Mr. Rahimi was studying Structural Engineering in the Philippines and was probably a supporter of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization.

Information about the killing of Mr. Esfandiar Rahimi Taqanki has been collected from an interview conducted by Abdorrahman Boroumand Center with his friend Behrang Ejtehadi, who is an activist in the student movement in the Philippines; also from archives of Mojahed Publication (February 17, 1983), Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (August 2008), Washington Post (March 29, 1984), Brigham Young University Research Archives (March 12, 2013), Mojahedin Khalq of Iran Organization website (April 7, 2008), Eshterak Weblog (December 7, 2010), and the Encyclopedia of World Famous Murders, by Michael Newton (2014). Also, in order to complete the available information about the previous episodes of student activism in the Philippines, material was collected from an interview conducted by ABC with a student political activist in India (February 22 and 25, 2022), another student political activist (January 13, 2022), and also Ali Akbar Omid Mehr (June 3, 2022); the national publication Manila Standard Today (August 14, 1987), Jahan Publication – a publication of students outside the country who support the Organization of Loyal Guerillas of the People of Iran (December 18, 1982; January 1983; December 1984; December 1985), Jomhuri Islami Newspaper (January 26 and 28, 1982), Dard e Moshtarak weblog (June 11, 2019), National Assistance Facebook Page (Document date: December 28, 1983 and December 11, 1984; Publication date: March 11, 2021), Mohammad Mosadeq Website – Document published by United States of America State Department (Document date: November 13, 1979), Imam Khomeini Comprehensive Website (December 27, 1979), Imam Khomeini Portal (September 1, 1979; August 28, 1980 and January 4, 1981; August 24 and November 3, 1981 and March 20, 1982; August 23, 1983 and February 11, 1984), from the book “Report to the People”, published by Baran, written by Ali Akbar Omid Mehr (2001-2002), and from the book “Between Integration and Secession: the Muslim Communities of the Southern Philippines, Southern Thailand, and Western Burma/Myanmar” by Moshe Yegar, 2002.

Mr. Esfandiar Rahimi Taqanki was born in 1956. He was studying structural engineering in Baguio City in the Philippines. He was active in the student movement opposing the Islamic Republic and went back and forth to the capital city Manila. According to multiple reports, he was a supporter of the Mojahedin Khalq  Organization of Iran (Interview with Behrang Ejtehadi who was an activist in the student movement in the Philippines, April 18, 2024; Mojahed Publication, February 17, 1983; Mojahedin Khalq Organization of Iran  Website, April 7, 2008; Eshterak Weblog, December 7, 2010; Washington Post, March 29, 1984). 

Mr. Rahimi was a sincere youth and he was very active in political activities (Interview with Behrang Ejtehadi, active in the student movement in the Philippines, April 18, 2024).

Mojahedin Khalq Organization

The Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) was founded in 1965. This organization adapted the principles of Islam as its ideological guideline. However, its members’ interpretation of Islam was revolutionary and they believed in armed struggle against the Shah’s regime. They valued Marxism as a progressive method for economic and social analysis but considered Islam as their source of inspiration, culture, and ideology. In the 1970s, the MKO was weakened when many of its members were imprisoned and executed. In 1975, following a deep ideological crisis, the organization refuted Islam as its ideology and, after a few of its members were killed and other Muslim members purged, the organization proclaimed Marxism as its ideology. This move led to the split of the Marxist-Leninist Section of the MKO in 1977. In January of 1979, the imprisoned Muslim leaders of the MKO were released along with other political prisoners. They began to re-organize the MKO and recruit new members based on Islamic ideology. After the 1979 Revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic, the MKO accepted the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini and supported the Revolution. Active participation in the political scene and infiltration of governmental institutions were foremost on the organization’s agenda. During the first two years after the Revolution, the MKO succeeded in recruiting numerous sympathizers, especially in high schools and universities; but its efforts to gain political power, either by appointment or election, were strongly opposed by the Islamic Republic leaders. *

