Martin Berkovitz, a 53-year-old American engineer working in Iran, was stabbed to death in the kitchen of his home in the southern Iranian town of Kerman; possibly because he was Jewish, according to reports reaching the State Department.
Khayan, the largest English-language publication in Teheran, was quoted here as reporting that a note posted on the front of his door said, “Go back to your own country.” The newspaper also said that Berkovitz was killed, apparently because he was Jewish. In Iran’s recent demonstrations, anti-American and anti-Israeli feeling was reportedly rampant.
The U.S. Embassy identified the victim as Berkovitz, a Vietnam war veteran who was married and the father of two daughters. He worked for the Jurden Arsons Construction Company of Pasadena, Co., He is believed to have been from San Francisco on a billion dollar copper mine project in the Kerman area.
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