Mehdi Rahimi ( fa, مهدی رحیمی; 24 March 1921 – 16 February 1979) was an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

lieutenant general. He was executed following the 1979 revolution in Iran.

Early life

Mehdi Rahimi was born in 1921, in Tehran,

Qajar Iran Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...

Career

Rahimi served as deputy commander of the Imperial Guard, Tehran police chief as well as the president of the Wrestling Federation of Iran. He was a lieutenant general and the last military commander and the chief of police of

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 ...

during the final days of the Pahlavi Dynasty and before Tehran fell to the revolutionary forces of the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution. General Rahimi decided not to use his 30,000 loyal Immortal Guards to crush the rebellion for fear of producing civilian casualties.

Arrest and execution

Shortly after the Islamic Revolution in February 1979 and the takeover of all military bases and police stations by the pro-

Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...

Islamists, Rahimi was spotted by a subordinate as he was walking away from a military base near Sepah Square and arrested. By his own account as stated during his televised interrogation, Rahimi was beaten and tortured by the Islamic revolutionaries, arrested and taken to Refah School in Central Tehran. The interrogation which lasted 5 hours, resulted in a death sentence for Rahimi, as well as three other high-profile generals of the former regime.

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 ...

presided over the proceedings and announced his death sentence on the charge of " Warring with God" and " Corrupter on Earth". Rahimi was executed by a firing squad at midnight just before 16 February 1979, on the rooftop of Refah School, which was used as a temporary residence by Ayatollah Khomeini. He refused to be blindfolded and stated that he wanted to die like a general loyal to his commander-in-chief. It has been said that his last words were "Javid Shah" (long live the Shah) and the expression of loyalty to Iran. Major Iranian newspapers published the news of his execution on the morning of 16 February 1979 along with gruesome pictures of his body as well as those of other executed generals. The pictures of him reflect the fact that his right arm was severed before the execution.

Personal life

Rahimi married twice. His first wife was a French woman, and they divorced. He was survived by his second wife, Manijeh, who settled in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. She was sister of Parviz Fatemi, widow of Hossein Fatemi.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rahimi, Mehdi 1921 births 1979 deaths Chiefs of Shahrbani Imperial Iranian Army lieutenant generals People executed by Iran by firing squad Military personnel executed during the Iranian Revolution People from Tehran