{"id":6009,"date":"2018-08-18T15:05:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-18T13:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/?p=6009"},"modified":"2018-08-19T17:20:55","modified_gmt":"2018-08-19T15:20:55","slug":"1988-massacre-iran-khomeini-pmoi-mek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/1988-massacre\/2018\/08\/1988-massacre-iran-khomeini-pmoi-mek\/6009\/","title":{"rendered":"30th anniversary of 1988 massacre in Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

30th anniversary of 1988 massacre in Iran<\/p>\n

Thirty years ago in the summer of 1988 Iranian regime under Khomeini committed a crime unprecedented since Second World War. In a few months 30000 political prisoners<\/a> were executed in Iran. The prisoners were severing their sentences. The order was to exterminate all prisoners still believing in the People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK). The majority of prisoners were members and supporters of the MEK. The regime saw the MEK as its main rival and enemy.<\/p>\n

A four members \u201cDeath Commission,\u201d as it is famous among Iranian political prisoners oversaw the\u00a0massacre<\/a>\u00a0of 30000 political prisoners\u00a0in 1988.<\/p>\n

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Ebrahim Raisi and Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi \u2014 Justice Minister in Hassan Rouhani\u2019s first cabinet \u2014 were two of the four members of the Death Commission who were tasked by then Supreme Leader\u00a0Khomeini to immediately execute political prisoners. \u00a0Raisi\u00a0was a low level cleric at the time and in return for his services was elevated in the rank and files of the mullahs\u2019 hierarchy.\u00a0<\/em>Raisi is a close confidant of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Currently Raisi is the custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, the wealthiest charity foundation in charge of Iran\u2019s holiest shrine in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, with close ties to Khamenei\u2019s powerhouse. He ran for presidential office last year and lost to Rouhani.<\/p>\n

Khomeini\u2019s fatwa<\/strong><\/p>\n

Khomeini hand wrote a fatwa, a religious decree, authorizing the Commission\u2019s task. In the summer of 1988, the Commission handed down 30,000 death sentences. The kangaroo courts hardly lasted more than three minutes on average. Some of the political prisoners who miraculously survived the slaughter have written or spoken of their ordeals. A simple question was asked by the judges: Do you still believe in Mojahedin? And depending on the answer, one could end up before a hangman. The gruesome accounts of survivors, especially female prisoners, often leave the listeners in shock.<\/p>\n

Moving evidence<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri speak out about\u00a01988 massacre in Iran\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

An audio tape was leaked out by Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri\u2019s son in August 2016. Montazeri, the handpicked successor of Khomeini, was sacked for his public objections to mass executions\u00a0in 1988. He spent the rest of his life under house arrest and died in 2009.<\/p>\n