May 9, 1979
The new Islamist regime in Iran executes a leader of the Jewish community, Habib Elghanian, by firing squad for being a Zionist spy and a “corrupter on Earth.” After being held for nearly two months, Elghanian was convicted during a 20-minutes show trial the day before.
Born in Tehran in 1912, Elghanian became a prominent Iranian businessman, importing a variety of consumer goods into Iran including watches, electronics, textiles and clothing. By the conclusion of World War II, Elghanian and his partners had made over $1 million.
After the war, Elghanian branched into the production of plastic goods, beginning with a single molding machine in 1948. His company, Plasco, would become the largest plastics manufacturer in the Middle East. Elghanian brought the latest technologies to his business, which he continued to expand into areas such as appliance manufacturing, mining and textiles.
He was elected chairman of the Jewish community in 1959. With his brother Davud and other Iranian Jewish businessmen, Elghanian organized a charitable association that provided needed funds for the health and welfare of Iran’s poor Jews, including medical services and a school meals program. Elghanian’s charitable work was not limited to the Jewish community; he donated his first home to be turned into a hospital.
He was a frequent visitor to and investor in Israel. In 1968, he and his brothers built the Shimshon Tower in Tel Aviv and purchased the Tehran home that would become the Israeli Embassy in Iran. When popular protests against the Shah intensified in the fall of 1978, Elghanian was in the United States on business. Although he was urged by friends and family not to return to a volatile Iran, he felt he had nothing to fear. He returned to Tehran in early 1979, stopping in Israel on the way. He was arrested March 16.
His execution heightens the anxiety of Iranian Jews and expedites the Jewish exodus from Iran that started after the Islamic Revolution.
