Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI) has issued a strong condemnation of an editorial published on July 7, 2025, by Fars News Agency, a state-linked outlet associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The editorial openly advocates for the repetition of the mass executions that took place in the summer of 1988, describing those extrajudicial killings of thousands of political prisoners as a “successful historical experience.” It explicitly calls for similar punitive measures to be applied to current detainees and opposition figures.
The article not only attempts to justify and glorify these crimes against humanity but also amounts to incitement to commit future atrocity crimes. By framing political opponents as threats to national security, the editorial seeks to normalize extrajudicial killings and echoes a broader state strategy of dehumanizing and criminalizing dissent.
The publication of such content by an IRGC-affiliated media outlet—an organization internationally sanctioned for serious human rights violations—highlights the imminent risk of recurrence of mass atrocity crimes in Iran.
This threat emerges amidst ongoing brutal repression by Iranian authorities, including arbitrary detention, unfair trials, forced confessions, solitary confinement, and torture of political prisoners, dissidents, and minority activists. JVMI has documented multiple patterns of persecution reminiscent of the conditions preceding the 1988 massacre.
JVMI recalls the landmark 2024 report by the former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Professor Javaid Rehman, which characterized the 1988 killings as crimes against humanity including murder, extermination, persecution, and other inhumane acts. The report provided significant evidence suggesting the killings were carried out with genocidal intent and called for international accountability. It also noted a culture of impunity that has enabled continued gross human rights violations, such as recent unlawful executions of protesters and prisoners of conscience.
The latest editorial by Fars News represents a clear incitement to violence and serves as a warning that Iranian authorities or affiliated institutions may be preparing or attempting to justify a renewed campaign of mass executions.
JVMI condemns this incitement in the strongest terms and calls on the UN human rights system—including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the current Special Rapporteur on Iran Dr. Mai Sato, and the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran (FFMI)—to take urgent and decisive action. The international community must not remain silent in the face of such blatant threats to repeat crimes against humanity.
JVMI urges the following measures:
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Investigation and condemnation: The OHCHR, Special Rapporteur, and FFMI should urgently investigate the Fars News editorial as incitement to atrocity crimes and publicly condemn it, as this rhetoric violates international human rights law, including prohibitions on incitement to violence and mass murder.
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Strengthening accountability: Building on Professor Rehman’s recommendations, the UN Human Rights Council must establish an international mechanism to investigate, document ongoing violations, and pursue justice for the 1988 massacre and related crimes. The editorial underscores the urgent need for such accountability.
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Protection for victims and survivors: The UN must take concrete steps to safeguard survivors, families, and human rights defenders in Iran and the diaspora, who face harassment and reprisals. The call for renewed executions heightens the risks they face.
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Inclusion in UN resolutions: JVMI supports calls for the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee to explicitly reference the 1988 massacre and the current threats expressed by Fars News in its 2025 resolution on Iran, signaling a commitment to ending impunity.
The 1988 massacre remains an open wound for the Iranian people, with families still denied truth about their loved ones’ fates and the locations of mass graves. The editorial’s glorification of this tragedy and call for its repetition is a stark reminder of the Iranian authorities’ disregard for human rights and international law. As Professor Rehman emphasized, “The continued concealment of the fate of thousands of political opponents and the whereabouts of their remains amounts to the crime against humanity of enforced disappearance.” Failure to act risks emboldening further atrocities.
JVMI stands in solidarity with victims, survivors, and families who have courageously demanded justice for over three decades. The organization calls on UN member states, OHCHR, FFMI, and Dr. Mai Sato to act swiftly to address this latest threat and uphold the principles of truth, justice, and accountability. The victims of the 1988 massacre and the Iranian people deserve nothing less.