Summary
Habib Elghanian (1912–1979) was an Iranian-Jewish industrialist, president of the Tehran Jewish Society, and one of Iran’s leading manufacturers — credited with introducing the plastics industry to the country. After a sham 20-minute Revolutionary Tribunal under Sadegh Khalkhali, he was convicted of "corruption on earth", "contacts with Israel and Zionism", and "friendship with the enemies of God", and shot on 9 May 1979 in Qasr Prison. His execution triggered the mass emigration of Iran’s 100,000-strong Jewish community.
Early life and business
Born in Tehran in 1912 to a Jewish family with roots in Kashan, Habib Elghanian built his fortune in the 1950s and 1960s as the founder of Plasco — Iran’s first plastics manufacturer — and the Plasco Building on Jomhuri Avenue, then one of Tehran’s tallest. He served as president of the Tehran Jewish Society for several terms and was a leading philanthropist, funding schools, hospitals and the construction of synagogues across the city.
Arrest and Revolutionary Tribunal
Elghanian was arrested in early March 1979, shortly after the fall of the Shah. He was held in Qasr Prison and brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal of Sadegh Khalkhali — the cleric Ayatollah Khomeini had personally appointed to head the new Islamic Revolutionary Courts. The trial reportedly lasted 20 minutes. No lawyer was permitted, no witnesses were called, and no evidence beyond his business trips and a single donation to Israel was entered into the record.
Charges and execution
He was convicted of "corruption on earth" (mofsed-e fil-arz), "contacts with Israel and Zionism" and "friendship with the enemies of God and his messenger". On the morning of 9 May 1979 he was taken to the Qasr Prison courtyard and shot by firing squad. A photograph of his body, lying on a mortuary slab, appeared on the front page of Iranian newspapers the next day.
Aftermath
Elghanian’s execution sent a chill through every minority community in Iran. Within a decade, more than two-thirds of Iran’s ~100,000 Jews — alongside Baháʼís, Christians, Zoroastrians and secular Iranians — had emigrated. In 2007 his nephew, the writer Roya Hakakian, told the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum that the family had been refused his body and that his grave in Beheshtieh Jewish Cemetery had been desecrated. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum classifies his death as part of the wave of post-revolutionary mass killings that began in 1979 and continued through the 1988 prison massacres.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Habib Elghanian?
Habib Elghanian (1912–1979) was an Iranian-Jewish industrialist and president of the Tehran Jewish Society, credited with founding Iran’s plastics industry.
When was Habib Elghanian executed?
He was shot by firing squad in Tehran’s Qasr Prison on 9 May 1979, two months after the Islamic Revolution.
Why was Habib Elghanian executed?
After a 20-minute Revolutionary Tribunal under Sadegh Khalkhali he was convicted of "corruption on earth", "contacts with Israel and Zionism" and "friendship with the enemies of God". No defence was permitted.
What happened to Iran's Jewish community after?
His execution triggered the mass emigration of Iran’s 100,000-strong Jewish community; within a decade, over two-thirds had left the country.
Where is Habib Elghanian buried?
His family was reportedly refused the body. He is recorded in the Beheshtieh Jewish Cemetery in Tehran, where his grave has been desecrated more than once.
Sources
- U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum — Iran 1979
- Roya Hakakian, Journey from the Land of No (memoir)
- Encyclopaedia Iranica — Elghanian, Habib
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