Background of Student Movement in the Philippines

The Iranian Student Movement in the Philippines was established before January 1979, as was the case in many other countries. Iranians had started to enroll in Philippine colleges and universities since the early 1980s. Students were attracted to these institutions of higher learning for their low-cost tuition and  use of English language. Before the revolution, between 2500 – 3500 students were studying in the Philippines. Many of them had government sponsored scholarships (“Muslim communities of the Southern Philippines”, Moshe Yegar, 2002). Prior to the revolution, students actively opposed the government of the Shah in different political groups such as Members and Supporters of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization of Iran, People’s Loyalty Organization of Iran, Tudeh Party, Union of Iranian Communists, Islamist Supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini, etc.

After the revolution in January 1979, when Ayatollah Khomeini seized power as leader of the revolution, differences between all of these political groups and the supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini grew larger within the country, and eventually the resulting tensions spread to their student supporters outside the country (Boroumand Center Research).

Student groups in opposition to the Islamic Republic, including supporters of Shapour Bakhtiar and some leftist groups such as People’s Loyalty Organization of Iran (Minority) and Mojahedin Khalq Organization, helped to broadcast news of executions, punitive sentences according to shari’a such as lashings, and instances of human rights violations by the Islamic Republic. They mainly published and disseminated leaflets and newspapers, and organized protest marches (Interview with a political student activist, January 13, 2022; National Assistance Facebook Page, March 11, 2021; the national publication Manila Standard Today, August 14, 1987). In one instance, students against Ayatollah Khomeini gathered in front of the Islamic Republic Embassy and tried to overtake it. This resulted in many of them being arrested by Philippine police (Interview with Behrang Ejtehadi, April 18, 2024).

On February 8, 1983, Mr. Rahimi was killed with a machete in the Makati area of the capital of the Philippines. Before he was killed, he had been threatened by supporters of Khomeini.

On the other hand, student supporters of the Islamic Republic in the Philippines, Islamic Student Associations, participated in activities to “propagate the Islamic revolution” in opposition to the Philippine government at the time and also “organiz[ed] demonstrations against America” in front of the Embassy of the United States of America. According to available information, activities of the Islamic Student Associations received special support from Islamic Republic government officials. For example, Khosrow Minoochehr, who was opposed to Khomeini and served as the Iranian Embassy attaché in Manila during the previous government, talked to Philippine media about the activities of these students: “Propaganda materials that this group (Islamic Association) produced were printed at the Iranian embassy.” (Washington Post, March 29, 1984). It has also been reported that up until the end of 1979, large shipments of religious literature, pamphlets, newspapers, and magazines were sent directly from Iran to the Philippines and were distributed freely through the Iranian Embassy and by the Iranian students. This literature was circulated to institutions, organizations, and Islamic students. On November 15, 1979, more than 200 students organized a demonstration in front of the Embassy of the United States of America (“Muslim Communities of the Southern Philippines,” book by Moshe Yegar, 2002). Also, the American Embassy in Manila sent a letter to the US State Department stating that the anti-American demonstrations held by student supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini had been fully supported by the Iranian Embassy in Manila (Letter from American Embassy in Manila to the State Department, available on Mohammad Mosadeq website, Document date: November 13, 1979; National Publication Manila Standard Today, August 14, 1987).

