Information on a group called Forqan, active around the period of the revolution. [IRN4254]

No references to a group by the name of Farghan were found among the sources currently available to the IRBDC. In Khomeiny: La révolution trahie, Forghan is identified as a "mysterious terrorist group that assassinated a number of military and religious persons following the revolution" (Delannoy, p. 302). The name Furqan or Forqan appears in other documentation. According to Dilip Hiro, author of Iran Under the Ayatollahs, Furqan means "distinction" and was "formed at the time of the June 1963 uprising by Savak" (Hiro, p. 113-114). He further states that "it was a religious organization which did not regard the Imams to be infallible, merely inspired leaders, and had a poor opinion of the ulema". Allegedly, among other actions, Furqan members attempted to assassinate Hojatalislam Hashemi-Rafsanjani on 25 May 1979 (Hiro, p. 212). Another author, Ervand Abrahamian (Radical Islam, The Iranian Mojahedin), mentions Forqan (Koran) as a "small religious group convinced that `reactionary clerics', wealthy bazaaris and `liberal politicians', not to mention `Marxist atheists', were plotting to betray the Islamic Revolution" (Abrahamian, pp. 51-2). Abrahamian alleges that Forqan was responsible for the deaths of Motahhari, Mofateh, the chief of general staff, and the Imam Jom`eh of Tabriz in the latter half of 1979 (Abrahamian, p. 51).
Further corroboration for the above information is not currently available to the IRBDC.
ATTACHMENTS:
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Abrahamian, Ervand. Radical Islam: The Iranian Mojahedin. London: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 1989;
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Hiro, Dilip. Iran Under the Ayatollahs. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1987;
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Delannoy, Christian and Jean-Pierre Pichard. Khomeiny: La révolution trahie. Paris: Carrere, 1988.