Bijan Fazeli

Bijan Fazeli died in an explosion at his father’s video shop, KVC Videos, in Kensington High Street on Tuesday 19 August 1986.

The police said that the explosion was caused by a bomb.

Twelve other people were also injured in the explosion, with two of them still being in hospital two days later.

Bijan Fazeli was taken to Charing Cross Hospital where he died.

At the time of the explosion, Bijan Fazeli's father, who was thought to have been the target, had been away in Paris with his wife, and had left Bijan Fazeli in charge.

The police said:

It was thought that the blast had been carried out by the Iranian regime, however, it was reported that rival Iranian factions had all blamed each other for the blast, with the Iranian Embassy claiming that they had intelligence that Bijan Fazeli had been planning to blow up their consulate and that he had killed himself in the process.

The Iranian Embassy blamed the blast on an anti-Khomeini group whose planned attack on its consular offices had misfired, and denied a claim that the Islamic regime was connected 'in any way'.

The head of information at the Iranian Embassy said the victim suffered:

The embassy denied that they were in any way connected with the blast.

It was noted that the consular offices in Kensington Court backed onto Kensington High Street where the shop was situated.

Bijan Fazeli had been the son of a film star from Iran during the days of the Shah who had fled to the UK when the Ayatollah came to power and it was heard that his fame had made his family a terrorist target. His father was described as an opponent of Iran's leader, the Ayatollah Khomeini.

A friend of Bijan Fazeli said that Bijan Fazeli had been threatened repeatedly by Iranian Embassy officials and knew that he was in danger.

It was also heard that threats had been made after Bijan Fazeli's father had been involved in making two films that poked fun at the new Iranian leader, Ayatollah Khomeini.

The friend denied that Bijan Fazeli and his family were political activists, and said:

His inquest returned a verdict of unlawful killing.

At the inquest, a detective stated that Bijan Fazeli had not been handling the device at the time. He said:

The detective later said that the device had been put in the basement of the shop, and that no one had claimed responsibility.

Bijan Fazeli had lived in Upper Richmond Road in Putney.

The video shop was noted for not being far from Kensington Palace.