CHRONOLOGY OF ANTI-US TERRORIST ATTACKS BY IRAN OR IRANIAN SUPPORTED GROUPS (1979-1985)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP87T00434R000300240058-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 25, 2010
• Sequence Number: 58
• Publication Date: June 26, 1985
• Content Type: MEMO

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TOP SECRET NOFORN
MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director for Operations
FROM:
DDI Working Group on TWA Hijacking
SUBJECT: Chronology of Anti-US Terrorist Attacks by
Iran or Iranian Supported Groups (1979-1985)
Year Date Location
1985 14 June- Athens/Algiers/Beirut
present
1985 16 March Beirut
1985 8 January W. Beirut
H
TWA Flight 847 to Rome
hijacked from Athens to
Beirut by pro-Iranian
radical Shias. Many of
remaining passengers held
hostage by Hizballah
elements in contact with
Iran. (S NF)
American University of
Beirut (AUB) Dean of
Agriculture Sutherland
kidnaped outside the
Beirut Airport. Pro-
Iranian radical Shias most
likely conducted the
operation. _(C)
AP Chief correspondent
Terry A. Anderson kidnaped
by radical Shias. Islamic.
Jihad claimed credit.
Believed held by
Hizballah. (S)
Fr. Lawrence Jenco, US
citizen Director of
Catholic Relief Services
in Beirut, kidnaped.
Islamic Jihad claimed
credit on 11 January.
Believed held by
Hizballah. (C)
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TOP SECRET NOFORN
1984 20 September Beirut
Four pro-Iranian Lebanese
Shias hijack Kuwaiti
Airlines flight from Dubai
to Tehran. They demanded
release of 17 Shia
extremists held in Kuwait
for bombing US, French and
Kuwaiti installations
there. Two US passengers-
-Charles Hegna and Willian
Stanford--murdered and
several passengers
beaten. (U)
AUB librarian Peter
Kilburn kidnaped. Islamic
Jihad subsequently claimed
credit. Radical Shias
believed responsible. (C)
US Embassy Annex partially
destroyed by carbomb. 23
persons--including two
Americans--killed and at
least 60 injured,
including US and UK
Ambassadors. Islamic
Jihad claimed
responsibility, saying the
attack was in retaliation
for the US veto of a UN
Security Council draft
resolution calling for an
end to Israeli
restrictions on southern
Lebanese. (U)
1984 5 June Beirut Bomb exploded in empty
classroom at AUB.
Hizballah elements
believed responsible. (U)
1984 21 May Beirut Fuse on bomb placed in AUB
library started fire, but
the bomb defused minutes
before it was due to
explode. Radical Shias
believed responsible.. (U)
1984 8 May Beirut
2
TOP SECRET F_7NOFORN
Rev. Benjamin Weir
kidnaped near his home.
Islamic Jihad claimed
credit. (U)
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TOP SECRET NOFORN
1984 28 March Beirut
1984 16 March Beirut
1984 7 March Beirut
Bomb exploded at Nicely
Hall on AUB campus,
causing some damage.
Radical Shias believed
responsible. (C)
US Embassy political
officer William Buckley
kidnaped in front of his
home. Held by Hizballah
elements. (C)
Beirut Director of US
Cable News Network, Jeremy
Levin, kidnaped near his
hotel. Islamic Jihad
claimed credit. On 14
February 1985, Levin
escaped from a building in
the Bekaa Valley near
Hizaballah facility. (C
NF)
1984 5 March Beirut US Defense Attache, USMC
Colonel Dale Dorman,
wounded in front of his
hotel.. Islamic Amal
believed responsible for.
the attack. (S NF)
1984 1 March Beirut Bomb exploded on AUB
campus. Radical Shias
believed responsible. (U)
1984 10 February Beirut
AUB Professor Frank Regier
kidnaped and held by
Hizballah elements.
Released on 15 April 1984
after Amal troops stormed
detention site in West
-Beirut. (C)
1984 28 January Beirut
1984 18 January Beirut
Missile fired at USMC
Multinational Force
helicopter, but missed.
