3.4 KiB
| category | tags | summary | born | died | location | updated | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arms Dealers & Brokers |
|
Iranian exile involved in secret arms sales and hostage negotiations during Iran-Contra who became a U.S. Customs informant before being found dead in London under suspicious circumstances. | 1938-12-27 | 1986-07-21 | Iran | 2026-10-14 |
Cyrus Hashemi was one of the Hashemi brothers, an Iran living in the United States who claimed connections to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini son, Ahmed Khomeini. He was involved in secret arms sales and negotiations concerning the American hostages in Tehran.1
Hashemi and his brothers made money selling small quantities of military equipment to Iran, supposedly to gain goodwill for hostage release. He was later indicted under the Arms Export Control Act for illegal arms sales to Iran, but escaped the U.S. before apprehension. He subsequently agreed to become an informant for U.S. Customs against the Iranian exile community.1
The report of the congressional Iran-Contra committees records that in May 1984 federal criminal charges were filed against Cyrus Hashemi and his brothers Reza Hashemi and Jamshid Hashemi, among others, for alleged arms export control violations; that Hashemi arranged with the U.S. Customs Service to run a sting operation resulting in the April 22, 1986 indictment of 17 individuals in the Southern District of New York on charges of an illegal scheme to smuggle $2.5 billion in American-made weapons to Iran; and that until his death in July 1986 he was to be the primary prosecution witness.2 The Second Circuit wrote that the arms in that case were destined for Hashemi, "a government agent pretending to be an Iranian buyer," and that the original indictment was returned in May 1986.3 Judge Leonard B. Sand wrote in 1987 that none of the arms deals charged was consummated and that Hashemi's negotiations with the defendants were tape recorded.4
Hashemi was used by Oliver North and U.S. Customs in a sting operation to entrap individuals connected with Israel intelligence arms sales to Iran. He was to act as bait, claiming to have $1 billion of Iranian money to spend on weapons. He allowed his phone to be tapped and himself to be wired for this operation.1
Hashemi was found dead in his London apartment, with his death attributed to a sudden case of virulent leukemia. However, Israeli intelligence suspected foul play, noting the presence of Joe King, a Customs officer, at his apartment shortly before his death and needle punctures on his elbow joint. Tapes of his phone calls to the U.S. Attorney's office indicated a falling out with his controllers.1
Footnotes
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Ben-Menashe, Ari. Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network. Sheridan Square Press, 1992 (TrineDay reprint, 2015). ↩︎
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Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, H. Rept. 100-433, S. Rept. 100-216 (Nov. 1987), ch. 9, note 13, p. 171. https://archive.org/details/reportofcongress87unit ↩︎
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United States v. Evans, 844 F.2d 36 (2d Cir. 1988). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/504381/united-states-v-evans/ ↩︎
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United States v. Evans, 667 F. Supp. 974 (S.D.N.Y. 1987). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2158497/united-states-v-evans/ ↩︎