In dictatorial regimes, people reach senior positions based on their lack of respect for justice or having special connections with those in power. For positions of power in repressive organs, these appointments are carefully considered and people who are appointed must be competent at wielding suppressive weapons, the survival of the regime depends on it.

 

We can take a look at the so-called “moderate” cabinet of President Hassan Rouhani, formed in 2013. In addition to Rouhani himself, there were many overtly oppressive cabinet members like Mostafa Pour Mohammadi, the former regime Minister for Justice, who was a member of the “Death Squads” responsible for thousands of executions in 1988. The selection of Pour Mohammadi was a clear signal to the Iranian people that Rouhani’s administration is anything but moderate and that they should not expect any leniency in judicial matters of political dissent.

 

Rouhani’s moderate political slogans masked the hideous face of the clerical regime. Essentially in the culture of the clerical regime, the publicly announced policies bear no resemblance to the political reality of the regime. Repression and limiting civil liberties drive every policy decision. This is most apparent in the regime’s relationship with the main political opposition group, the PMOI. The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran is the largest and most organized political force that has opposed this regime throughout its forty-years existence.

 

It is worth pointing out that in the Iranian political landscape, no force is more ideologically opposed to the clerical regime than the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK). The regime’s ideology is rooted in Khomeini’s interpretation of Islam. But the MEK’s view of Islam is radically different from that of the Khomeini’s regime. For the MEK’s, Islam is democratic and secular. Freedom and respect for human rights are at the core of the MEK’s beliefs, conversely, for the regime freedom has no place in society and is vehemently opposed. It is this fundamental ideological difference that has put the MEK in the regime’s crosshairs. This is apparent in the appointment of Raeisi. In these sensitive times, as public dissent increases and the MEK grows more popular, Rouhani is turning to ‘the hanging cleric’ to crack down on the pro-democracy group.

 

“By emphasizing the need for a change in the judiciary and the beginning of a powerful new era,” Khamenei indicated his priority remains self-preservation at the expense of Iranian human rights. Khamenei declared the year 2019 as the year of uprising and social explosion, appointing an executioner such as Raisi is a direct response to the economic and political demands of the people.

Why #Raissi at the head of the judiciary?

It still remains a legitimate question: Why did Khamenei need such a hated character at the head of his judiciary?#1988Massacre #HRC40 #MEK#StandUp4HumanRights#HumanRights @USUN@eu_eeas @SwedenUNhttps://t.co/nXNJqxMJe2 pic.twitter.com/95QLa8n8uh

— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) March 15, 2019

The fact that “reformers” and “moderates” within the regime welcomed Raisi’s appointment as the head of the regime’s judiciary speaks volumes about the magnitude of the crisis the clerical regime faces. It proves that when it comes to repression, the different factions within the religious dictatorship are united in the shared goal of regime preservation and maintaining their grip on power.

Hassan Rouhani touted Raisi’s ”proper management skills depicted in previous positions in the judiciary” when he announced the appointment. Jahangiri, Rouhani’s vice president, also expressed hope that Raisi, with his experience and management skills, will be able to open new horizons. Two hundred parliamentary representatives wrote in a letter to Khamenei and Raisi: “In order to implement the second-level declaration of the regime, we expect the new head of the judiciary to make a decisive effort to eradicate corruption completely.” Mahmoud Sadeghi, a “reformist” in the regime’s parliament, wrote in a tweet that “many judges are optimistic about the impending changes in the administration of the judiciary.”

Although appointing Raisi as the head of the judiciary shows a more repressive front against political dissent, at the same time, it has opened the regime up to scrutiny from the international community. Governments around the world are abandoning their policies of appeasement. Following Raisi’s appointment, the international community will be even more reluctant to grant concessions to Iran.

The Associated Press announced the appointment of Raisi as follows: “On Thursday, a hard-line cleric, who was once thought to be a possible viable successor to Iran’s absolute ruler, was appointed as head of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This appointment raised the concern of human rights activists for his involvement in the execution of thousands in the 1980s. “

Referring to Amnesty International’s report in 1990, the Associated Press wrote that “Those who described themselves as ‘Mujahedin’ were sent to their deaths, according to reports Raisi, was part of the panel that was involved in the condemnation of prisoners.”

 

The regime has made some feeble gestures in an attempt to quell international fears of further human rights abuses. It released some political prisoners and removed some radical elements of the judiciary. However, these are nothing but deceptive moves and should be viewed as such.

Death Committee Member #Raisi, Sworn in as Deputy Chief of Mullahs’ Assembly of Experts https://t.co/eD6dZsOzMt #1988Massacre #IranRegimeChange

— MEKIran (@MEK_Iran) March 13, 2019

To call Ebrahim Raisi a “righteous cleric”, as the regime has, is a tasteless joke. Regarding Raeisi’s righteousness, please refer to Ayatollah Montazeri’s remarks in addressing the Death Committee. The former Ayatollah turned to Raeisi and said, “you will be regarded as one of the criminals in history.” It is noteworthy to mention that Raeisi is one of the least experienced of all the criminal judges in the system. At the age of twenty, he began his career, as the prosecutor in Karaj, and shortly afterward, for his “abilities,” he served as Hamedan prosecutor at the same time. In 1985 he was recalled to Tehran for his high “capabilities” and in 1988, at the age of 28, he was placed in a senior position in the Death Squad and oversaw the massacre of thousands of MEK political prisoners.

