Quick Facts
Biography
Bahram Afzali (Persian: بهرام افضلی; 1938-25 February 1984) was the Commander of Iranian Navy from 1980 to 1983. He was executed in Iran in 1984 due to his alleged involvement in espionage for the Soviet Union.
Career
Afzali was an engineer and a captain in the Imperial Iranian Navy. After the 1979 revolution, he continued to serve in the Navy and took part in the Iran-Iraq war. Then Iranian president Abolhassan Bani Sadr appointed him as the commander of the Navy in June 1980. He was also special adviser of then speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Arrest, trial and death
At the beginning of 1983, Afzali, along with more than a thousand members of the Tudeh Party was arrested by the IRP. They began to be tried at the military tribunal in December 1983, and 32 of them were sentenced to death. Their judge was Hojjat Al Islam Mohammad Reyshahri, who also interrogated Mahdi Hashemi in 1986. The location of the tribunal has been never revealed.
Ten of these Tudeh members were executed. On 25 February 1984, Afzali was executed on charge of espionage for the Soviet Union.