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The Hashemi brothers were a trio of Iranian brothers living in the West who claimed to have connections in Iran with Ahmed Khomeini, the son of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. |
The Hashemi brothers were a trio of Iran brothers living in the United States who claimed to have connections in Iran with Ahmed Khomeini, the son of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. They offered their services to the Jimmy Carter administration to help secure the release of the United States hostages held in Tehran.1
The brothers, Cyrus Hashemi, Jamshid Hashemi, and Reza Hashemi, also claimed to be cousins of the influential Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. They made a significant amount of money in arms sales, using their influence with the White House to sell small quantities of military equipment to the Iran, supposedly to gain goodwill for the release of the hostages.1
Their Tehran contact, Iran Najd Rankuni, was connected with the Iranian Revolution but did not have direct access to the Supreme Council, which made it impossible for them to set up a serious dialogue between the United States and the Iran for the hostages' release. The Hashemi brothers could not promise major arms sales through the Israel, which limited their effectiveness.1
After the Ronald Reagan administration took office in 1981 and the hostages were released, the U.S. Customs began investigating the Hashemi brothers. In 1984, they were indicted under the Arms Export Control Act for the illegal sale of weapons to Iran. Cyrus Hashemi and Jamshid Hashemi were tipped off and escaped the United States, but Reza Hashemi was arrested and became a hostage himself. His elder brothers then negotiated with U.S. Customs to become informants against the Iran exile community in Europe and the United States.1
Cyrus Hashemi was later used by Oliver North and United States Customs in a sting operation to entrap individuals connected with Israel intelligence arms sales to Iran. Cyrus Hashemi was found dead in his London apartment, with his death attributed to a sudden case of virulent leukemia, though Israel intelligence suspected foul play.1
Footnotes
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Ben-Menashe, Ari. Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network. TrineDay, 1992. ↩︎