Abrahamian Ervand Abrahamian; hy, Երուանդ Աբրահամեան (born 1940) is an Iranian-American historian of the Middle East. He is Distinguished Professor of History at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York a ...
, revolutionary courts executed more than 8000 opponents between June 1981 and June 1985. These were mainly members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq, but also included
Fedayins and Kurds as well as Tudeh, National Front, and Shariatmadari supporters. ... Thus the toll taken among those who had participated in the revolution was far greater than that of royalists. This revolution – like others – had devoured its own children.Abrahamian, Ervand, ''History of Modern Iran'', Columbia University Press, 2008, p. 181
According to estimations by the military historian
Spencer C. Tucker Spencer C. Tucker is a Fulbright scholar, retired university professor, and author of works on military history. He taught history at Texas Christian University for 30 years and held the John Biggs Chair of Military History at the Virginia Milit ...
, in the period of 1980 to 1985, between 25,000 to 40,000 Iranians were arrested, 15,000 Iranians were tried and 8,000 to 9,500 Iranians were executed.


See also

*
Human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran The state of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran has been criticized by Iranians and international human rights activists, by writers, and NGOs. The United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Commission
*
Human rights in the Imperial State of Iran The Imperial state of Iran, the government of Iran during the Pahlavi dynasty, lasted from 1925 to 1979. During that time two monarchs — Reza Shah Pahlavi and his son Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi — employed secret police, torture, and executions ...
*
Slogans of the 1979 Iranian Revolution This article deals with people's slogans during the 1979 Iranian revolution Analysis Sociologists study the slogans of a revolution to study things such as the opinions of the revolutionizing society about the ruling regime, the reasons for ...
*
Political slogans of the Islamic Republic of Iran This article deals with political slogans of Islamic republic era in Iran. Slogans of the Islamic Republic and the revolutionaries These are the usual slogans of supporters of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, which are frequently used in religi ...


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

*Kurzman, Charles, ''The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran'', (Harvard University Press, 2004) *Keddie, Nikki, ''Modern Iran : Roots and Results of Revolution'' by Nikki Keddie, Yale University Press, 2003 *Mackey, Sandra ''The Iranians : Persia, Islam and the Soul of a Nation'', New York : Dutton, c1996. *Taheri, Amir, ''The Spirit of Allah: Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution'', Adler and Adler, c1985 {{DEFAULTSORT:Casualties Of The Islamic Revolution Iranian Revolution Protests in Iran Rebellions in Iran 20th-century revolutions 1979 in Iran Iranian civil wars Mohammad Reza Pahlavi History of civil rights and liberties in Iran