"A Lion in Persia: The assassination of Dr. Ardeshir Hosseinpour."

 

           

    The bright rays of sunrise gently peeked across the horizon in the city of Shiraz, Iran. Sara awoke early as was her custom and grabbed her cell phone from off the table next to her bed. She speed dialed her husband’s number and then patiently waited for him to pick up.

    No answer…her call went into voice mail.

    Sara dialed once again, now sitting up in bed, anxious for her husband to answer. Ardeshir should have been up by now, preparing to dress and head out to his class at the university to teach.  He had a very predictable routine and Sara knew it by heart. They had only been married for just twenty-five days after being in love for a year and a half. Her teacher and class professor had gone from being her university sweetheart to her young and handsome husband.

     Once again, no answer…. her second call went into voice mail.

     By now, Sara was feeling frustrated and a little worried. If she had been with him at their new apartment, the night before, calling him on the cell phone would have been unnecessary. Ardeshir had insisted that she remain at home with her sick father and Sara reluctantly agreed.

     As she threw on some clothes in a haste, Sara continued calling her husband, and still there was no answer. Maybe he overslept, or maybe there was problems with the cell phone or the wifi. Their new apartment was in disarray. Many items still remained unpacked and sleeping on the floor had become a routine until they both managed to find the time to purchase a new bed to sleep on.

    The phone continued to go into voice mail.

     Sara was now fully dressed. As she stood in front of the mirror to adjust her hijab, she could feel her heart racing in her chest. She remembered back to the last conversation that they had together. Ardeshir mentioned that he was supposed to meet with two men to discuss some scientific issues. The meeting would take place later that night at their apartment. She grabbed her purse and class books and paused at the front door, taking a deep breath. It was only a ten-minute drive from her father’s house to their apartment. Sara phoned for a taxi. She decided to go first to the university. Ardeshir would most certainly be there for the early morning 8 am class. His students would be waiting inside for him.

      Arriving at the university, Sara quickly entered through the front door. She immediately noticed that the students had gathered in the hallway impatiently waiting for Ardeshir’s arrival.

      Sweat rolled down Sara’s cheeks. Fear gripped her heart. She began running toward their apartment that was only ten minutes away from the university. Upon arriving, she nervously inserted the key into the lock of the front door.

     “Ardeshir, Ardeshir,” She nervously cried out as she continued to twist the key into the lock.

      The door finally opened and immediately she was greeted with a blast of hot air in her face.

      The first thing she noticed was the roar of the furnace running on its highest setting. Sprawled out in front of the bedroom door was Ardeshir covered up to his neck in a blanket. It was highly unusual for Ardeshir to be sleeping with a blanket over himself and the furnace turned up on high. He disliked the heat and never slept with a blanket.

      Sara raced over to her husband. He must have overslept and didn’t hear his cell phone ringing. She knelt down beside him and began shaking his body with her right hand.

     “Honey. Honey, wake up, it’s me, Sara. Ardeshir! Ardeshir!”

      Ardeshir didn’t move. He was unresponsive. Sara violently shook him once again.

     “Ardeshir! Ardeshir. Please wake up. Wake up!”

 

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     For the last 14 years, since his mysterious death on January 15, 2007, Mahboobeh Hosseinpour has been a powerful voice for her brother, refusing to accept the government’s official version that Ardeshir’s death was accidental.  The government concluded that his death was the result of gas poisoning and then they invented a number of possible scenarios, including heart disease, a jealous lover, and finally an assassination plot conceived by Mossad and carried out by Israeli spies.

      Mabi ( Maboobeh) refuses to accept any of these scenarios. Instead she has been busy launching a campaign to get the truth of her brother’s death out to the media, but has run into a brick wall of fear and political correctness. The BBC never returned any of her emails and VOA Persian rejected her story for fear of consequences from the Iranian regime. Since Mabi is an activist for regime change in Iran and a loyal supporter of the Pahlavi Dynasty, the media has boycotted her story. They are opposed to women like Mabi who are dedicated to the Shah.   The media understands that accusing Iran of assassinating their top scientist strikes at the heart of the Islamic Republic, exposing them as a cruel and oppressive government. The world cannot and must not know the real story of what goes on behind the iron curtain of the Islamic Republic of Iran!

      In October of 2010, Mabi traveled from Iran to the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. She stayed for 55 days, late into the month of December, pleading with the security officers to contact Washington and put pressure on Iran. She explained the tragic story of how she believed her brother was assassinated because he refused to enrich the uranium stockpile to 20 percent which far exceeded the legal limits.

      “Please contact the State Department and tell them my story. Iran can’t be trusted with their nuclear ambition,” Mabi insisted, “If the United States puts more sanctions on the government, it could lead to another revolution and the people can overthrow this evil regime!”

