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Tehran authorities have announced plans to turn Section 41 of Behesht-e-Zahra Cemetery into a parking lot, a move widely condemned as an attempt to erase evidence of crimes against humanity committed by the regime during the 1980s.
On the orders of regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei, this section—known as the burial site of thousands of martyrs of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) executed during the early years of the revolution—will be destroyed under the pretext of urban development.
Davoud Goodarzi, deputy director of urban services for Tehran Municipality, claimed that Section 41 had been “abandoned for years” and announced that permits had been obtained to reorganize it for use as a parking lot for visitors to neighboring Section 42. In reality, this decision would permanently desecrate graves, prevent families from mourning, and erase vital evidence of mass executions.
"We levelled Section 41 where PMOI members were buried & turned it into a parking lot"
🛑 The head of Behesht Zahra Cemetery admits Iran destroyed thousands of political prisoners' graves. UN must act now to stop Iran from erasing evidence of atrocity crimes. #NoImpunity4Mullahs… pic.twitter.com/U3FfqKCzR3
— M. Hanif Jazayeri (@HanifJazayeri) August 21, 2025
International Condemnation
Former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Prof. Javaid Rehman, has repeatedly emphasized that the mass executions of the 1980s, particularly the 1988 massacre, amount to crimes against humanity and genocide. He urged international prosecutions of those responsible. The Iranian Resistance stresses that destroying these graves constitutes participation in these very crimes and calls for urgent UN intervention to stop this act of historical erasure.
The international community has also voiced alarm over the regime’s ongoing abuses. On August 19, the official U.S. Department of State X account in Farsi (USAbehFarsi) condemned the “inhumane conditions” in Qarchak and Tehran Central prisons. The statement cited overcrowding, unsanitary facilities, denial of medical care, and the use of psychological torture, urging the international community to hold the regime accountable.
ایالات متحده آمریکا شرایط غیرانسانی در زندان قرچک و زندان مرکزی تهران را محکوم می نماید. گزارش ها مبنی بر ازدحام بیش از حد، امکانات غیر بهداشتی، کمبود آب تمیز، و محرومیت از مراقبت های پزشکی، نشان دهنده بدرفتاری سیستماتیک است. رفتار خشونت آمیز با زندانیان هنگام انتقال و یا استفاده… pic.twitter.com/RaSrajuLfz
— USAbehFarsi (@USABehFarsi) August 19, 2025
A Dark History of Executions and Massacres
Section 41 of Behesht-e-Zahra is one of several sites where the regime buried its victims in secret, often without notifying families. Throughout the 1980s, thousands of political prisoners—most of them members and supporters of the PMOI—were executed in prisons across Iran. Families were frequently denied access to the bodies, and many were buried in mass graves without headstones.
The most infamous chapter came in the summer of 1988, when Ruhollah Khomeini, the infamous founder of this regime, issued a fatwa ordering the execution of all steadfast political prisoners. Special “death commissions” interrogated prisoners, often in minutes, asking if they supported the PMOI. Those who said yes—or refused to repent—were immediately sent to the gallows.
In just a few months, an estimated 30,000 political prisoners were massacred, the overwhelming majority of them PMOI members. The victims were buried in unmarked graves in cemeteries such as Khavaran, Behesht-e-Zahra, and other secret locations across Iran.
For decades, the regime has waged a systematic campaign to conceal these crimes. Tombstones have been broken, trees uprooted, grave markers removed, and families harassed during memorial visits. At Khavaran Cemetery, authorities have repeatedly destroyed graves to prevent mourning and research. The plan for Behesht-e-Zahra’s Section 41 is the continuation—and escalation—of this policy of erasure.
🚨 Breaking: On Khamenei's orders, Iran's regime is destroying Section 41 of Behesht Zahra Cemetery, the resting place of thousands of PMOI martyrs executed in the 1980s, erasing evidence of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Prof. Javaid Rehman, UN Special Rapporteur for… pic.twitter.com/urHryKTM9E
— SIMAY AZADI TV (@en_simayazadi) August 11, 2025
Erasing Memory, Continuing Crimes
Families and human rights defenders warn that the destruction of Section 41 is not simply about urban planning but part of the regime’s broader effort to silence history. By removing the physical evidence of its atrocities, the regime aims to erase collective memory, deny justice to the victims, and shield perpetrators from accountability.
The Iranian Resistance underscores that these actions underline the urgency of an independent international investigation into the 1980s executions and the 1988 massacre, holding regime officials accountable for decades of impunity.
The destruction of Section 41 is not only an assault on history but a continuation of the crime itself—transforming the cemetery of martyrs into a parking lot in an attempt to bury both the victims and the truth.