Iran, 1982 — dissident coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 20 April 1982, during the Qotbzadeh plot against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Sadegh Ghotbzadeh (Qotbzadeh), the former foreign minister and once a close aide and translator of Ayatollah Khomeini, was arrested on 8 April 1982 along with a group of army officers and clerics, accused of plotting to bomb Khomeini's home and overthrow the state. Ghotbzadeh denied intending to kill Khomeini, saying he had sought to change the government rather than overthrow the Islamic Republic, but under torture he implicated Grand Ayatollah Kazem Shariatmadari, a senior liberal cleric and longstanding critic of Khomeini, claiming Shariatmadari had been informed of the plan and promised funds and blessings.
On 2 May 1982 state television aired Shariatmadari's coerced confession of knowledge of the coup. Ghotbzadeh was condemned by a revolutionary tribunal for masterminding a plot to overthrow the Islamic Republic and was executed on 15 September 1982. The 20 April 1982 coding sits in the immediate aftermath of the 8 April arrests, during the unfolding investigation and interrogations.
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
63004201982
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Khomeini survived; Ghotbzadeh was executed and Shariatmadari placed under permanent house arrest.
Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. 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
The Guardian
LA Times
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 →