The dramatic increase in executions, many of them in public, under the “moderate” leadership of President Hassan Rouhani, has resulted in some 3,000 executions occurring during his three years in office.

The human rights report will display Iran’s horrific record of arbitrary arrest, torture and execution.  Meanwhile, many UN member states are demanding a full, independent inquiry into the execution of more than 30,000 political prisoners in Iran during the summer of 1988.  This atrocity was a crime against humanity, targeting activists of the opposition, the People’s Mojahedin of Iran PMOI (MEK). Mass executions in jails across Iran, were carried out on the basis of a fatwa by the regime’s then supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Those who had already served their sentences and been released from prison, and those who had been sentenced and were serving their terms of imprisonment, Khomenei had put to death. There was no mercy for anyone, including teenagers and pregnant women.

Mostafa Pour-Mohammad was the leader of the “death committee”, who approved all sentences. He is now President Rouhani’s justice minister. Other members of the “committee” hold prominent positions in the Iranian regime. These officials held court over PMOI/MEK political prisoners, who were convicted on their supported of the Mojahedin. The trials lasted, on average, two minutes. 

In an article in the Herald Scotland, a report on human rights in Iran will be debated by The UN General Assembly later this month. The  author of the report, UN special rapporteur on Iran, has not been allowed access to the country, but based on hundreds of interviews and careful analysis, he describes the situation in Iran as “dire”. 

The dramatic increase in executions, many of them in public, under the “moderate” leadership of President Hassan Rouhani, has resulted in some 3,000 executions occurring during his three years in office.

The human rights report will display Iran’s horrific record of arbitrary arrest, torture and execution.  Meanwhile, many UN member states are demanding a full, independent inquiry into the execution of more than 30,000 political prisoners in Iran during the summer of 1988.  This atrocity was a crime against humanity, targeting activists of the opposition, the People’s Mojahedin of Iran PMOI (MEK). Mass executions in jails across Iran, were carried out on the basis of a fatwa by the regime’s then supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Those who had already served their sentences and been released from prison, and those who had been sentenced and were serving their terms of imprisonment, Khomenei had put to death. There was no mercy for anyone, including teenagers and pregnant women.

Mostafa Pour-Mohammad was the leader of the “death committee”, who approved all sentences. He is now President Rouhani’s justice minister. Other members of the “committee” hold prominent positions in the Iranian regime. These officials held court over PMOI/MEK political prisoners, who were convicted on their supported of the Mojahedin. The trials lasted, on average, two minutes. 

It’s been estimated that prisoners were hanged from cranes in batches of ten, every 15 minutes – from dawn to dusk – between August and December that year.

Proof of this horrific genocide was revealed on August 9 this year, when the son of Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who was the former deputy supreme leader of the Islamic Republic and nominated successor to Ayatollah Khomeini, published a previously unknown audio-tape.  

On it, Montazeri acknowledged that the massacre had taken place and had been ordered at the highest levels. Montazeri can be heard telling a meeting of the “committee” that it is responsible for a crime against humanity. He says, “The greatest crime committed during the reign of the Islamic Republic, for which history will condemn us, has been committed by you. Your names will in the future be etched in the annals of history as criminals.” 

Because he spoke his conscience, Montazeri was dismissed as the heir to the Supreme Leader by Khomeini and placed under house arrest until his death in 2009. Meanwhile, Montazeri’s son, Ahmad, has been charged with bringing the Islamic Republic into disrepute and could face the death penalty.

The crime has so far gone unpunished, but now we know that those involved are still in positions of power. Mostafa Pour-Mohammad has boasted publicly about his role, and said that he was “proud to carry out God’s will in ordering the executions”, even calling for remaining supporters of the PMOI to be executed. 

President Rouhani was the deputy commander-in-chief of the regime’s armed forces at the time. Surely, he was aware of what was happening to political prisoners, and should also be held to account.

The UN has been asked to launch a full and independent investigation into this crime, and some insist on the arrest and trial for crimes against humanity of Khamenei, Rouhani and the others.

n estimated that prisoners were hanged from cranes in batches of ten, every 15 minutes – from dawn to dusk – between August and December that year.

Proof of this horrific genocide was revealed on August 9 this year, when the son of Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who was the former deputy supreme leader of the Islamic Republic and nominated successor to Ayatollah Khomeini, published a previously unknown audio-tape.  

On it, Montazeri acknowledged that the massacre had taken place and had been ordered at the highest levels. Montazeri can be heard telling a meeting of the “committee” that it is responsible for a crime against humanity. He says, “The greatest crime committed during the reign of the Islamic Republic, for which history will condemn us, has been committed by you. Your names will in the future be etched in the annals of history as criminals.” 

Because he spoke his conscience, Montazeri was dismissed as the heir to the Supreme Leader by Khomeini and placed under house arrest until his death in 2009. Meanwhile, Montazeri’s son, Ahmad, has been charged with bringing the Islamic Republic into disrepute and could face the death penalty.

The crime has so far gone unpunished, but now we know that those involved are still in positions of power. Mostafa Pour-Mohammad has boasted publicly about his role, and said that he was “proud to carry out God’s will in ordering the executions”, even calling for remaining supporters of the PMOI to be executed. 

President Rouhani was the deputy commander-in-chief of the regime’s armed forces at the time. Surely, he was aware of what was happening to political prisoners, and should also be held to account.

The UN has been asked to launch a full and independent investigation into this crime, and some insist on the arrest and trial for crimes against humanity of Khamenei, Rouhani and the others.