Shahriar Shafiq (; 15 March 1945 – 7 December 1979) was an

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and a member of the House of Pahlavi. He was the son of Princess

Ashraf Pahlavi Ashraf ol-Molouk Pahlavi (, , 26 October 1919 – 7 January 2016) was the twin sister of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the late Shah of Iran (Persia), and a member of the Pahlavi dynasty. She was considered the "power behind her brother" and was instru ...

, twin sister of the last

Shah of Iran The monarchs of Iran ruled for over two and a half millennia, beginning as early as the 7th century BC and enduring until the 20th century AD. The earliest Iranian king is generally considered to have been either Deioces of the Median dynasty () ...

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last List of monarchs of Iran, Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the ...

. His military career lasted from 1963 until the Iranian Revolution in 1979. He stayed until March 1979 when he had to escape Iran after months of fighting the revolutionaries. Shahriar Shafiq resided in Paris until 7 December 1979, when he was assassinated by agents of the

Islamic Republic The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been used for a s ...

Early life and education

Shafiq was born in Cairo on 15 March 1945. He was the son of Ashraf Pahlavi and Ahmad Shafiq (Dir-Gen of Civil Aviation, son of Ahmad Shafiq Pasha, Minister of the Khedivial Court of Egypt), and brother of Azadeh Shafiq. Shafiq was educated at the Royal Navy College in Dartmouth, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Personal life

In 1967, Shafiq married to the daughter of

Manouchehr Eghbal Manouchehr Eghbal (; September 1909 – 25 November 1977) was an Iranian physician and royalist politician. He was the Prime Minister of Iran from 1957 to 1960. Early life and education Eghbal was born in Mashhad in September 1909, and his famil ...

, Maryam Eghbal, who had been married at age 18 to Mahmoud Reza Pahlavi in October 1964, one of his uncles and a half-brother of the Shah. Shafiq and Eghbal had two sons: Nader Shafiq (born 15 March 1968) and Dara Shafiq (born 1970).

Career and activities

Shafiq was an Imperial Iranian Navy

. He and his cousin Prince Kamyar Pahlavi, son of Abdul Reza Pahlavi, were the only members of the

Pahlavi dynasty The Pahlavi dynasty () is an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian royal dynasty that was the Pahlavi Iran, last to rule Iran before the country's monarchy was abolished by the Iranian Revolution in 1979. It was founded in 1925 by Reza Shah, Reza S ...

who chose military careers. Shafiq was the highest-ranking military officer in the Pahlavi family. He worked in the navy of Iran from 1963 to 1979. He served as the commander of the Persian Gulf fleet of Hovercraft before the 1979 revolution. Additionally, Shafiq was the head of Judo and Karate federation of Iran during the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah.

Later years and assassination

After the revolution of February 1979, he was the only member of the Pahlavi dynasty who stayed in Iran and kept fighting against the revolutionaries, up to the point when he had to flee in a small boat from the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

, under heavy fire. He fled Iran in March 1979. After leaving Iran, Shafiq first went to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Then he joined his family in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, on 14 November 1979, and began organizing a resistance movement against the Islamic Republic. He founded the group, Iran Azad (Free Iran), which was later led by his sister Azadeh with whom he was living in Paris. They both acted as the Pahlavi family’s principal spokesmen. In Iran, Islamic judge Ayatollah Sadeq Khalkhali tried and sentenced him and other members of the Pahlavi family in absentia to death in a secret trial in the spring of 1979. Shafiq was assassinated in Paris on 7 December 1979, being shot twice in the head by agents of the Islamic Republic on the Rue Pergolese, outside his mother's home. He was aged 34. The attack was carried out by a masked gunman. Ayatollah Khalkhali claimed that the assassination was carried out by one of his

death squad A death squad is an armed group whose primary activity is carrying out extrajudicial killings, massacres, or enforced disappearances as part of political repression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, or revolutionary terror. Except in rare cases in w ...

s. The Muslim Liberation Group announced that it was responsible for the assassination. Shahriar's body was not buried, but embalmed and moved to New York City where it was kept by his mother.

References

External links

In Memory of Prince Shahryar Shafigh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shafiq, Shahriar 20th-century Iranian people 1945 births 1979 deaths Assassinated activists Assassinated Iranian military personnel Assassinated royalty Deaths by firearm in France Exiles of the Iranian Revolution in France Exiles of the Iranian Revolution in the United States Iranian monarchists Iranian people murdered abroad Iranian people of Egyptian descent Murdered royalty Military personnel from Cairo People murdered in Paris People of the Iranian Revolution People sentenced to death in absentia Terrorism deaths in France People murdered in 1979 Members of the Pahlavi dynasty