Mykonos restaurant assassinations
In the Mykonos restaurant assassinations (
Events
Sharafkandi, Abdoli, Ardalan and Dehkordi were murdered in a mafia-style attack at the Mykonos Greek restaurant located on Prager Straße in Berlin at about 11 pm on 17 September 1992.[1][2] Three victims died instantly, while the fourth died at a hospital.[2] In the same restaurant a meeting was scheduled of Ingvar Carlsson, a two-term Prime Minister of Sweden and leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party, Mona Sahlin, the secretary of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and Pierre Schori, the former Swedish State Secretary for Foreign Affairs.[3] Due to a telephone call to Ingvar Carlsson from Carl Bildt, the then-current Prime Minister of Sweden, who urged Carlsson to immediately return to Sweden due to the alleged urgent state of the Swedish economy, all three flew back to Sweden the same day and thus probably escaped being assassinated as well.[3]
Sharafkandi, Abdoli and Ardalan were buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery, in Paris.
Trial
The trial began in October 1993.
Iranian officials, however, categorically denied their involvement in the incident. The then-speaker of the Iranian Parliament
In its 10 April 1997 ruling, the court issued an international arrest warrant for Iranian intelligence minister Ali Fallahian[4] after declaring that the assassination had been ordered by him with knowledge of Khamenei and Rafsanjani.[5] This led to a diplomatic crisis between the government of Iran and those of several European countries lasting until November 1997.[6] Despite international and domestic protests, Darabi and Rhayel were released from prison on 10 December 2007 and deported back to their home countries.[7][8]
Adaptations in media
The events surrounding the Mykonos restaurant assassinations and subsequent trial were adapted into a non-fiction story by Roya Hakakian in her book Assassins of the Turquoise Palace in 2011.[9]
The Mykonos restaurant assassinations (alongside the
See also
- Germany–Iran relations
- Iran and state-sponsored terrorism
- Chain murders of Iran
- Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran
References
- ^ a b c Kutschera, Chris (1 April 1997). "A network of terror". The Middle East. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
- ^ UNHCR. 16 November 1999. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
- ^ a b Svensson, Niklas (26 May 2010). "Här kunde Sahlin och Carlsson ha mördats". Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
- ^ Israel fails to prevent Germany freeing Iranian Haaretz [dead link]
- ^ Hakakian, Roya (4 October 2007). "The End of the Dispensable Iranian". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
- ^ "German court implicates Iran leaders in '92 killings". CNN. 10 April 1997. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
- ^ Germany Deports Iranian jailed for 1992 murders Archived 6 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Iran: Terrorist Freed in Germany Is Welcomed By Tehran". Eurasianet. 14 December 2007. Archived from the original on 4 April 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
- ^ Wilford, Marcus (November–December 2011). "The Assassins' Trail: Unraveling the Mykonos Killings". World Affairs. Archived from the original on 15 November 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
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External links
- "Holy Crime" A Documentary by Reza Allamehzadeh about the assassinations (English version on YouTube)
- A detailed report on the assassinations Iran Human Rights Documentation Center