This criminal cleric is so brazen that he speaks about the massacre of the MEK members with pride. In a ceremony on December 7, 2018, at Beheshti University, in response to a question about the 1988 massacres, he said, “the real hero in fighting the hypocrites, (meaning the MEK), is Khomeini himself although everyone who had a role in this fight against the hypocrites and helped save our country must be awarded.”

According to Rouhani, the clerical dictatorship is at war. He called on Khamenei. “as the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic Revolution,” to “take command, leading this war.”

 

If we take this statement by the President of the clerical regime seriously, in a war against the people, and foreign governments, the appointment of Ebrahim Raeisi is part of a coordinated strategy. In this war, Rouhani may be one of their own victims. When you treat your own people as your enemy, it only speeds up the formation and proliferation of the resistance. 

Referring to Amnesty International’s report in 1990, the Associated Press wrote that “Those who described themselves as ‘Mojahedin’ were sent to their deaths, according to reports Raeisi, was part of the panel that was involved in the condemnation of prisoners.”

The regime has made some feeble gestures in an attempt to quell international fears of further human rights abuses. It released some political prisoners and removed some radical elements of the judiciary. However, these are nothing but deceptive moves and should be viewed as such.

To call Ebrahim Raisi a “righteous cleric”, as the regime has, is a tasteless joke. Regarding Raisi’s righteousness, please refer to Ayatollah Montazeri’s remarks in addressing the Death Committee. The former Ayatollah turned to Raisi and said, “you will be regarded as one of the criminals in history.” It is noteworthy to mention that Raeisi is one of the least experienced among all the criminal judges in the system. At the age of twenty, he began his career, as the prosecutor in Karaj, and shortly afterward, for his “abilities,” he served as Hamedan prosecutor at the same time. In 1985 he was recalled to Tehran for his high “capabilities” and in 1988, at the age of 28, he was placed in a senior position in the “Death Committee” and oversaw the massacre of thousands of MEK political prisoners.

This criminal cleric is so brazen that he speaks about the massacre of the MEK members with pride. In a ceremony on December 7, 2018, at Beheshti University, in response to a question about the 1988 massacres, he said, “the real hero in fighting the hypocrites, (the derogatory name regime uses for the MEK), is Khomeini himself although everyone who had a role in this fight against the hypocrites and helped save our country must be awarded.”

According to Rouhani, the clerical dictatorship is at war. He called on Khamenei. “as the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic Revolution,” to “take command, leading this war.”

If we take this statement by the President of the clerical regime seriously, in a war against the people, and foreign governments, the appointment of Ebrahim Raeisi is part of a coordinated strategy. In this war, Rouhani may be one of its own victims. When you treat your own people as your enemy, it only speeds up the formation and proliferation of the resistance.

Staff writer

 

Alejo Vidal-Quadras, the former vice-President of the European Parliament and a prominent Spanish professor of atomic and nuclear physics, penned an op-ed for Fair Observer criticizing the EU’s approach to the Iranian regime.

New article in @myfairobserver by @isjcommittee President @VidalQuadras
"Meet the “Moderates” the EU Is Trying to Empower in #Iran"#1988Massacre #mek #HumanRights #raisi #Maryam_Akbari_Monfared #FreeIran2019 #IranRegimeChange #IranProtests https://t.co/iQMq2y0mad

— ISJ Committee (@isjcommittee) March 18, 2019

The professor cited the regime’s latest appointment of Ebrahim Raisi as head of the Iranian judiciary as yet further evidence that the regime remains committed to stifling political dissent at home and abroad. A recent Amnesty International report into the 1988 massacre, in which the Iranian regime killed more than 30,000 political prisoners, mainly supporters of the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK), asserts that Raisi was directly involved in the roundup and execution of the political prisoners. He was part of a “death committee” in Iran that sent tens of thousands of Iranians to the gallows.

The case, which Vidal-Quadras denounces as a “crime against humanity”, went too far even for several regime insiders. In 2016, a recording of the successor to the Supreme Leader in 1988 was released in which Hossein Ali Montazeri can be heard denouncing the executions as “the biggest crime in the Islamic Republic.”

He told the regime leadership that “history will condemn us,” and added, “they’ll write your names as criminals in history.”

A Source of Pride

For Vidal-Quadras, the evil deeds of 1988 have been compounded by the reluctance to bring those accountable to justice in the subsequent years. “This crime against humanity is not only an insufficient cause for investigation and punishment of the perpetrators but a source of pride for its instigators,” he lamented.

