Ali Akbar Tabatabaei was born on 4 September 1930, in Hamedan, Imperial State of Persia, to a prominent Iranian family, he was the grandson of a mullah.[1] He had a twin brother, Mohammad.[1]
Tabatabaei attended Tehran University and had a degree in law.[1] Tabatabaei came to the United States in 1952 with dreams about becoming an architect, and to study at Howard University's School of Architecture.[1] While attended Howard University, he took a part-time job at the Iranian Embassy.[1] There had been rumors he was connected to SAVAK, Iran's secret police during the Pahlavi-era.[1]
It took Tabatabaei many years to complete his bachelor’s degree in architecture, around 1969 he returned to Tehran to work at the Iranian military of information to help foreigners learn more about Iranian life.[1] It is unclear why he left Iran in 1972, it was either due to harassment by the SAVAK, a government embarrassment at work, or he was working for SAVAK and sent abroad.[1] He briefly lived in Italy before moving to Ohio to work at an architecture firm.[1]
On 22 July 1980, Tabatabaei was shot and killed on the front door of his Bethesda, Maryland, home by Dawud Salahuddin.[3] Salahuddin is an American Muslim convert who attended Howard University and was associated with an Iranian militant group. Salahuddin disguised himself as a postman with a borrowed mail truck.[4]
Tabatabaei's murder is allegedly considered the last successful Iranian assassination plot on American soil.[5][6] Salahuddin stated he was paid $5,000 by Iranians to kill Tabatabaei. He is currently on the FBI fugitives list. He escaped to Iran via Paris and Geneva, reaching Tehran on 31 July 1980.[6] In a 1996 interview with ABC's 20/20, Salahuddin again confessed to killing Tabatabaei.[7] He further stated that he thought the killing was "an act of war".[6] In 2009, it was discovered that Salahuddin had been using a new name, Hassan Abdulrahman, and that he had been running the website of Press TV.[4]
