5) Cinema Rex Fire – 1978

In Abadan, Iran the Cinema Rex was set ablaze killing 470 individuals. This blaze was set by Islamic militants. Initially SAVAK (a secret police force run by the Islamists’ enemy and head of state Mohammad Reza Shah) were blamed for the blaze. The story went that the SAVAK agents chased the Islamic militants into the cinema, locked the doors and torched it with civilians inside. It turned out that the blaze had actually been started by the Islamic militants as a way of building hate against the Shah and his government.

Six terrorists were publicly executed after a lengthy trial.