Raisi has previously boasted of his role in the massacre. In 2015, he spoke of his atrocities against the MEK with glee. Vidal-Quadras asks, “weren’t the European Union’s efforts to appease Iran and all these years of dialogue and concessions supposed to empower moderate figures and isolate the hardliners?”

For Vidal-Quadras, the EU has been duped. It has fallen into Tehran’s trap of believing that there are two warring factions; one made up of religious hardliners and one of more placid moderates. As Europe rushed to appease the Iranian “moderates”, the regime received financial aid it could use to repress its people and carry out human rights abuses.

The appointment of Raisi, a “mass murderer”, to the head of the judiciary shows that there is no such division. There are only hardliners. Vidal-Quadras calls on the European Union and its foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, to add Raisi and other senior figures of the regime leadership to the EU’s sanctions list. “Europe must work forcefully for the right of Iran’s people to live in freedom and democracy,” he said.

Vidal-Quadras concluded, “the EU was founded on the principle of human rights. It is high time for the EU to understand its failure and to rethink the way we deal with this inhumane theocracy.”

Staff writer

On Tuesday, notorious Death Committee member Ebrahim Raisi was sworn in as the Deputy Chief of the Assembly of Experts. Raisi was elected to the position by the mullahs’ Assembly of Experts a week after being appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as the head of the regime’s judiciary.

During the swearing-in ceremony, Raisi vowed to crack down on political dissent.

“We deem security as the most important issue in the country,” he said in remarks broadcast by the Tasnim News Agency.

“We will not tolerate any kind of disturbance in the security of the country and will not concede,” he added.

Crackdown on Dissent

Raisi’s comments point to a disturbing increase in the regime’s suppression of dissent among its people in the wake of the nationwide anti-government protests that began in late 2017. More than 7,000 people were arrested in January 2018 for their participation in the widespread uprisings in Iran, and a number of people died after being tortured while in custody.

Since then, anti-regime protests and strikes have continued in cities across the country on a daily basis, with demonstrators calling for the overthrow of the theocratic regime. The MEK and its Resistance Units have organized and led the growing Iranian Resistance Movement in its fight for a free and democratic Iran.

Raisi was a member of Khomeini’s ‘Death Committee’ in #Iran, that sent tens of thousands of #politicalprisoners to the gallows for refusing to denounce their political affiliation.@zeyneprkaratas @AmyEAdams77 @FatjonaMejdini#IranRegimeChange #HumanRightshttps://t.co/E9qd9eEGP5

— Iran Freedom-En (@4freedominiran2) March 7, 2019

The regime, unable to suppress the protesters, who chant, “Death to Khamenei!” and “Death to Rouhani!” in the streets, have cracked down on all forms of dissent. Last year, the regime’s judiciary threatened striking truck drivers with execution. Security forces conducted a series of midnight raids on the homes of striking factory workers, forcing many terrified workers to sleep on the streets to avoid being beaten and arrested. Several protesters were shot in the street during protests last summer in Kazerun. Numerous activists have been imprisoned for speaking out against the regime.

The Iranian regime has expended a great deal of time and resources attempting to eliminate its primary opposition, the MEK, through terrorist activities and demonization campaigns. Last year, the regime hatched terrorist plots against the MEK in Albania, The Netherlands, France, and the United States. One of the regime’s diplomats is currently standing trial in Belgium for a foiled terrorist attack on the annual Free Iran gathering outside of Paris. Several regime diplomats and Ministry of Intelligence agents have been expelled from European countries for participating in terrorist plots against the MEK in 2018.

And yet still the protests continue. The cries for freedom have not ceased.

Now the Iranian regime has placed Ebrahim Raisi, a man who sentenced thousands of political prisoners to death in a single summer, at the head of the judiciary. The mullahs have further given Raisi, who is closely linked to the Revolutionary Guards, a role in choosing the regime’s next Supreme Leader.

1988 Massacre

In the summer of 1988, during the final days of the Iran-Iraq War, Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against the MEK and its members. He decreed that “as the treacherous Monafeqin [MEK] do not believe in Islam and what they say is out of deception and hypocrisy… it is decreed that those who are in prisons throughout the country and remain steadfast in their support for the Monafeqin [MEK], are waging war on God and are condemned to execution.”

Ebrahim Raisi was a Prosecutor in Tehran in 1988 and was appointed to a Death Committee by Khomeini. He was tasked with conducting trials in a kangaroo court. MEK members were brought in and asked if they renounced their allegiance to the MEK. If they said no, Raisi sentenced them to death and they were marched to the gallows and hanged in groups. Trials lasted less than three minutes.

More than 30,000 people were executed during the summer of 1988, including pregnant women and teenagers. To this day, none of the perpetrators have been brought to justice.

Raisi’s appointment to the Ministry of Justice is an intolerable act, not only to the victims of the 1988 Massacre and their families but also to all of those in Iran who still hope to see justice and fairness in their government.

