Cyrus Hashemi

Cyrus Hashemi was one of the Hashemi brothers, an Iranian living in the West who claimed connections to Khomeini's son, Ahmed Khomeini. He was involved in secret arms sales and negotiations concerning the American hostages in Tehran.¹

Hashemi and his brothers made money selling small quantities of military equipment to Iran, supposedly to gain goodwill for hostage release. He was later indicted under the Arms Export Control Act for illegal arms sales to Iran, but escaped the U.S. before apprehension. He subsequently agreed to become an informant for U.S. Customs against the Iranian exile community.¹

Hashemi was used by Oliver North and U.S. Customs in a sting operation to entrap individuals connected with Israeli intelligence arms sales to Iran. He was to act as bait, claiming to have $1 billion of Iranian money to spend on weapons. He allowed his phone to be tapped and himself to be wired for this operation.¹

Hashemi was found dead in his London apartment, with his death attributed to a sudden case of virulent leukemia. However, Israeli intelligence suspected foul play, noting the presence of Joe King, a Customs officer, at his apartment shortly before his death and needle punctures on his elbow joint. Tapes of his phone calls to the U.S. Attorney's office indicated a falling out with his controllers.¹