Farzad Bazoft
| Farzad Bazoft | |
|---|---|
| Born |
22 May 1958 Iran |
| Died | 15 March 1990 (aged 31) Iraq |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Nationality | Iranian |
| Period | 1980s-1990 |
| Subject | Middle East |
Farzad Bazoft (22 May 1958 – 15 March 1990) (Persian: فرزاد بازفت) was an Iranian journalist who settled in the United Kingdom in the mid-1970s. He worked as a freelance reporter for The Observer. He was arrested by Iraqi authorities and executed in 1990 after being convicted of spying for Israel while working in Iraq.
Bazoft came to live in the United Kingdom in 1975 at the age of 16. After finishing his education he began a career as a freelance journalist, contributing articles about the Middle East and, in particular, the Iran-Iraq war to news outlets including The Observer and the BBC. In 1989 he was invited by the Iraqi government to come to Iraq along with other journalists to report on elections being held in Kurdistan. Before Bazoft set off, he learned about a mysterious explosion that had occurred on 19 September 1989 at the al-Iskandaria military complex, 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Baghdad. The heavy detonation was heard as far away as Baghdad. Despite Saddam Hussein's personal order to keep the matter secret, rumours began to spread that the accident happened in a rocket factory's assembly line, killing dozens of Egyptian technicians involved in Iraq's secret development of medium-range ballistic missiles.
Sensing a possible scoop, Bazoft headed for al-Hilla to search for details. He allegedly undertook his investigation with the approval of Iraqi officials.Observer editor Donald Trelford said in response to later events: "Farzad Bazoft is not a spy. He is a reporter who went to do a story. He said in advance the story he was going to do... He told the Baghdad government where he wanted to go... This is not the action of a spy, this is the action of a reporter." Other western reporters were also interested in the story, but a camera crew from Independent Television News was stopped by Iraqi authorities before they could reach the plant. Bazoft got through, driven by British nurse Daphne Parish. Bazoft also asked military personnel in Baghdad hotels and casinos what they knew and was reported by the hotel security to Iraqi Intelligence Service.
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