Coup Atlas Research Database
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63006271982ConspiracyMilitary coup

Iran, 1982 — military coup conspiracy

Iran (IRN)Western Asia, AsiaJune 27, 1982

Event Summary

This entry is coded 27 June 1982, during the continued consolidation of the Islamic Republic and the aftermath of the Qotbzadeh affair. Through the first half of 1982 the capital experienced a near-civil-war atmosphere with repeated coup attempts, and the regime pressed on with purging counter-revolutionary military officers even as the proceedings against Ghotbzadeh and the implicated Grand Ayatollah Shariatmadari continued toward the September executions. Late June 1982 was also the turning point when Iran, having by early 1982 regained almost all the territory lost to Iraq's 1980 invasion, shifted to the offensive and prepared to carry the Iran-Iraq war into Iraqi territory, a decision that reinforced the leadership's tendency to encourage military mobilization and to suppress internal dissent.

The 27 June 1982 coding sits in this period of continued anti-Khomeini military plotting and purges tied to the Qotbzadeh affair fallout, as Khomeini's forces moved through 1982-1983 to crush the last rival factions and consolidate power.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Khomeini consolidated power by 1982-1983, crushing rival factions and the officer plots
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Ayatollah Khomeini (target)
counter-revolutionary military officers
the revolutionary tribunals and IRGC

Sources

The near civil war in the capital and repeated coup attempts reinforced the tendency to encourage military action, and between late June and early July 1982 Khomeini and Iranian government spokesmen began to signal that Iran would carry the war into Iraq.
SOURCE REVIEWED CSIS: The Lessons of Modern War, Iran-Iraq, Phase Three open source ↗
By early 1982 Iran had regained almost all the territory lost to Iraq's invasion, and the war served as an opportunity for the government to strengthen revolutionary ardor at the expense of its remaining allies-turned-opponents.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: Consolidation of the Iranian Revolution open source ↗
From early 1979 to 1982 or 1983 Iran was in a revolutionary crisis mode with the military and security forces in disarray, and by 1982 Khomeini and his supporters had crushed the rival factions and consolidated power.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: Iranian Revolution open source ↗
The Qotbzadeh affair proceedings ran from the April 1982 arrests through the airing of Shariatmadari's confession on 2 May 1982 to Ghotbzadeh's execution on 15 September 1982, amid the regime's suppression of counter-revolutionary officers.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: Sadegh Ghotbzadeh open source ↗

Editorial Note

No discrete named plot is precisely dated 27 Jun 1982 in the sources located this session; the coding sits in the continued anti-Khomeini military plotting and purges tied to the Qotbzadeh affair fallout, coinciding with Iran's late-June 1982 shift to the offensive in the war. Context with strong framing. Second of two Iran entries in this batch, split by phase from the April Qotbzadeh-arrest entry.

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
63006271982

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Khomeini consolidated power by 1982-1983, crushing rival factions and the officer plots.

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

Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

Chicago Tribune

“Iran Military Coup Reported Smashed,” June 28, 1982

New York Times

“Iran Says an Attempted Coup By Army Group Was Foiled,” June 28, 1982

South China Morning Post

“Iran Regime ‘Thwarts’ New Coup Attempt,” June 29, 1982

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 →

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