Mohammad Masud

Masud was born in 1905.[1][2] He went to Belgium to study journalism[3] in 1935 when he was awarded a government scholarship and returned to Iran in 1938 following his graduation.[4] He applied for a state institution for employment, but his application was denied.[4] After this incident he became a critic of Reza Shah.[4]

In 1942 Masud published an autobiography entitled Guha'i keh dar Jahannam Miruyand (Persian: Flowers which Grow in Hell).[5] Next year he published another book, Bahar-i Umr (Persian: The Spring of Life).[5] In 1942 he also started his journalism career launching a weekly newspaper entitled Mard-i Imruz in which he published critical articles and political cartoons which targeted Prime Minister Ahmad Qavam and his cabinet.[4] Journalist and future foreign minister Hossein Fatemi was one of Masud's close friends who contributed to Mard-i Imruz.[6] In October 1947 Masud publicly argued in the paper that Qavam should be murdered due to the oil concession treaty with the Soviet Union.[4] Homa Katouzian argues that Masud employed his paper to get money from the rich whom he attacked through sensational news about them.[7]

Four months later on 13 February 1948 Masud was assassinated by a squad led by Noureddin Kianouri.[1][7] The group was linked to the Tudeh Party.[7] His assassination was the first of the political killings which continued into the 1950s in Iran.[7]

Hossein Fatemi was delivering a speech in a ceremony for Masud at his grave on 13 February 1952 when he became a target of the assassination attempt by a member of the Fedayan-e Islam.[8] Although he survived this attack, he was severely injured.[8]