Cinema Rex Memorial

The Cinema Rex fire of August 1978 was one of the worst atrocities of Iran's revolutionary period and one of the pivotal events that brought down the Shah. The cinema stood in the heart of Abadan, and the fire killed at least 377 people — accounts vary up to 470 — who were attending an evening screening. The Revolutionary government later convicted and executed Islamist militants for the crime, but the episode had already done its political work.

The site is now a memorial. The remains of the cinema building have been preserved and a small museum documents the event and its victims. Coming here is not a cheerful experience, but it is a significant one. The Cinema Rex fire is not well-known outside Iran, and understanding it is essential to understanding how the revolution unfolded. The memorial is open to visitors and is free to enter.

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A story
On the night of 19 August 1978 — the 25th anniversary of the CIA-backed coup that had overthrown Mosaddegh — the Cinema Rex was set on fire while a film was playing to a full house. At least 377 people died, many of them trapped behind doors that had been chained from the outside. The perpetrators were later identified as radical Islamists, but at the time the Shah's government was blamed by protesters, and the fire accelerated the course of the Islamic Revolution. It remains one of the deadliest acts of arson in history.