Plasco, the plastics manufacturing plant founded in 1959, served as the primary industrial achievement of Habib Elghanian. As the largest facility of its kind in Tehran, the company represented a significant integration of Western technology within the Iranian market, establishing Elghanian as a major figure in the country’s mid-century economic expansion and Jewish community leadership.
Industrial Expansion and Business Career
Elghanian became a prominent entrepreneur, industrialist, and philanthropist throughout the 1960s and 1970s. His flagship enterprise, Plasco, stood at the center of his business operations, facilitated by collaboration with Israeli engineers during a period of close diplomatic ties between Iran and Israel under the Pahlavi monarchy. By establishing these technological links, he became a central architect of modern manufacturing standards in the region.
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Beyond his industrial interests, Elghanian served as the president of the Tehran Jewish Society. In this capacity, he acted as the symbolic head of the Iranian Jewish community during the 1970s. His position placed him at the intersection of business and religious community representation, though this public profile would later contribute to the scrutiny he faced following the Islamic Revolution.
Trial and Execution
Following his return to Iran, Elghanian was arrested on 16 March 1979. An Islamic revolutionary tribunal accused him of corruption, contacts with Zionism, and economic imperialism. His trial lasted less than twenty minutes before a death sentence was handed down. On 9 May 1979, he was executed by firing squad in Tehran, becoming the first businessman and the first Jewish citizen to face such a sentence under the new regime. All property held by the family was subsequently confiscated by the state.
Legacy and Historical Impact
The death of Elghanian prompted a significant shift in the demographics of Iran, contributing to the departure of approximately 75 percent of the country’s 80,000 Jews. Following intervention by Chief Rabbi Yedidia Shofet, his remains were eventually released and buried in the Beheshtieh Jewish Cemetery in Tehran. Internationally, the United States Senate passed a resolution, led by Senator Jacob Javits, condemning the execution. Decades later, his name surfaced in debates regarding the Stuxnet computer worm due to the date of his death appearing within the software code.
Fast facts
- Born: 1912, Tehran, Iran
- Died: 9 May 1979, Tehran, Iran
- Key Business: Plasco plastics factory
- Role: President of the Tehran Jewish Society
- Sentencing Authority: Islamic revolutionary tribunal
- Execution Method: Firing squad
Questions readers ask
Why was Habib Elghanian executed?
He was convicted by an Islamic revolutionary tribunal of crimes including corruption, economic imperialism, and maintaining contacts with Israel and Zionism.
What impact did his death have on the Iranian Jewish community?
His execution was a major catalyst for the emigration of roughly 75 percent of the 80,000 Jews residing in Iran at the time of the 1979 revolution.
Achievements
- Worked as entrepreneur, businessperson and philanthropist
