Hashemi brothers

The Hashemi brothers were a trio of Iranian brothers living in the West who claimed to have connections in Iran with Ahmed Khomeini, the son of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. They offered their services to the Carter administration to help secure the release of the American hostages held in Tehran.¹

The brothers, Cyrus Hashemi, Jamshid Hashemi, and Reza Hashemi, also claimed to be cousins of the influential Hojjat El-Islam Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. They made a significant amount of money in arms sales, using their influence with the White House to sell small quantities of military equipment to the Iranians, supposedly to gain goodwill for the release of the hostages.¹

Their Tehran contact, Iran Najd Rankuni, was connected with the Iranian Revolution but did not have direct access to the Supreme Council, which made it impossible for them to set up a serious dialogue between the Americans and the Iranians for the hostages' release. The Hashemi brothers could not promise major arms sales through the Israelis, which limited their effectiveness.¹

After the Reagan administration took office in 1981 and the hostages were released, the U.S. Customs began investigating the Hashemi brothers. In 1984, they were indicted under the Arms Export Control Act for the illegal sale of weapons to Iran. Cyrus and Jamshid were tipped off and escaped the U.S., but Reza was arrested and became a hostage himself. His elder brothers then negotiated with Customs to become informants against the Iranian exile community in Europe and the United States.¹

Cyrus was later used by Oliver North and U.S. Customs in a sting operation to entrap individuals connected with Israeli intelligence arms sales to Iran. Cyrus was found dead in his London apartment, with his death attributed to a sudden case of virulent leukemia, though Israeli intelligence suspected foul play.¹