Assassination and terrorism in Iran
Numerous civilians, including men, women, children, government officials, activists, secular intellectuals and clerics have been victims of assassination, terrorism, or violence against non-combatants, over the course of modern Iranian history.
Safavi sought to "purify Islam" in Iran by ridding it of "corrupting individuals" by means of carefully planned assassinations of certain leading intellectual and political figures.
On August 19, 1978, in the midst of the Iranian Revolution, more than 420 people were killed when the Cinema Rex in Abadan, Iran was set on fire during a showing of the movie The Deers.
At the time the tragedy was blamed on the regime of Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, generated great popular anger and contributed to his overthrow.
According to Iranterror.com, "it was widely assumed that [Emami] was murdered in order to prevent the leak of sensitive information about Ministry of Intelligence and Security operations, which would have compromised the entire leadership of the Islamic Republic.
Abdul Shakoor had intimate contacts with Ramzi Ahmed Yousef and was responsible for the June 20, 1994, massive bomb explosion at the shrine Imam Ali Reza in Mashhad.
"[16] According to the Jamestown Foundation Terrorism Monitor, "a report produced by the [Iranian] Ministry of Intelligence in October 1994 identified the culprits as operatives of Pakistan's Lashkar-e-Jhangvi the sister organization of Sipah-e-Sahaba.
Tehran had earlier contacted the Pakistan government to guarantee the security of their Consulate, because the Iranians knew that ISI officers had driven into Mazar with the Taliban.
Referring to the attack, Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei alleges that "neither the Americans, nor the Europeans, who are now pursuing Al-Qaeda agents as members of the most dangerous terror organization, showed any reaction at all.
[26] A car filled with explosives stopped in front of a bus full of Revolutionary Guards in Ahmabad district, Zahedan, Sistan-Baluchestan Province at 6:30 a.m. on February 14, 2007.
[27] Jundallah, an organization some alleged to be affiliated with Al Qaeda,[28] claimed responsibility for the attack on February 15 and said it is retaliation for the executions of those accused of carrying out the Ahvaz Bombings.
[29] Hossein Ali Shahriari, Zahedan's representative in parliament, rhetorically asked, "Why does our diplomatic apparatus not seriously confront the Pakistani government for harboring bandits and regime's enemies?
Interior Ministry official Mohammad Hussein Motahar said at the time:[30] A terrorist bombing inside a mosque in Shiraz in April 2008 killed 14 people including 10 men, 2 women and 2 children.
[32] The bombings took place in the day of Tasua, when Shiite Muslims gathered there to commemorate the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad.
[40] The attacker, Abdullatif Moradi, a 21-year-old ethnic Uzbek illegal immigrant from Afghanistan,[41] has been called as a "Takfiri who viewed Shia Muslims as heretics and believed their blood should be spilled".
[43] On October 26, 2022, a gunman shot and killed 15 pilgrims at the Shah Cheragh shrine in Shiraz, including women and children, and wounding scores of others.
[44] According to state media, "30 simultaneous terrorist attacks" were set to take place on the one year anniversary of "the riots that broke out in September 2022", i.e. on the date of Mahsa Amini's death at the hands of security forces after she was arrested for allegedly bad hijab.
The twin explosions struck a procession going towards Soleimani's tomb in the Golzar Shohada cemetery,[47] around the Saheb al-Zaman mosque, to commemorate the fourth anniversary of his death.
[49] On January 18, 2025, Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghiseh, two senior Islamic judges, were shot and assassinated at the Tehran's Supreme Court of Iran by a gunman who committed suicide.
Specifically, the government of the Islamic Republic has been accused by several countries of training, financing, arming, and providing safe havens for non-state militant actors.
Examples include Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Palestine, and other Palestinian groups (Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC)).
