Bani-Sadr escapes to France

An explosion at the Islamic Republican Party’s Tehran headquarters killed Mohammad Beheshti and many senior officials. The loss intensified Iran’s political emergency during the war.

A CIA assessment judged that Iraq sought to use the Israeli reactor raid to weaken Syrian and Libyan support for Iran. The document examined regional realignment during the ongoing war.

A British parliamentary answer recorded £85.7 million in petroleum-related imports from Iran in 1980. Oil commerce continued during the year that Iraq invaded Iran.

Mohammad Ali Rajai won the election held after Bani-Sadr’s removal. The presidency changed hands while Iran continued fighting Iraq and faced political violence at home.

Dean Fischer said Washington was unaware of Israeli shipments to Iran. He restated restrictions on U.S.-built arms after reports linked an Argentine cargo-plane crash to military supplies.

Khomeini issued the decree confirming Rajai as president after the July election. The endorsement made his authority conditional on adherence to Islam, the Constitution and the country’s interests.

UPI cited diplomatic sources alleging British recovery tanks sold through Jordan were intended for Iraq. The report also described planned work on Chieftains captured from Iran.

UPI relayed an ABC investigation into Israeli military supplies reaching Iran during the hostage crisis. The reporting described spare-parts transactions that predated the later Iran-Contra channel.

A bomb at the prime minister’s office killed President Mohammad Ali Rajai and Prime Minister Mohammad Javad Bahonar. Iran again faced a leadership vacancy during its first year of war.

The closing phase of Operation Samen ol-A’emmeh restored access to Abadan and drove Iraqi units away from the eastern bank of the Karun River. The breakthrough was an important Iranian defensive...