In the Mykonos restaurant assassinations ( fa, ترور رستوران میکونوس; also the "Mykonos Incident"), Iranian-Kurdish opposition leaders

Sadegh Sharafkandi Sadegh Sharafkandi (Kurdish: سادق شەڕەفکەندی, ''Sadiq Şerefkendî''; 11 January 1938 – 17 September 1992) was a Kurdish political activist and the Secretary-General of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (PDKI). Early l ...

, Fattah Abdoli,

Homayoun Ardalan Homayoun Ardalan (Kurdish: ھۆمایون ئەردەڵان, ''Homayoun Ardalan''; 2 February 1950 – 17 September 1992) was the official representative of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran in Germany and a member of the Central Committ ...

and their translator Nouri Dehkordi, were assassinated at the Mykonos Greek restaurant in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

on 17 September 1992. The assassination took place during the KDPI insurgency (1989–96), as part of the general

Kurdish separatism in Iran Kurdish separatism in Iran or the Kurdish–Iranian conflict is an ongoing, long-running, separatist dispute between the Kurdish opposition in Western Iran and the governments of Iran, lasting since the emergence of Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1918. ...

. The assassins were believed by German courts to have links to Iranian intelligence.

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. Three victims died instantly, while the fourth died at a hospital. In the same restaurant a meeting was scheduled of

Ingvar Carlsson Gösta Ingvar Carlsson (born 9 November 1934) is a Swedish politician who twice served as Prime Minister of Sweden, first from 1986 to 1991 and again from 1994 to 1996. He was leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1986 to 1996. He ...

, a two-term

Prime Minister of Sweden The prime minister ( sv, statsminister ; literally translating to "Minister of State") is the head of government of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are su ...

and leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party,

Mona Sahlin Mona Ingeborg Sahlin ( born 9 March 1957) is a Swedish politician who was leader of the opposition and leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 2007 to 2011. Sahlin was a Member of Parliament, representing Stockholm County, from 198 ...

, the secretary of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and

Pierre Schori Jean-Pierre Olov Schori (born 14 October 1938, in Norrköping) is a Swedish diplomat and politician. For many years he was international secretary in the Swedish Social Democratic Party and a close assistant to the Swedish Prime Minister Olof ...

, the former Swedish

State Secretary for Foreign Affairs The State Secretary for Foreign Affairs ( sv, Kabinettssekreterare) is the highest position below the rank of cabinet minister at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. , Jan Knutsson is State Secretary.Carl Bildt Nils Daniel Carl Bildt (born 15 July 1949) is a Swedish politician and diplomat who was Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994. He was the leader of the Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999. Bildt served as Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affair ...

, 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. Sharafkandi, Abdoli and Ardalan were buried in the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figure ...

, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Trial

The trial began in October 1993. In the trial the German court found

Kazem Darabi Kazem Darabi ( fa, کاظم دارابی) (born 1964) is an Iranian intelligence service employee who was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Berlin Supreme Court for murdering four Kurdish dissidents in Berlin in 1992. According to the court pro ...

, an Iranian who worked as a grocer in Berlin, Abdolraham Banihashemi, an Iranian intelligence officer, and Lebanese Abbas Hossein Rhayel, guilty of murder and sentenced them to life in prison. Two other Lebanese, Youssef Amin and Mohamed Atris, were convicted of being accessories to murder. A dissident ex-President of Iran

Abolhassan Banisadr 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 aboli ...

, who fled the country in 1981 after being impeached and has not returned since, testified as a witness during the trial and told the court that the killings had been personally ordered by

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنه‌ای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia '' marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president ...

and then-president

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 Islam ...

. There was also a getaway driver named Farajollah Haider (also known as Abu Ja'far). Iranian officials, however, categorically denied their involvement in the incident. The then-speaker of the Iranian Parliament

Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri ( fa, علی‌اکبر ناطق‌نوری; sometimes spelt Nategh-Nouri, born 6 October 1944) is an Iranian politician, who served as the Chairman of the Parliament of Iran from 1992 to 2000. He was also the Minister of ...

dismissed the ruling as being political, untrue and unsubstantiated. In its 10 April 1997 ruling, the court issued an international arrest warrant for Iranian intelligence minister

Ali Fallahian Ali Fallahian ( fa, علی فلاحیان , born 23 October 1949) is an Iranian politician and cleric. He served as intelligence minister from 1989 to 1997 under the presidency of Ali Akbar Rafsanjani. Early life and education Fallahian was bo ...

after declaring that the assassination had been ordered by him with knowledge of Khamenei and Rafsanjani. This led to a diplomatic crisis between the government of Iran and those of several European countries lasting until November 1997. Despite international and domestic protests, Darabi and Rhayel were released from prison on 10 December 2007 and deported back to their home countries.

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. The Mykonos restaurant assassinations (alongside the

1994 AMIA bombing The AMIA bombing occurred on 18 July 1994 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and targeted the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA; ), a Jewish Community Centre. Executed as a suicidal attack, a bomb-laden van was driven into the AMIA build ...

) are attributed to Majid Javadi in Episode One of Season Three in the 2011 American TV show

Homeland A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethn ...

References

External links

"Holy Crime" A Documentary by Reza Allamehzadeh about the assassinations
(English version on YouTube)

Iran Human Rights Documentation Center {{DEFAULTSORT:Mykonos Restaurant Assassinations Terrorist incidents in Germany Germany–Iran relations 1992 in Berlin Attacks on restaurants in Europe Murder in Berlin Kurdish separatism in Iran Assassinations in Germany September 1992 events in Europe Attacks on buildings and structures in Germany Mass murder in Germany Mass murder in 1992 1992 murders in Germany Terrorist incidents in Germany in 1992 People killed in Ministry of Intelligence (Iran) operations 1990s murders in Berlin

Events

Trial

Adaptations in media

See also

References

External links