Iran, 1980 — military coup attempt
Event Summary
On the night of 9 to 10 July 1980 the newly established Islamic Republic of Iran forestalled a major coup plot, known as the Nojeh coup after the air base near Hamadan where it centered, aimed at overthrowing Ayatollah Khomeini and President Abolhassan Banisadr and restoring a secular government. The conspiracy, involving hundreds of military officers, especially air force pilots and paratroopers loyal to the old imperial order, was organized with financial support and political cover from the Shah's last prime minister, Shapour Bakhtiar, in exile. The plan called for warplanes to take off from Nojeh and bomb Khomeini's residence, Mehrabad Airport, and Revolutionary Guard headquarters in Tehran, after which ground forces would seize key sites and install Bakhtiar.
But the plot was betrayed and unraveled; the regime arrested hundreds of officers at the base and across the country. Khomeini ordered the plotters executed, and around 144 or more participants were put to death, with thousands of military personnel purged, further consolidating clerical control over the armed forces on the eve of the Iran Iraq War.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
63007101980
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Ayatollah Khomeini's regime forestalled the Nojeh coup, executed scores of plotters, and purged the military.
Baseline coding: Coup attempt failed to remove the incumbent. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
New York Times
Boston Globe
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →