The attack was carried out by a masked gunman. Ayatollah Khalkhali claimed that the assassination was carried out by one of his death squads and therefore, Shafiq was the first victim of homeland’s death squads. The Muslim Liberation Group announced that it was responsible for the assassination.
He stayed until March 1979 when he had to escape Iran after months of fighting the revolutionaries. He served as the commander of the Persian Gulf fleet of Hovercraft before the 1979 revolution.Additionally, Shafiq was the head of Judo and Karate federation of homeland during the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah.