Attackers believed to be
radical Shias. (C)
Dr. Malcolm Kerr,
President of AUB, shot to
death outside his
office. Islamic
claimed credit. 25X1
3
TOP SECRET NOFORN 25X1
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TOP SECRET NOFORN
1984 8 January Beirut USMC helicopter a landing
work party at the 'US
Embassy fired upon. One
Marine killed. Radical
Shias, who were known to
be deliberately targeting
MNF members, probably were
the perpetrators. (C NF)
1983 21 September Beirut
4
TOP SECRET NOFORN
US Embassy compound
attacked by car bomb.
Five killed and 28
wounded--none were US
citizens. Islamic Jihad
claimed credit.. Five
other sites, including the
French Embassy, also
bombed. Authorities
arrested 11 persons, all
members of the Iranian
directed Dawa Party of
Iraq. (U)
USMC barracks destroyed by
car bomb carrying about
2000 pounds of
explosives. 238 Marines
killed and 70 wounded.
Islamic Jihad claimed
credit. Hussayn Mussawi
Suicide Command believed
responsible. (S NF)
One US Marine killed and
three wounded in attack
near Lebanese university
Radical Shias believed
resonsible. (S NF)
US Embassy hit by rocket
propelled grenade; one
Embassy driver injured
Radical Shias believed
responsible. (C)
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1983 18 April Beirut
25X111
US Embassy attacked by 500
pound car bomb. The
Embassy's seven-story
central section destroyed,
57 killed, and over 100
wounded. Islamic Jihad
claimed responsibility.
(U)
1983 16 March Beirut Five US Marines on patrol
wounded by hand grenade.
One month later, Islamic
Jihad claimed it had
staged the attack. (C NF)
1982 19 July Beirut David Dodge, Acting
President of AUB, kidnaped
on campus.
1980 26 September Beirut
House of the.Dean of the
Engineering School at AUB
rocketed. The Mujahidin
claimed credit for the
attack saying AUB was a
"nest of spies" working
against Iran. (C)
US Embassy rocketed,
causing property damage
but no injuries. The
Mujahidin group claimed
responsibility. The
attack probably was
conducted by Islamic
Amal. (S NF)
1980 3 June Ft. Bragg, N.C. US Army Colonel who had
been adviser to Iranian
intelligence prior to
Shah's overthrow wounded
by gunmen in car. Person
with "foreign accent"
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TOP SECRET F INOFORN
1979 15 November Chicago
called local paper and
threatened to try again.
(S)
Small bomb exploded on
American Airlines flight
to Dulles Airport. No
injuries. A telephone
caller in Chicago,
purportedly representing
the Iranian Student
Association, claimed the
attack was to stop the US
from deporting Iranian
students as a way to
pressure Tehran to release
the US Embassy hostages.
(U)
Forty Lebanese and Iranian
students occupied garden
at US Embassy, demanding
that the Shah be returned
to Iran. (U)
Iranian students seized US
Embassy and held the staff
as hostages. Most of the
hostages not released
until 20 January 1981.
Iranian government
officials soon assumed
responsibility for fate of
hostages. (U)
1979 15 May Tehran Office of US Defense
attache fired on. (S)
1979 17 February Tabriz
1979 14 February Tehran
US Consulate overrun by
crowd, Consul detained for
several hours. (S)
US Embassy seized by about
200 armed men--three
Iranian attackers were
killed, and one US Marine
wounded during the
attack. Attackers left
Embassy two hours later.
The marine who was wounded
was later kidnaped by
government from the
hospital where he was
admitted as reprisal for
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the deaths of the three
Iranians killed during the
attack, but released the
next day. (C)
1979 12 February Tehran
1979 9 February Tehran
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Hilton Hotel occupied by
armed men. All Americans
herded into the basement
while hotel was
ransacked. (U)
UPI office hit with
Molotov cocktails, which
caused little damage and
no injuries. The "Towhid"
group claimed credit,
claiming UPI had
underestimated the number
killed by the Shah's
troops during the massive
demonstrations of 28
January. (C)