{{Short description|Iranian intelligence official (1958–1999)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Infobox spy |name = Saeed Emami |image = Saeed Emami.jpg |image_size = |caption = Saeed Emami |allegiance = Islamic Republic of Iran |service_branch = Ministry of Intelligence |service_years = 1984–1999 |code_name1 = Daniyal Ghavami |operation = "Chain murders" |birth_name = Saeed Emami |birth_date = {{Birth date|1958|01|14|df=y}} |birth_place = Shiraz, Iran |death_date = {{Death date and age|1999|06|19|1958|01|14|df=y}} |death_place = Lugman Hospital, Tehran, Iran |death_cause = Suicide by poisoning |residence = |alias = |spouse = {{ill|Fahimeh Dorri Nogorani|fa|فهیمه دری نوگورانی}} }}
'''Saeed Emami''' ({{langx|fa|سعید امامی}}; né '''Saeed Eslami''') (14 January 1958 – 19 June 1999) was the Iranian deputy minister of intelligence under Ali Fallahian, and adviser to Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi. He was appointed as deputy minister in security affairs and the second person of intelligence ministry when he was 32 years old. He is also considered as the designer and leader of many internal and extraterritorial intelligence operations during the 1990s, especially in the case of western countries, Israel and anti-revolutionary units.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/story/2008/05/080527_bd-mosharekat.shtml |title= ايران; درخواست بازگشایی پرونده قتل های زنجیره ای|work=BBC|date=27 May 2008|accessdate=8 August 2010}}</ref> He was accused of having independently organized the assassinations of dissidents (known as the "chain murders").
==Biography== Emami was born in Abadeh, near Shiraz, Iran. In 1978, he moved to the United States with the help of his uncle, Soltan Mohammad Etemad, to pursue his studies in mechanical engineering.<ref name="bbccd">[http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/2009/11/091123_ag_emami.shtml سعید امامی، مردی که بر اساس شایعات با داروی نظافت خودکشی کرد] bbc persian</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Christopher Dickey|url=http://www.newsweek.com/2000/02/21/why-do-you-talk-about-killing.html|title=Ali Fallahian: The Most Feared Mullah in Iran |newspaper=Newsweek|date=22 February 2000|accessdate=8 August 2010}}</ref>
Following the Iranian Revolution, he returned to Iran and became involved in intelligence gathering. In 1984, when the Majlis of Iran (Iranian Parliament) approved the establishment of the Ministry of Intelligence of Iran, he joined the ministry and worked at the foreign directorate during Mohammad Reyshahri's term.<ref name=mii/> Later he was appointed deputy minister during the tenure of Ali Fallahian.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.aftabnews.ir/vdchixn23knzz.html|title=آفتاب - دری نجف آبادی و رازهای ناگفته|newspaper=Aftab News|access-date=8 August 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301235254/http://www.aftabnews.ir/vdchixn23knzz.html|archive-date=1 March 2010}}</ref> He was also the director of the ministry's security directorate.<ref name=mii>{{cite web|title=Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security: A profile|url=https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/9920777|work=Library of Congress, Federal Research Division|accessdate=5 August 2013|format=Report|date=December 2012}}</ref>
===Background=== Some sources claimed that Emami was of Jewish origin,<ref name="aidanederland1">{{cite web |url=http://www.aidanederland.nl/informatie%20organisatie/essays/iran/Review%20of%20serial%20murders%20in%20Iran.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119045405/http://www.aidanederland.nl/informatie%20organisatie/essays/iran/Review%20of%20serial%20murders%20in%20Iran.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 January 2008 |title=Review of serial murders in Iran |publisher=Aidanederland |access-date=8 August 2010}}</ref><ref name="PBS">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2009/12/the-chain-murders-1988-1998.html |title=The Chain Murders|work=PBS|date=December 2009|accessdate=8 August 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,IRBC,,IRN,,3df4be4ae,0.html|title=Treatment of Muslims with Jewish ancestry|publisher=UNHCR|accessdate=8 August 2010}}</ref> but Ali Fallahian believes that "they just wanted to justify his arrest and torture".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.fardanews.com/fa/pages/?cid=35879|title=سعيد امامي، يك اطلاعاتي مظلوم |work=Farda News|accessdate=8 August 2010}}</ref> According to Hamshahri, he was the first Holocaust denier in the Islamic Republic.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news-17967.aspx|title=هولوکاست؛ پس از 70سال|work=Hamshahri online|access-date=8 August 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100912173328/http://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news-17967.aspx|archive-date=12 September 2010}}</ref>
==Arrest and death== In 1999, after being charged with orchestrating the Chain Murders, Emami was arrested and imprisoned. According to Muhammad Sahimi: <blockquote> On 20 June 1999, it was announced that Saeid Emami had died in prison the night before. It was claimed that Emami had attempted to commit suicide by drinking a depilatory compound in the bathroom on 16 June 1999. He had been taken to a hospital and had undergone treatment, but had died on 19 June. It was claimed that he died of a cardiac arrest and because he suffered from respiratory problems. His family held a memorial service for him in which 400 people participated.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/2009/11/091123_ag_emami.shtml|title= فارسی - ايران - سعید امامی، مردی که با داروی نظافت خودکشی کرد |work=BBC|date=23 November 2009|accessdate=8 August 2010}}</ref></blockquote> Iranian dissidents are reported to believe "he was murdered in order to prevent the leak of sensitive information about MOIS operations, which would have compromised the entire leadership of the Islamic Republic."<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20051201021658/http://www.iranterror.com/content/view/5/32/ Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security]}}, Iran Terror Database</ref>
He was later alleged to have assisted in the defection of Abolghassem Farhad Mesbahi, a former Iranian intelligence official. Mesbahi stated he fled Iran in 1996 after his former colleague Emami warned him of an assassination order against him. Mesbahi was offered asylum in Germany where he was a witness in the Mykonos restaurant assassinations trial, contributing to a German court ruling blaming Iranian government officials for the attack and issuing an arrest warrant for former Iranian Intelligence Minister Fallahian.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/4791|title=US and Iran in secret talks over hostages|work=Canada Free Press|accessdate=16 February 2013}}</ref> It was implied that Emami's arrest was at least in part for this action.<ref>[http://www.iranian.com/main/2011/jul/assassins-turquoise-palace Assassins Turquoise Palace] Iranian, July 2011</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Iran|Biography}} *Dariush Forouhar *Ali-Akbar Sa'idi Sirjani
==References== {{Reflist|33em}}
{{List of political prisoners of Iran}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emami, Saeid}} Category:1958 births Category:1999 deaths Category:Deputies of the Ministry of Intelligence (Iran) Category:People from Shiraz Category:Prisoners who died in Iranian detention Category:Iranian people who died in prison custody Category:Suicides by poison Category:Suicides in Iran Category:Iranian anti-Zionists Category:Iranian assassins Category:Iranian Holocaust deniers Category:1999 suicides Category:Murderers who died by suicide in prison custody Category:Political prisoners in Iran Category:Politicide perpetrators