Fowzi Badavi Nejad

He was born in the Iranian province of Khūzestān, home to most of Iran's Arab population which had suffered marginalisation and persecution under the regime of the Shah and subsequently that of the Islamic Republic of Iran. His father died when he was young. He became an Iranian Army soldier aged 18 for two years' national service before employment as a labourer in the city of Khorramshahr's docks. He witnessed the massacre of protesting Khūzestān Arabs on 30 May 1979, known locally as Black Wednesday, by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. To avoid becoming part of the Arabs' round-up by the Revolutionary Guards, Nejad went to the Iraqi border and asked the police for asylum. As he was well-educated and bilingual in Arabic and Persian, he was taken to Basra, given a home and employed by Iraqi intelligence translating Iranian radio broadcasts. Said Hadi, Sheik of Shalamcheh introduced himself as the chief of the political movement of Ahwazi Arabs (the largest Arab community of Khūzestān). He told Nejad that he was now under a death-sentence in Iran and encouraged him to take part in an operation in London.[1][2][3]

Nejad agreed, the 22-year-old arriving in London at the beginning of 1980 on the pretext of requiring medical treatment. He and the five other members of the team were put up in a block of flats and given money to spend; the young Iraqi caretaker of the flats was told they were language students. After a few weeks, other residents complained about their raucous behaviour and they were asked to leave. They moved to another London flat in Lexham Gardens, South Kensington owned by a Jordanian. They toned down their behaviour and received visits from more-senior DRFLA members for training and support. During April, they reconnoitred the Iranian Embassy in pairs or threes. On 29 April, they received final instructions and distributed the weapons. Nejad, now using the alias "Ali", received a 9mm Browning pistol.[1]

The group took control of the Embassy on the morning of 30 April. During the takeover, Nejad was regarded by Metropolitan Police Diplomatic Protection Group Constable Trevor Lock (also a hostage) with particular negativity, saying he could not "connect with him," adding that Nejad had fired his pistol over the head of Gholam Ali Afrouz, the chargé d'affaires, to amuse himself. On 5 May at 13:45, Abbas Lavasani, the Embassy's chief press officer, was shot dead by the group's leader, Salim Towfigh (real name Oan Ali Mohammed), and his body was dumped outside. At 19:23, when the SAS stormed the Embassy, Ahmad Dadgar, the embassy's medical clerk, heard a shout to the other terrorists, "They attacked, go to the hostages room and kill everybody," and saw Nejad and two others enter but turned his back to the terrorists and did not know who then fired the bullets which critically injured him; the gunfire left a PhD student Ali Samadzadeh dead, the second and final hostage to die before the SAS killed the five other terrorists.[1][4]

Nejad hid amongst the hostages as they were led out by the SAS but was immediately singled out as a terrorist by BBC sound-recordist Sim Harris. Soldier Robin Horsfall separated him from the hostages. He was led away by another soldier but Horsfall, aware of the change of situation, told his colleague to "put him down", i.e. not to kill him. Later it was reported that some hostages intervened to stop him being killed; inside they had persuaded some other terrorists drop their weapons and surrender before they were then pointed out by hostages and shot by the soldiers.[5][6][7][8][9][10]

On 14 January 1981, Nejad appeared at the Old Bailey in London charged with murder, conspiracy to murder, false imprisonment and possessing firearms with intent. He pleaded not guilty to murder of the two hostages but admitted the other charges. Under interrogation prior to his court appearance, he said that the plan was hatched with the guidance of the Iraqi authorities and that he was told that British police did not carry weapons (P.C. Lock, who had been amateurishly searched, was armed throughout the siege). It was alleged during the trial by the doorman, Abbas Fellahi, that Nejad had been one of four gunmen who panicked and opened fire on the hostages when the SAS arrived. Dadgar explained how he had tried in vain to shield his friend Samadzadeh from the hail of bullets. Nejad claimed in his testimony that the original plan was to begin shooting hostages if their demands were not met within a day; he said there had been a split amongst the gunmen after the leader, Towfigh, would not relate the conversation he had with the police outside. Nejad said that he'd refused to shoot a hostage when directed and was told by Towfigh that he would be shot as a result.[1][11][8][12][13]