Many insiders have speculated that Raisi could be chosen as Khamenei’s successor for Supreme Leader. The Iranian Resistance fights every day to ensure that the regime will not last to see that day.

Staff Writer

Ken Blackwell, the former US ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, wrote an op-ed for conservative news site Townhall. The human rights expert weighed in on the Iranian regime’s appointment of Ebrahim Raisi as the head of the Iranian judiciary. He called Raisi,

“one of the most brutal figures of modern history of Iranian jurisprudence.”

https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1104970245515759616

Raisi was involved in the systematic execution of more than 30,000 members of the Iranian opposition in 1988. His ascent to the head of the judiciary illustrates the regime’s intent to further attack, maim, and kill members of the Iranian resistance and the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK). The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the umbrella coalition which includes the MEK, denounced the appointment in a statement that read; Ali Khamenei “proves once again that as the head of the crisis-stricken theocratic regime, he finds no solution other than a hard turn towards further repression.”

A Regime in Crisis

Putting their statement into context, Blackwell outlined the precarious position the regime currently finds itself in. “The crisis in question is twofold,” Blackwell writes. Widespread civil unrest and anger over the regime’s economic mismanagement and corruption weigh heavily on the mullahs. This domestic unrest coupled with the regime’s increased isolation on the international stage is causing an existential crisis. The regime’s solution to this crisis appears to be the promotion of a known human rights abuser in Raisi and an impending crackdown on the MEK and the opposition.

“In this sense, the appointment of Raisi as the new judiciary chief is just the latest in a series of efforts to reassert a national identity that is under threat of overthrow at the hands of a resentful and overwhelmingly pro-democratic opposition,” Blackwell rights.

What does appointing #Raisi as head of #Iran regime's Judiciary mean? Read, a "Death Committee Member Appointed as Regime Judiciary Chief" https://t.co/KEjBs2KNVC #1988Massacre #StandUp4HumanRights #MEK

— MEKIran (@MEK_Iran) March 7, 2019

Beyond the human rights abuses, Blackwell argues that Raisi’s appointment also exposes the folly in international policy towards the Iranian regime. Since his rise to power in 2013, many international governments have championed Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as a moderating influence on the clerical regime.

His indifference in the face of Raisi’s appointment serves to demonstrate the inaccuracy of this belief. Rouhani has expanded repressive gender separation policies, increased state-sponsored terror attacks abroad, and deployment of military personnel to quash public dissent in Iran. These are not the acts of a “moderate”.

Repression Will Not Prevail

Blackwell concluded his piece on a note of optimism. “Ultimately,” he writes, repression is “no solution”. “The Iranian people have continued to demonstrate in favor of dramatic reform and outright regime change even in the wake of thousands of protestors being arrested and dozens killed,” he said.

This commitment and resilience to democracy will ensure the MEK and the Iranian resistance will prevail. “They’re determined to succeed in overthrowing this evil and illegitimate regime,” Blackwell writes, adding, “they deserve moral and political support from the democratic nations of the world.”

Staff Writer

Tahar Boumedra, the former chief of the human rights office of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), penned an op-ed for the prominent news and analysis site, Eurasian Review. The legal expert and human rights champion criticized the Iranian regime over its recent appointment of Ebrahim Raisi as head of the judiciary.

Boumedra traced Raisi’s historic disregard for human rights, describing Raisi’s involvement in the 1988 massacre which led to the execution of more than 30,000 Iranian political dissidents. “Raisi was among the officials appointed to three-person “death commissions.”

In his role in the death commission, Raisi rounded up and killed members of the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK) and other Iranian pro-democracy groups. Boumedra writes, “the precise scope of the killings remains unclear because many of the victims were buried in secret mass graves,” many of which were subsequently paved over in an attempt to hide the regime’s atrocities. The deliberate destruction of evidence in this manner prompted Amnesty International to call for a full UN-led investigation into the massacre.

Given the regime’s willingness to promote those involved in the massacre, such as Raisi, to senior positions within the regime, it cannot be trusted to carry out a full and impartial investigation into the matter. Prior to 2016, when audio recordings were discovered outlining the regime’s involvement in the killings, the regime refused to acknowledge the massacre took place at all. Since the recordings, made by Hossein Ali Montarezi, were made available to the public, the regime has instead focused its efforts on justifying the massacre.

No Shame

“When asked in 2016 about the killings of PMOI (MEK) members and other critics of the Iranian regime, Pourmohammadi (the former Justice Minister) openly stated that he was “proud” to have helped to carry out “God’s command” of death,” Bumedra pointed out. Pourmohammadi was then replaced in 2017 by another former death commission member, Alireza Avaie.

“These and other high-profile appointments have sent the clear message that the regime stands by its past acts of violent oppression and has no interest in rehabilitating its image,” Boumedra wrote. Raisi’s appointment only serves to further demonstrate this message.