  Unfortunately, Mabi’s desperate pleas fell on deaf ears. Instead of the Obama Administration putting more tough sanctions on Iran, they had empowered and enriched the Mullahs with more than 150 billion dollars in sanctions relief money in a July 2015 nuclear deal. Obama and Biden had betrayed the Iranian people!  In 2009, they had both refused to listen to the cries of Iranian protesters during the bloody presidential election uprising and now in 2015 they were celebrating a dangerous deal that would eventually allow this evil regime to develop nuclear weapons!

 

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    Ardeshir Hosseinpour was born on December 21, 1962 in Tehran during the Yalda Celebration which is the longest night of the year. Iran was a prosperous nation at the time under the leadership of the Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi who had recently implemented important reforms known as the White Revolution, one such reform granting women the right to vote. In 1962, Iran was a very secular and free culture without the oppressive religious restrictions that were to come later. Women were not required to wear a veil when going on publicly and the sexes were not segregated. Life under the Shah was a celebration of diversity and freedom.

    Ardeshir’s name had been specially chosen by his father, Nasrollah to commemorate national pride. The name Ardeshir, literally in Persian means, “holy king.”  Ardeshir’s parents wanted to instill on their children the richness of Persian history pushing back the influences of Islam from the 7^th century. Their family book was “the book of Kings,” written by the famous Persian poet, Ferdowsi, who preserved the Persian language, history, and mythology from being erased by the Arabs.

     From his early childhood, at the age of seven, Ardeshir had aspirations of becoming a scientist. He loved nature and was very concerned about the environment and the diseases that were cutting the short the lifespan of his people. At the time of the Revolution in 1978, Ardeshir was 16 years old and busy pursuing his scientific endeavors. His mind was not occupied with Khomeini and his vision for a new Iran. Instead he was concentrating on mathematics and physics. He had a vision to transform the environment of Iran and construct a pipe system for irrigation changing the desert into a forest eco system.

     Aredeshir’s early life was filled with outstanding achievements. By the age of 19 he had earned the highest degree in Martial arts, the black belt. While serving in the army, he received an award for braveness and leadership. After his tour of duty in the war with Iraq, Ardeshir continued to pursue his educational career by earning four degrees in electronics, engineering, computer, and metalogy. He went on to earn a Master of Science degree in Physics and his Phd in Atomic Physics. His outstanding achievements enabled him to become one of Iran’s top nuclear scientists specializing in uranium enrichment.

     From the time he was recognized as one of Iran’s top nuclear scientists, he had been under government scrutiny and surveillance. Mabi, Aredshir’s sister, explains the various reasons that led to his assassination in 2007.

   “They, the government, was very jealous of his intellect. Ardeshir was a handsome man and for that reason alone, the Mullah’s hated him. They would always complain about him wearing sunglasses, believing that it would tempt women. They complained about his shirtsleeves being too high up on his arms revealing too much skin. This of course is because of the extreme dress code in Iran.”

    However, the number one reason for the government assassinating him was because of his opposition to the Bushehr nuclear site. Ardeshir was invited to tour this site and he spoke out against its usefulness to the government.

    It’s not useful. It’s not that important. It’s too old and too expensive and not good for national interest.”

   Ardeshir’s objection enraged the government.  When he refused to enrich the uranium to 20% which was beyond the legal limit, this act of defiance sealed his fate. The government hated his moral character. His morality, kindness, and honesty put him at odds with the Mullahs. One of his favorite rituals before teaching class was to quote from the Persian poet, Ferdowsi. He never quoted from the Quran and in the eyes of the government, that act alone was treasonous.

   With tears in her eyes from the years of pain and anguish, Mabi explains what she believed happened on the night of his assassination on January 15, 2007.  Ardeshir received a call while speaking with his wife Sara and was instructed to meet with some important officials alone later on at his apartment. He urged his wife to stay behind and take care of her ailing father. Ardeshir then drove alone back home. Neighbors reported seeing him pacing back and forth on his balcony at 3 am. waiting anxiously for his meeting. Mabi believes sometime later when Ardeshir retired for the night, that government agents climbed atop his apartment building and dropped poisonous pellets down through the chimney. They waited a few minutes and then entered his apartment, turned up the heater, and laid a blanket across his body. They wanted to give the appearance that Ardeshir fell asleep and died as a result of gas poisoning from a malfunction with the heater. However, when the heater was later inspected it was found to be functioning perfectly!

  It’s been ten years since Mabi traveled to Nairobi and urged the officers at the American Embassy to contact the Obama Administration about her brother. She warned them not to trust Iran. Her plea fell on deaf ears. Instead they forged ahead with a disastrous Nuclear deal in 2015 and appeased the Mullahs with over 150 billion dollars in sanctions relief money which they used to finance their terrorism.

        

  Mabi has dedicated her life to tell the world the truth about really happened to her brother. She is a passionate human rights activist that is a powerful voice for the plight of all Iranians. Ardeshir must not be forgotten! His story and his legacy must be told to every media outlet around the world. His death must not be in vain. He stood brave and strong against the dictatorship government in Iran to prevent them from developing nuclear weapons. We must do the same!