American Killings

The incident took place when 90% of Mojahedeen members and nearly all leadership were in prisoned by the Shah. Some extremist elements out of prison took advantage of the absence in the new movement and undertook a coup d'eta taking over the Muslem MEK and changing its platform and enforcing their new platform and emblem on the remaining few out of prison. They even resorted to executing and burning alive members who resisted the coup. According to The New York Times, nine “guerrillas” were executed on January 24, 1976, in connection with the murder of “several person[s], including three American colonels.” During their trial, “the defendants confessed having killed the Americans, an Iranian employee of the United States Consulate, a police brigadier general, and three other Iranians.”136 Vahid Afrakhteh (also spelled Afrakhten) confessed to the killing of Lt. Col. Hawkins, according to an article by The Washington Post. Afrakhten said he personally killed Col. Lewis Hawkins in Tehran in 1973 and led the cell that gunned down Col. Paul Shaffer and Lt. Col. Jack Turner after stopping their chauffeur-driven car in 1975.137 Afrakhten was among the nine executed by Iranian authorities.