{"id":330546,"date":"2025-04-15T12:04:34","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T11:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=330546"},"modified":"2025-04-15T12:09:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T11:09:08","slug":"iran-news-regime-cleric-struggles-to-justify-1988-mass-executions-amid-growing-public-scrutiny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-resistance\/iran-news-regime-cleric-struggles-to-justify-1988-mass-executions-amid-growing-public-scrutiny\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran News: Regime Cleric Struggles to Justify 1988 Mass Executions Amid Growing Public Scrutiny"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mohammad
Mohammad Niazi, senior cleric and former Supreme Court judge, at a session on the 1988 executions in Qom, July 27, 2024<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On April 14, 2025, Iranian state media published<\/a> the full transcript of a theological-legal session titled \u201cFiqh and Legal Review of the 1988 Executions of the Hypocrites <\/em>[the regime\u2019s pejorative to defame the PMOI]\u201d<\/em>, held on July 27, 2024, at the Imam Reza Institute in Qom. The speaker, Mohammad Niazi<\/a>\u2014a senior cleric, former Supreme Court judge, and one-time head of Iran\u2019s Supreme Audit Court\u2014set out to respond to what he called \u201cmisconceptions\u201d surrounding the mass killings of political prisoners in the summer of 1988. Instead, his remarks laid bare the regime\u2019s ongoing struggle to defend a crime that many legal experts and human rights authorities have classified as a crime against humanity\u2014and, increasingly, as genocide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 1988 massacre, which took place under direct orders from former regime Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini, saw the execution of thousands of prisoners\u2014mostly members or supporters of the People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK)\u2014across Iranian prisons. As UN Special Rapporteur Javaid Rehman stated in his July 2022 report<\/a>, the killings \u201cmay amount to crimes against humanity\u201d and were \u201ccommitted with genocidal intent,\u201d targeting political prisoners based solely on their beliefs and affiliations.<\/p>\n

Despite this internationally recognized context, Niazi asserted that \u201cthe Imam\u2019s ruling on the 1988 executions is one of the honors of the Islamic Republic,\u201d claiming the killings prevented future violence. Yet, in the same breath, he labored to redefine the victims\u2014not as political prisoners or peaceful dissidents, but as \u201carmed rebels\u201d or “baghi” (those who rise against a just Islamic ruler). This reinterpretation is a far cry from Khomeini\u2019s own 1988 fatwa, which clearly ordered the extermination of all PMOI members who remained \u201csteadfast in their beliefs\u201d\u2014not actions, but beliefs<\/em>. The text of the fatwa<\/a>, available through reputable sources such as Iran1988.org, leaves no room for ambiguity: even prisoners who had served their sentences or were not involved in recent military activity were to be executed if they refused to renounce their allegiance.<\/p>\n

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Mostafa Pourmohammadi's staged interview reveals the regime's desperation to rewrite history on the #1988Massacre<\/a> and counter MEK's influence on a restless society\u2014an organization #Tehran<\/a> has tried hard to eliminate and defame while claiming it has no significant following. pic.twitter.com\/dbxo2jjZGa<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 25, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n