Cyrus Hashemi

Cyrus Hashemi
Born	27 December 1938
Died	21 July 1986 London
Nationality	Iranian
Occupation	Arms dealer
Known for	Linked to the Iran-Contra affair and 1980 October Surprise theory

Cyrus Hashemi (

From November 1980 to January 1981 wiretaps were placed in the New York offices of the First Gulf Bank and Trust Company, of which Hashemi was the head.[10] The bank had handled clandestine money transfers for the Iranian government, with Admiral Ahmad Madani, then the Defense Minister, ordering $30–$35m transferred to an account there in late 1979.^{[citation needed]}

A 1992 Senate investigation concluded that Hashemi was involved in a 1980 CIA attempt to funnel $500,000 to the campaign of Iranian presidential candidate Ahmad Madani, ahead of the 1980 Iranian presidential election. Charles Cogan met with Hashemi and his brother Jamshid in New York on 5 January, and in the context of the Iran hostage crisis the Hashemis "promised to put U.S. officials in touch with top officials in the Tehran government, including a family member of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini", but asked for financial support for Madani. The CIA provided $500,000 in cash on 17 January, which was rejected in favour of a wire transfer via Switzerland. Hashemi later returned $290,000 to Cogan, via the office of John Stanley Pottinger, after Cogan had determined that less than $100,000 had been spent for its intended purpose.^[11] Madani later testified to the House October Surprise Task Force that he had told off Hashemi for attempting to collaborate with the Republicans behind Carter's back; he said Hashemi had offered to bring Casey to a meeting to discuss a hostage deal.^{[citation needed]}

Mid-1980s

According to the Los Angeles Times, by the mid-1980s Hashemi, although maintaining an appearance of wealth (such as commuting to his London office in a gold-trimmed Rolls-Royce) was facing bankruptcy, in part due to major gambling losses sustained in London casinos.^[12]

In mid-1985 Hashemi was partnered with Adnan Khashoggi in "World Trade Group", "a joint venture ... that was seeking to trade farm equipment, oil and military weapons with Iran."^[13] Roy Furmark was also involved.^[14]

In June 1985 Hashemi approached William Casey with a new arms-for-hostages plan.

In 1986 Hashemi acted as a government informant in a four-month sting operation for the US Customs Service,^[16] resulting in the Brokers of Death arms case, which the Los Angeles Times described in 1988 as "the largest arms conspiracy prosecution ever brought by the Justice Department".^[15] Hashemi had agreed to act as an informant in exchange for the dropping of arms smuggling charges against him.^[15]

Death

Hashemi died on 21 July 1986 after becoming ill with a rare and "virulent" form of leukemia diagnosed only two days earlier. Although the cause of death was officially attributed to leukemia, there were suspicions of foul play. Following Hashemi's death, a congressional investigation was launched, and a Senate investigator made two trips to England to conduct inquiries. A U.S. government informant who had worked with Hashemi claimed that Customs Service officials had informed him that Hashemi may have been "bumped off" to safeguard the operation's confidentiality. An unidentified source from the committee investigating the arms deals asserted that they would be neglecting their responsibility if they did not follow up on what seemed to be mysterious death.^[17][18]

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