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The clerical dictatorship in Iran, notorious for its deceit and falsehoods, has long attempted to associate the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in the summer of 1988 with the Eternal Light Operation conducted by the National Liberation Army from July 26 to July 30, 1988. By doing so, the regime seeks to frame the biggest genocide in Iran’s history as an extension of an international conflict, thereby evading the legal consequences of its actions against a civilian population held in the regime’s most secure prisons, who posed no threat from within.
On September 18, 2013, the semi-official ISNA news agency quoted “Parsineh,” a student inquiry website affiliated with the regime’s Supreme Leader, as saying, “The executions were not aimed at getting rid of prisoners but rather in response to their rebellion in prison, coinciding with the ‘Mersad Operation.’”
The Mersad Operation is the regime’s expression for Operation Eternal Light.
Survivor Testimonies and Preplanning
In an interview with Simaye Azadi (Iran NTV) in August 2024, Masoumeh Kashani, a member of the People’s Mojahedin Organization (PMOI/MEK), provided crucial insights into the premeditated nature of the 1988 massacre, emphasizing that preparations began months before the actual executions.
She highlighted that political prisoners were systematically categorized and segregated based on their affiliations as early as February 1988. “The groundwork for the massacre was laid well in advance,” she stated. “Prisoners were meticulously sorted and separated according to their perceived threat to the regime, aligning with Khomeini’s fatwa that called for the extermination of steadfast dissidents. This deliberate and methodical approach by the regime dispels any notion that the executions were a spontaneous reaction to a prison rebellion.”
Kashani also shared a poignant personal account of her brother, Gholamreza Kashani, one of the first victims of the 1988 massacre, underscoring the regime’s deceitful narrative. “My brother was executed just two days after Khomeini accepted the ceasefire with Iraq. He, along with three others, was held in solitary confinement and then executed in the early hours of July 29, 1988,” she recounted. “Khomeini’s orders for this genocide were premeditated, designed to be carried out whenever deemed necessary.”
Among the few survivors of the 1988 massacre, some individuals have returned to join the PMOI and have testified about the regime’s preplanning for the massacre. Mahmoud Royaei, Hossein Farsi, and Majid Saheb Jam, among others, have shared their experiences of how the clerical regime was setting the stage for mass killings as early as February 1988.
As #Iran Commemorates the #1988Massacre, Regime Continues Its Killing Spree with Impunityhttps://t.co/evJuOcbfIj pic.twitter.com/BudHG1CXrf
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) August 8, 2024
Mahmoud Royaei noted that political prisoners were systematically categorized and segregated based on their affiliations, aligning with Khomeini’s fatwa. Hossein Farsi revealed that several months before the executions, prisoners were categorized into groups based on their level of support for the PMOI. Majid Saheb Jam disclosed that the groundwork for the executions was laid between 1985 and 1987, with prisoners being screened and categorized before being sent to the “Death Committee” in the summer of 1988.
US Statement
In July 2020, the US State Department issued a statement highlighting the anniversary of the start of Iran’s “Death Commissions”:
“July 19th marks the anniversary of the start of Iran’s so-called ‘Death Commissions.’ On the orders of Ayatollah Khomeini, these commissions reportedly forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially executed thousands of political dissident prisoners. The current head of the Iranian judiciary and current Minister of Justice have both been identified as former members of these ‘Death Commissions.'”
“The United States calls on the international community to conduct independent investigations and to provide accountability and justice for the victims of these horrendous violations of human rights organized by the Iranian regime,” the US State Department Spokesperson added.
Instead of upholding justice, the Iranian judiciary oppresses and violates human rights. We urge the international community and individual governments to provide accountability and pursue justice for the regime's many victims. pic.twitter.com/Mr0HpJuJ5g
— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) July 17, 2020
Khomeini’s Fatwa
The deceptive nature of the regime’s justifications becomes even more apparent when examining the source of the massacre: Khomeini’s fatwa.
Those familiar with Khomeini’s statements are aware of his persistent attempts to present himself as a sacred and caring religious figure. Despite this portrayal, he ordered crackdowns on various ethnic groups and political tendencies.
In his decree calling for the extermination of the MEK, Khomeini lists several reasons for his decision: “Since the hypocritical traitors are in no way believers in Islam and everything they say is out of deceit and hypocrisy, and since their leaders have acknowledged their apostasy from Islam, and considering their Mohareb (waging war against God) nature, their classic battles in the north, west, and south of the country in collaboration with the Ba’ath Party of Iraq, their espionage for Saddam against our Muslim nation, and their connection with global arrogance and the cowardly blows they have struck since the establishment of the Islamic Republic until now, those who remain steadfast in their position of hypocrisy in the prisons across the country are considered to be enemies of God and are condemned to execution…”
In this undated decree, the former Supreme Leader makes no mention of Operation Mersad or the Eternal Light. Nor does he discuss any potential motives for a rebellion among the prisoners. Instead, he explicitly targets those who “remain steadfast” in their beliefs and loyalty to the organization, referring to the MEK.
Had Khomeini issued the fatwa after the NLA offensive, he would have certainly sought to justify his decree, as well as the subsequent orders he sent to his deputies, who struggled with carrying out the mass executions and inundated him with numerous questions about the fate of the tens of thousands targeted in this killing spree.
The Living Legacy
The clerical regime, characterized by tyrannical rule domestically and extremist terrorist activities abroad, has a notorious reputation for dishonesty. The untold truth about the 1988 massacre reveals a Supreme Leader who rejected peace initiatives with Iraq, vowing to continue “a sacred war to conquer Jerusalem via Karbala.” However, he was eventually forced to sign a truce with Iraq, humiliating himself before his disillusioned supporters and the millions of families who lost loved ones in the war.
Despite attempts by Ali Khamenei, Khomeini’s successor, to lie about the motives behind the mass killings, the taboo of the 1988 massacre has been broken, with justice seekers gathering at destroyed mass graves to demand accountability. Three decades of deceit have failed to subdue new generations, who continue to defy the regime and carry on the legacy of those who fought for freedom. The regime, despite its brutality, has been defeated by successive generations of Iranians who have triumphed over death itself.