The Implications for the Opposition

Raisi’s appointment will have a significant impact on the Iranian opposition movement and the MEK. It sends the message that Tehran is intending to crack down even harder on Iranian protestors and civil disobedience. As the Iranian opposition gears up for another year of protests in 2019, the Iranian opposition will no doubt hear this message.

Taher Bumedra: The new Rapporteur just recently published his report totally ignoring the massacre of 1988. I regret that the special rapporteur took this out of his report.#HRC40 #1988Massacre #HumanRights #StandUp4HumanRights @USADarFarsi@UNHumanRights pic.twitter.com/Hkp9ib606v

— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) March 7, 2019

However, they are unlikely to be deterred. Since 2017, the Iranian protest movement has expanded. It has untied Iranians from all walks of life and pensioners, teachers, students, factory workers, investors, farmers, and truck drivers have all marched against the violent and repressive clerical regime shoulder to shoulder.

Taher Bumedra: We hope the new rapporteur will continue to work on this issue and his next report will include this crime against humanity perpetrated by the mullahs’ regime in 1988.#HRC40 #1988Massacre #StandUp4HumanRights @mbachelet@antonioguterres@javaidRehman pic.twitter.com/yKXlcLrOe0

— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) March 7, 2019

For the MEK, who have played a leading role in the protest movement, Raisi’s appointment indicates that the regime is setting the scene for another massacre. Boumedra points out that only the international community can stop another massacre on the same scale as 1988. They must apply economic pressure to the mullahs and secure human rights reform. Without it, the lives of millions of Iranians hang in the balance.

Staff Writer

Regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei recently appointed Ebrahim Raisi, a senior member of the “death committee” that sent thousands of political prisoners to their executions in the 1988 Massacre, as the new Judiciary Chief.

Indeed Raeesi, a member of the "death commission" set up by Ruholah Khomeini, issued death decrees resulting in the massacre of as many as 30,000 political prisoners in #1988massacre in Iran. more details in this report, "Iran: Where Mass Murderers Rule" https://t.co/fIRzPiNp4B

— Alireza Jafarzadeh (@A_Jafarzadeh) March 5, 2019

On Sunday Mohseni Ejei, a spokesperson for the regime’s judiciary confirmed Raisi’s appointment, and Yahya Kamalipour, a member of the Parliament’s judiciary committee said that Raisi would be officially introduced on Thursday, March 7th. Raisi will replace Sadeq Amoli Larijani as head of the judiciary. He will serve a five-year term, which may be renewed.

Raisi has received support from regime President Hassan Rouhani and his faction, which is unusual considering Rasi’s connections to Khamenei and his supporters. It is rare for the two groups to find common cause on any issue lately, but Mostafa Tajzadeh and Mahmoud Sadeghi both tweeted their support of the appointment. The same behavior was recently seen when Foreign Minister Javad Zarif resigned and then rescinded his resignation over a 24 hour period. He received support from Qassem Suleimani, the head of the Quds Force and member of a rival faction. The regime appears to have chosen to show an outward display of solidarity in the face of domestic and international crises.

Raisi’s Role in the 1988 Massacre

In the summer of 1988, Ebrahim Raisi sat on the Tehran Death Committee, along with former Minister of Justice Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi. The death committees were formed after then-Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the deaths of all MEK political prisoners. Raisi and the other members of the committee sentenced thousands of political prisoners, most of whom were members or supporters of the MEK, to death solely because of their political beliefs. Trials in the kangaroo court lasted only a few minutes, and anyone who refused to renounce their support for the MEK was sent to the gallows. People were hanged in groups in order to keep up with a large number of executions being carried out and then buried in mass graves. Teenagers and pregnant women were among those who were murdered by the regime.

 

More than 30,000 people were executed during a single summer in the 1988 Massacre. The perpetrators of this crime against humanity have never been brought to justice. A number of human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have called for an independent investigation to be launched and for the perpetrators to be held accountable, but this has still not occurred, and many of the criminals responsible for the murder of 30,000 innocent people have held powerful positions within the regime. Ebrahim Raisi is the only the latest war criminal to take a position of authority within the regime.

Raisi was the Deputy Prosecutor in Tehran in 1988 and has been identified by name by a number of survivors of the massacre as one of the primary people responsible for ordering the executions of MEK members. Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, Khomeini’s former deputy, wrote about Raisi in his memoir.

Montazeri was Khomeini’s intended successor, but he was recorded objecting to the massacre in 1988 while it was going on. In the audio recording, Montazeri can he heard saying that history would condemn the mullahs for these crimes. In 2016, the audio tape was leaked by his son, and Montazeri was removed from power and placed under house arrest, where he remained for the rest of his life

Two Death Committee Members Become Chiefs of Judiciary

Pour-Mohammadi, the other death committee member who went on to become Chief of the regime Judiciary, gave an interview after the release of the Montazeri tape. He bragged about being part of the death committee, saying that he was “proud to carry out God’s will” and never lost sleep over sending thousands of people to their deaths. He also said that Montazeri’s son Ahmad committed an “act of treason” by leaking the tape and that in doing so he betrayed Khomeini, his father, and the Islamic Revolution.

