Former Tehran University professor murdered in Vienna

Baghaollah Vossough

Baghaollah Vossough, Iranian academic and former professor of Tehran University was murdered on Thursday in Vienna.

Austrian Police reported that the homicide took place in a trade company in central Vienna and Baghaollah Vossough was shot to death by a man named Samad A.

Two people were also severely injured in the incident. The motive for the murder has not been ascertained yet, but the police have indicated the possibility of revenge.

The assailant shot Vossough in the heart and escaped the scene but surrendered himself to the police later in the day. The assailant and his brother are suspected of belonging to mafia groups and involved in various cases of drug smuggling and insurance fraud.

The confessions of the assailant indicate that the motive for the murder was revenge for Vossough’s alleged betrayal of him. However, the nature of the relationship between the assailant and the murder victim are not yet clear.

The office where Baghaollah Vossough was gunned down is a trade company dealing in various fields of construction, oil and gas with majority of its activities in the Middle East and specifically between Iran and UAE.

Cover of Vossough's book "Five Hundred Years of Austria-Persian Relations"

Vossough was born in a Baha’i family in Iran and studied economics and political science in Vienna. He left Iran after the 1979 Revolution and had been a resident of Austria for many years along with his Viennese wife and child.

He was the author of Five Hundred Years of Austria-Persian Relations.