There are also many reports showing how the Iranian government treated pro- and anti-government students very differently as to how much financial aid they were given. Student currency and government financial aid were clearly based on having the same ideology as the Islamic Republic. In addition to this fact being mentioned in the report from the American Ambassador in Manila, a Philippine newspaper also reported that students who supported the National Resistance Movement (**) had lost their government sponsored financial aid and could not receive aid from their families back home (Letter from American Embassy in Manila to the State Department, available on Mohammad Mosadeq website, Document date: November 13, 1979; National Publication Manila Standard Today, August 14, 1987). Ali Akbar Omid Mehr, a former diplomat and the official in charge of student affairs at the time, as well as the head of the Iranian Consulate in India for a time, has published a book titled “Report to the People.” In this book he confirms that students who opposed the Islamic Republic had their student currency cut off from 1979 on, and he added that members of Islamic Associations “had a quota in the secret budget of the Consulate” (ABC Interview, June 3, 2022; “Report to the People” book, 2001-2002). In addition to this, according to a memo published by the Head Consulate of the Islamic Republic in Haydarabad, India, on October 8, 1982, the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education had directed that students “can take advantage of student currency only if they take the written Ideology Exam and pass it.” (Jahan Publication, December 18, 1982). During 1979-1982, Sa’id Zibakalam, who had been in charge of the Islamic Association in England, was appointed ambassador to the Philippines (Etemad Newspaper, May 22, 2014; Tasnim, July 1, 2014). Another piece of evidence for preferential treatment and close collaboration between Islamic Associations and embassies is a letter written by Mahmoud Sadeqi, former member of Islamic parliament, on December 28, 1983, to Ayatollah Montazeri. In this letter, he wrote, “Interference of some students in the affairs of the embassy in Manila, their extreme behavior, and the inaction of officials of the Islamic Republic Embassy, has caused hundreds of students to be sent to other countries such as Australia, Canada, Sweden, etc. with assistance from the United Nations, rather than return to Iran upon graduation.” (National Assistance Facebook Page, Document Date: December 28, 1983). One of the student political activists who was in the Philippines at the time described the condition of the students: “There was no opportunity to work and all expenses had to be paid with Student Currency received from family members in Iran  Most students would participate in their [Islamic Association] ceremonies or elections, in order to be able to maintain their financial situation and to avoid financial difficulties and shortcomings.” (Interview with Behrang Ejtehadi, April 18, 2024)

In addition to state sponsored discrimination aimed at strengthening Islamic Associations, government officials were sent to different countries as representatives of Ayatollah Khomeini, in order to meet students in Islamic Associations and to encourage them to teach about the revolution and to curtail the activities of other opposing political groups. In his meeting with Islamic Association students studying abroad, Ayatollah Khomeini asked them to, “Try to teach people about Islam. These Islamic Associations should try to show the people of the world what gems me possess… nobody else has these.” (Imam Khomeini Portal, September 1, 1979).  In another meeting, he told students studying in India, “Powerful countries…try to portray the Islamic Movement in Iran as the opposite of what it is. In all Islamic countries we should try…to focus on truth and establish the truth….establishment of truth is not a slogan. Establishment of truth is deeds…it is observing all the commandments of God…if a few misguided people in India and Pakistan and other Muslim countries want do something to portray this Islamic movement as a bad thing in their country, you Muslimbrothers who live in those countries should stand up to them.” (Imam Khomeini Portal, August 28, 1980).  In December 1979, Ayatollah Hossein Noori Hamedani, who was an extremist cleric, was sent to India and Pakistan as a representative of Ayatollah Khomeini (Emam.com, December 27, 1979). According to one of the students who was studying in India at the time, in a gathering of the students, Ayatollah Noori Hamedani pointed to the men in Islamic Associations, and addressed the female students in the group in a provocative way, “These are all cowards, otherwise nobody in this town would dare distribute leaflets against the Islamic Republic.” This student added, “After this meeting, members of the Islamic Association became much more violent towards their opponents, to the point where for many years we did not walk alone and we were always ready to defend ourselves. Distributing the smallest leaflet would result in us being set upon.” (Interview with a student political activist in India, February 22 and 25, 2022). Behrang Ejtehadi was a medical student and a political activist in the Philippines. He remembers being threatened and pursued by supporters of the Islamic Republic. He also knows about the student activists in the Philippines’ secret living conditions in order to avoid the vicious attacks of the supporters of the Islamic Association. (Interview with Behrang Ejtehadi, April 18, 2024)

