Bahram Afzali ( fa, بهرام افضلی; 1937–1984) was the Commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy from May/June 1980 to 24 April 1983. He was executed for his clandestine membership in the

Tudeh Party of Iran The Tudeh Party of Iran ( fa-at, حزب تودۀ ایران, Ḥezb-e Tūde-ye Īrān, lit=Party of the Masses of Iran) is an Iranian communist party. Formed in 1941, with Soleiman Mirza Eskandari as its head, it had considerable influence in i ...

in 1984.

Career

Afzali was born in 1937 in the city of

Qom Qom (also spelled as "Ghom", "Ghum", or "Qum") ( fa, قم ) is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. Qom is the capital of Qom Province. It is located to the south of Tehran. At the 2016 census, its popul ...

. His father was a cleric. He entered the service of the Imperial Iranian Navy in 1957 and was sent to Italy for further education. In 1961, he was graduated from

Italian Naval Academy The Italian Naval Academy (Italian: ''Accademia Navale'') is a coeducational military university in Livorno, which is responsible for the technical training of military officers of the Italian Navy. History The Hospitals The Hospital of St. Jame ...

, where he was trained in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, ...

and

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roo ...

. He later obtained a PhD in boat and submarine architecture in 1970. Afzali was an engineer and a captain in the Imperial Iranian Navy. After the 1979 revolution, he continued to serve in the Navy and took part in the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Counci ...

. Then Iranian president

Abolhassan Bani Sadr Seyyed Abolhassan Banisadr ( fa, سید ابوالحسن بنی‌صدر; 22 March 1933 – 9 October 2021) was an Iranian politician, writer, and political dissident. He was the first president of Iran after the 1979 Iranian Revolution abol ...

appointed him as the commander of the Navy in June 1980. He was also special adviser of then speaker of the Iranian parliament,

Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ( fa, اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی, Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, born Akbar Hashemi Bahramani, 25 August 1934 – 8 January 2017) was an Iranian politician, writer, and one of the founding fathers of the Islami ...

Arrest, trial and death

At the beginning of 1983, Afzali, along with more than a thousand members of the

Tudeh Party The Tudeh Party of Iran ( fa-at, حزب تودۀ ایران, Ḥezb-e Tūde-ye Īrān, lit=Party of the Masses of Iran) is an Iranian communist party. Formed in 1941, with Soleiman Mirza Eskandari as its head, it had considerable influence in i ...

was arrested by the IRP. The trial carried out in the form of a military tribunal in December 1983, and 32 of them were sentenced to death. Their judge was Hojjat Al Islam

Mohammad Reyshahri Mohammad Reyshahri ( fa, محمد ری‌‌شهری), also known as Mohammad Mohammadi-Nik (29 October 1946 – 21 March 2022), was an Iranian politician and cleric who was the first Minister of Intelligence, serving from 1984 to 1989 in the c ...

, who also interrogated Mahdi Hashemi in 1986. The location of the tribunal has been never revealed. Ten of these Tudeh members were executed. On 25 February 1984, Afzali was executed on charges of espionage for the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

References

External links

Official website
1937 births 1984 deaths People from Qom Commanders of Islamic Republic of Iran Navy 20th-century executions by Iran Executed spies Iranian people convicted of spying for the Soviet Union Tudeh Military Network members Islamic Republic of Iran Army personnel of the Iran–Iraq War Imperial Iranian Navy personnel University of Genoa alumni Iranian expatriates in Italy Marine engineers {{iran-mil-bio-stub

Career

Arrest, trial and death

See also

References

External links