Post-Revolution Executions (1979)

In the weeks and months following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the Islamic Revolutionary Courts presided over by Sadegh Khalkhali conducted a wave of summary executions targeting Pahlavi-era military commanders, SAVAK officials, and prominent figures of the ancien régime.

The first executions took place on the night of 15–16 February 1979 on the rooftop of the Alavi School in Tehran, where Ruhollah Khomeini was headquartered. The four executed were SAVAK director Nematollah Nassiri, Military Governor of Tehran Mehdi Rahimi, and generals Mohammad Khosrowdad and Nasser Naji — all tried and shot within hours.

Over the following months, Khalkhali's courts continued to process former officials. On 7 April 1979, former Prime Minister Amir Abbas Hoveyda — the most prominent victim — was executed after a brief trial. On 9 May 1979, industrialist Habibollah Elghanian, head of the Iranian Jewish community, was executed on charges of corruption and espionage. On 11 April 1979, the last SAVAK director Nasser Moghadam was executed alongside other senior security figures.

Hundreds of military officers, SAVAK agents, former ministers, and officials were executed in the months that followed. Trials were frequently conducted in minutes, defendants were denied lawyers, and appeals were not permitted. International human rights organisations condemned the proceedings. The executions became a defining feature of the Islamic Republic's founding violence and a template for the regime's treatment of perceived enemies.