A little bit more history: Afshartous was the chief of police in Tehran. The 1953 CIA coup plotters killed him and dumped his mutilated body in Tehran, and then promoted the rumour that he had been killed by "Communists":
"The destabilizing campaign was not restricted to propaganda activities. Weapons were dropped quietly to the tribes. Less quietly, an armed gang — formed of retired officers linked to Zahedi and Baqai — kidnapped General Mohammad Afshartous, Mossadeq’s chief of police. A few days later,his badly tortured body was dumped outside Teheran. This was a major blow to the government. It proved that even the police chief was vulnerable, even in downtown Teheran. It sent a clear warning to other officers. It created an aura of acute instability. And it prompted rumors that others were on a hit list. When Mossadeq canceled public appearances and instead carried out government business from his residence, the Western media claimed he was being paranoid and melodramatic. A note at the Foreign Office stated ambiguously: “You might well consider it desirable to put about the story that the communists are plotting against Musaddiq’s life, and are trying to plant the responsibility onto the British”. Along similar lines, Lankarani bombed the home of a prominent cleric, and sent leaflets to others in the name of the Tudeh heralding the imminent dawn of a bright new “atheistic” republic. This frightened some, including future leaders of the Islamic Republic."
Immediately after the coup, about 23 people who had been held in suspicion to the murder were released from prison. No one has been held accountable for the murder.
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