Unraveling Iranian Regime’s Deeds During 1988 Massacre of MEK Activists

In the televised interview, he also said, “Well, I defended [Khomeini’s] move. We had a mission in regards to the [MEK], back when I was the Revolutionary Court prosecutor. I issued many indictments against the [MEK] and sent it to the court. Many of them were condemned, many were executed and many other verdicts.”

 

Ebrahim Raisi is the latest war criminal to attain a high-ranking position within the regime, but he is not the first. He is not even the first perpetrator of the 1988 Massacre to become Chief of the Judiciary. The families of those killed in the summer of 1988 are still waiting for an investigation into their loved ones’ murders, while those who ordered their executions are named as arbiters of justice.

Staff Writer

 

 

On Tuesday, Struan Stevenson presented his new report, “Ashraf III – Rising From The Ashes,” at a press conference in London. Stevenson is a former Member of European Parliament, the Coordinator of the Campaign for Iran Change, and a longtime supporter of the MEK and has written extensively about Iran and the Western policy of appeasement toward the mullahs. His latest report describes the regime’s latest efforts to demonize the MEK through propaganda and eliminate the resistance organization through terrorist plots.

Terrorist Plots

During his remarks at the press conference, Stevenson discussed the Iranian regime’s escalating terrorist plots and propaganda attacks against the MEK under the leadership of “moderate” President Hassan Rouhani.

#Breaking Watch Live:"State of Affairs in Iran in 2019 after a year of popular protests" ASHRAF III, RISING From th… https://t.co/yJ2ds51EpG

— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) March 5, 2019

“The regime plotted to bomb a rally in Paris. I was at that rally. Several other terror plots were perpetrated by Iranian regime agents in Europe,” Stevenson said, describing the regime’s foiled terrorist plot on last year’s Free Iran rally outside of Paris, which targeted tens of thousands of MEK members and supporters, as well as hundreds of high-ranking politicians and dignitaries from all over the world. Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian regime diplomat, was arrested by German law enforcement for masterminding the attempted bombing and now awaiting trial in Belgium on terrorist charges. “But despite all that, we still have Europeans trying to sign trade deals with Iran as part of an appeasement policy,” Stevenson continued. “These countries have shamefully set up INSTEXT to bypass U.S. sanctions in a somewhat barter system.”

Recent Developments in Iran

Stevenson also spoke about recent political developments in Iran. “Only two days ago, Iran appointed Ebrahim Raisi, the notorious executioner of thousands only for their support for the PMOI/MEK. How on Earth can we have dialogue with a regime that appoints a man with such atrocities to head of judiciary?”

Raisi was a senior member of the “Death Committee” who sentenced thousands of political prisoners to death in kangaroo courts during the summer of 1988. Over 30,000 people, most of whom were MEK members or supporters, were executed in the 1988 Massacre. No one has ever been held accountable for this crime against humanity.

Stevenson also addressed regime Foreign Minister Javad Zarif’s recent resignation and reinstatement, saying, “The sudden resignation of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the uprising show the fragile status of the regime. The insistence of Revolutionary Guards Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani on Zarif’s reinstatement show how these two figures are working together on the regime’s foreign terrorist organization.”

Ashraf III

The bulk of Stevenson’s remarks were devoted to the Ashraf III, the MEK’s headquarters in Albania, and the regime’s attempts to demonize and destroy Ashraf through propaganda and outright terrorism.

“Following the airlift of over 2,000 Iranian dissidents [from Iraq to Albania], the mullahs couldn’t tolerate it and sent dozens of agents to Albania. The mullahs’ regime began planning bomb plots and assassinations in response,” Stevenson said. “Mrs. Maryam Rajavi and her people built a whole city in a matter of months. Ashraf. That is why I call it ‘rising from the ashes.’”

Stevenson described the role of British citizen Anne Singleton, who was recruited along with her husband, Masoud Khodabandeh, by the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) to spread false propaganda about the MEK in Albania. “Anne Singleton actually held a press conference in Albania, claiming to work for the UK government as an anti-terrorism expert. Two Londoners, Masoud Khodabandeh and his wife, Singleton, who have sinister records and have been seen outside Ashraf in Iraq planning rocket attacks on the residents, are now regularly visiting in Albania,” Stevenson explained.

Stevenson concluded his remarks by stating the mission of the MEK members living in Albania and their goals for helping the people of Iran to establish a free Iran. “The people of Iran now look to the organized opposition [the PMOI and the NCRI] as the harbingers of a future of democracy, justice, and peace. The fortitude and stamina of PMOI [MEK] members in Albania has acted as a beacon of hope for the 80 million beleaguered citizens of Iran who hope and pray for freedom from oppression,” he emphasized. He went on to say, “The Iranian people have lost their fear and are demanding regime change. We have a regime that has executed 4,000 only during the so-called moderate Rouhani’s tenure. After 40 years of dictatorship, today 80 million Iranians have had enough.”

Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a Spanish professor of atomic and nuclear physics and a former vice-president of the European Parliament, published an op-ed for the Eurasia Review. His op-ed highlights the Iranian regime’s obsession with the democratic opposition and the extraordinary lengths it will go to discredit and vilify them in the international media.

New Propaganda Reflects Iran’s Old Obsession With Democratic Opposition – OpEd https://t.co/bIq3k1hR6y

— Eurasia Review (@EurasiaReview) February 28, 2019

His op-ed comes just weeks after German magazine, Der Spiegel, published a hit piece against the largest democratic opposition group, the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK). Vidal-Quadras described how the magazine “repeated a laundry list of lies and baseless accusations against the group’s “war footing” and its treatment of more than 2,000 members now living in Albania.”

A Demonization Campaign Across International Media

Vidal-Quadras expressed concern that those reading Der Spiegel’s article who are not familiar with the Iranian regime and its blatant attempts to discredit pro-democracy groups in Iran and abroad would fall victim to believing the regime’s lies. “They do not realize that every item on the list can be traced back to the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and other purveyors of Iranian propaganda,” he said. Since the regime’s inception, the mullahs have devoted time and resources to spreading falsehoods and lies about the MEK and its members.

The regime has systematically rounded up and killed members of the MEK. In 1988 alone, the regime killed around 30,000 MEK members, burying them in unmarked mass graves. But according to Vidal-Quadras, events like the 1988 massacre “only scratch the surface of the Iranian regime’s violence against political dissenters.” In total, more than 100,000 members of the Iranian opposition have met their end at the hands of the regime. Many were tortured in custody, then hanged. In many cases, they were assassinated by agents while living in exile abroad.

The regime has also coordinated terrorist attacks against the MEK. Last year, a Belgian-Iranian couple was arrested while traveling to the MEK’s Grand Gathering event in Paris with homemade explosives. The regime also coordinated terror plots against the MEK in Albania and the US.

The MEK: A Threat to the Regime’s Future in Power

Vidal-Quadras explains the regime’s obsession with the democratic opposition as the result of a deep concern over the capabilities of the MEK. The group has drawn a great deal of international support. At its annual Grand Gathering event, it draws crowds of more than 100,000 supporters and high-profile political figures from across the globe, including Trump’s personal lawyer and former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani.

Within Iran, the MEK has a vast network of resistance cells across Iran’s towns and cities. The group was responsible for coordinating many of the protests that quickly spread across Iran in 2018. Its groups counter the regime’s lies, oppression, violence, and human rights abuses wherever they occur and enjoy widespread popularity across the Iranian population, especially among young Iranians.

Vidal-Quadras concludes, “in contrast to the picture that Tehran has tried to paint of the Iranian democratic opposition, the NCRI (and MEK) President Maryam Rajavi has outlined a 10-point plan for the country’s future.” In her plan, Maryam Rajavi provides a detailed roadmap for the country’s transition to democracy, including the holding of free elections, respect for human rights, the separation of religion and state, and a commitment to gender and ethnic equality.

Finally, Vidal-Quadras calls on governments across the world to lend their support. “It is time for our governments to recognize the NCRI as the democratic alternative to the ruling religious dictatorship in Iran.”

Staff Writer

Members of the Iranian diaspora across Europe and their international allies gathered in Geneva to protest the arrival of the regime’s foreign minister Javad Zarif at the UN. As the UN’s fortieth Human Rights Council convened, the Iranian resistance used Zarif’s arrival as an opportunity to draw attention to the glaring human rights violations perpetuated by the Iranian regime.

#Iranian demonstrators in front of the United Nations in Geneva demand expulsion of mullahs diplomat-terrorists while chanting “democracy, freedom with #MaryamRajavi.”#IStandWithMaryamRajavi #IranRegimeOutOfUN#HRC40 #FreeIran@USUN @eu_eeas@EU_UNGeneva pic.twitter.com/BMDxEMKaSR

— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) February 26, 2019

A Violent and Bloody Regime

Under current President Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian regime has carried out at least 3,590 executions, including 30 executions on those that were juveniles when the crime was allegedly committed. This figure makes Iran the country with the highest rate of executions per capita in the world.

As members of the Iranian resistance protested the regime’s atrocities in Geneva, they carried images of those executed by the mullahs over the forty years of their tyrannical rule. They also carried banners condemning the regime’s 1988 massacre of the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK).

Over the space of a single summer in 1988, the clerical regime executed around 30,000 members of the political opposition group, the MEK. In Geneva, a small exhibit dedicated to the 30,000 victims of the massacre was erected. The protestors echoed Amnesty International’s recent calls for the UN to open an investigation into the massacre and hold those accountable to justice.

Ending the Mullahs Export of Terror

The protestors also expressed their anger and dismay at the regime’s state-sponsored terror activities that played out across Europe and the West in 2018. The regime was involved in the planning of terror attacks in France, Albania, and the US.