Government support, in addition to provocative speeches given by officials to Islamic associations, became a green light for violence against the other groups who were opposed to the government. Many instances of assault, kidnapping, and killing of opposition group students were reported in different countries. Specifically in the Philippines, between 1982-1984, at least two students were killed by assault with a knife, and a number were injured. In one case, a number of students lost limbs as a result of a grenade being thrown. One of the students who witnessed this event – having previously said, “the grenade that was thrown was professional, but our students did not have such expertise,” – has said that in some of the clashes, some people who were not students would come from Iran to help the Islamic association students (Interview with Behrang Ejtehadi, April 18, 2024). Additionally, a dentistry school graduate named Alireza Qa’emi was kidnapped and assaulted while leaving the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees in Manila. Philippine police arrested three people for this kidnapping. They said one of those arrested, who was the suspected leader of the group, had close ties with the Iranian Embassy (Washington Post Newspaper, March 29, 1984).  By 1982, these instances of violence had escalated to the point that nine students who opposed the Islamic Republic had disappeared and it became apparent that there were death squads targeting these opposing students (The Muslim Communities of the Southern Philippines book, Moshe Yegar, 2002).

Mr. Esfandiar Rahimi Taqanki’s Death 

On February 8, 1983, Esfandiar Rahimi Taqanki was killed by multiple strikes of a machete, in the Makati area of Manila, the capital of the Philippines (Mujahed Publication, February 17, 1983; Encyclopedia of World Famous Murders, Michael Newton, 2014; Brigham Young University Research Archives, March 12, 2013). Quoting the Union of Islamic Associations outside of Iran, Mujahed Publication has reported Mr. Rahimi’s death as having happened on February 8, 1983 (Mujahed Publication, February 17, 1983).

Officials’ Reaction

There is no information about the reaction of officials to the killing of Mr. Rahimi.

Family’s Reaction

There is no information about legal steps taken by Mr. Rahimi’s family.  

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* The exclusion of MKO members from government offices and the closure of their centers and publishing houses, in conjunction with to the Islamic Republic authorities’ different interpretation of Islam, widened the gap between the two. Authorities of the new regime referred to the Mojahedin as “Hypocrites” and the Hezbollahi supporters of the regime attacked the Mojahedin sympathizers regularly during demonstrations and while distributing publications, leading to the death of several MKO supporters. On June 20, 1981, the MKO called for a demonstration protesting their treatment by governmental officials and the government officials’ efforts to impeach their ally, President Abolhassan Banisadr. Despite the fact that the authorities called this demonstration illegal, thousands came to the streets, some of whom confronted the Revolutionary Guardsmen and Hezbollahis. The number of casualties that resulted from this demonstration is unknown but a large number of demonstrators were arrested and executed in the following days and weeks. The day after the demonstration, the Islamic Republic regime started a repressive campaign – unprecedented in modern Iranian history. Thousands of MKO members and sympathizers were arrested or executed. On June 21, 1981, the MKO announced an armed struggle against the Islamic Republic and assassinated a number of high-ranking officials and supporters of the Islamic regime. 

In the summer of 1981, the leader of the MKO and the impeached President (Banisadr) fled Iran to reside in France, where they founded the National Council of Resistance. After the MKO leaders and many of its members were expelled from France, they went to Iraq and founded the National Liberation Army of Iran in 1987, which entered Iranian territory a few times during the Iran-Iraq war. They were defeated in July 1988 during their last operation, the Forugh Javidan Operation. A few days after this operation, thousands of imprisoned Mojahedin supporters were killed during the mass executions of political prisoners in 1988. Ever since the summer of 1981, the MKO has continued its activities outside of Iran. No information is available regarding members and activities of the MKO inside the country. 

In spite of the “armed struggle” announcement by the MKO on June 20, 1981, many sympathizers of the organization had no military training, were not armed, and did not participate in armed conflict.