#Iran resistance supporters and #MEK rally out side of @UNGeneva promise Zarif and all mullahs’ agents that there will soon be a tribunal in which they will be held accountable for their crimes.#IranRegimeOutOfUN#HRC40 #FreeIran@UNHumanRights@USADarFarsi pic.twitter.com/UXOMZAqrk2

— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) February 26, 2019

The protestors in Geneva called on the European governments to expel Iranian diplomats and prevent the regime using diplomatic buildings and figures as cover for underground terror activities. The protestors held banners with messages stating that there is no place in the UN for executioners and terrorist-agents.

Infighting in Within the Regime Leadership

As protestors gathered, Javad Zarif issued his resignation in a surprise twist of events. His resignations underscored protestors messages that the Iranian regime is in turmoil. Infighting has caused deep rifts in the leadership, which most likely prompted Zarif’s sudden resignation.

In the past 5.5 years, Zarif tried to create a façade of a “moderate image” for #Iran’s religious fascism and pave the way for trade with the regime, intensification of warmongering and terrorism.#FreeIran #IranRegimeChange

— Mohammad Mohaddessin (@Mohaddessin) February 26, 2019

Explaining the decision, the National Council of Resistance of Iran’s (NCRI’s) Mohammad Mohaddessin tweeted, “Zarif’s resignation for whatever reason and regardless of the outcome, indicates [an] escalation of the crisis and internal power struggle in the regime, also its international failures.”

Mohaddessin said, “in the past 5.5 years, Zarif tried to create a façade of a “moderate image” for Iran’s religious fascism and pave the way for trade with the regime,” he added, “Zarif’s time has come to an end. Whether his resignation is finalized or overturned… [the] world will no longer be duped by Rouhani & Zarif.”

Staff Writer

The fortieth session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will convene on February 25^th and run until March 22^nd, 2019. Of particular note will be the fourth item on the agenda, a written statement by Amnesty International, the human rights advocacy group that enjoys special consultative status within the UNHRC.

Amnesty International’s written statement explicitly calls on the UNHRC to investigate and report on the Iranian regime’s sustained crimes against humanity. It said that the impact UNHRC Special Rapporteurs could have on the situation could save lives, reduce suffering and demand accountability.

Forced Disappearances

In particular, Amnesty International is calling on the Human Rights Council to investigate “the forced disappearance of thousands of political dissidents over the past 30 years, including many who were under the age of 18 at the time of the arrest.”

The recommendation comes just months after Amnesty International released a damning report following its own investigations into the regime’s 1988 massacre. The group found that the regime had executed thousands of members of the political opposition group, the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK).

“While it may appear that these crimes belong to a distant past, the pain and anguish inflicted on the family members of the victims is both severe and current,” the statement read. The Iranian regime continues to withhold information regarding the whereabouts of the victims, preventing their families from disposing of the remains according to their religious or cultural rituals.

Most of the bodies were disposed of in unmarked graves at undisclosed locations that remain concealed to this day. Amnesty International puts the death toll at around 5,000, however, some estimates suggest up to 30,000 political prisoners, mainly MEK members and other political dissidents were killed in the summer of 1988.

The Iranian regime has not taken any action to bring those accountable for these forced disappearances to justice. Quite the opposite, current Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, has filled his cabinet with a number of prominent regime figures who played an active role in the 1988 massacre. “They have also subjected survivors, families of victims and human rights defenders to reprisals for seeking truth and justice.”

Amnesty International’s statement read, “for years, Iranian officials at all levels have sought to disguise, distort, and “justify” the mass extrajudicial executions.” They have denied the scale of the massacre and attempted to pass the deaths off as “battlefield deaths”.

A Crumbling Wall of Secrecy

In recent years, events have chipped away at the regime’s wall of secrecy surrounding the 1988 massacre. Leaked official records have revealed the planning of the executions. In response, the regime has intensified efforts to vilify and demonize the victims, labeling them “murders,” “terrorists,” and drug addicts.

Beyond the 1988 massacre, even today, the Iranian regime arbitrarily detains journalists, protestors, dissidents, lawyers, activists, religious and ethnic minorities, trade unionists, and members of the MEK. While in regime custody, prisoners are also routinely subjected to torture and inhumane living conditions.

“This succession of grave human rights violations committed in Iran is inextricably linked to the impunity the Iranian authorities have enjoyed,” Amnesty International wrote.

The statement concluded with the human rights group urging “states to break this link, to speak openly and firmly about Iran’s ongoing crimes against humanity.” Amnesty International calls on the UNHRC to find the location of the remains of the victims killed in 1988. It also asks that the UN protects the victims’ family members from harassment and intimidation and puts an end to arbitrary detention in Iran.

Finally, the group asked for the UN to “identify effective pathways to justice, truth and reparation with a view to ensuring those suspected of responsibility are prosecuted in fair trials, without imposing the death penalty.”