According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the international community should be deeply concerned in regards to the Iranian regime’s newly formed presidential administration, as the regime is expected to magnify their consolidation of power and other malign activities, both domestically and abroad.

The regime’s plans have been long in the running, even before Ebrahim Raisi was inaugurated as Iran’s new president. Parliamentary elections in early 2020 were heavily regulated, with many candidates barred from running if they were affiliated with the ‘reformist’ faction. A similar event took place during the presidential elections in June 2021, where following Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s support of Raisi, the Guardian Council was poised to exclude other candidates from the running.

The NCRI said, “Much of the Iranian public boycotted both elections, and the National Council of Resistance of Iran estimated that the turnout for the presidential election was less than ten percent. These and other acts of public dissent were motivated partly by an inherent lack of choice in Iranian elections as well as concerns over Khamenei’s intentional effort to pack the government with unqualified loyalists.”

Following a fatwa issued by the former Supreme Leader, Ruhollah Khomeini in the summer of 1988, Ebrahim Raisi was enlisted to the ‘death commission’ as one of four Tehran officials that were tasked with executing political prisoners, many of whom were members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The fatwa had stated that the MEK were ‘enemies of God who should be executed without mercy’.

The NCRI said, “Around 30,000 political prisoners were summarily executed following those trials, which often consisted of little other than asking the defendants their names and political affiliations. Those who professed support for the MEK were sentenced to death on the spot.”

In a virtual conference, hosted by the NCRI last week, that discussed the 1988 massacre, more than 1,000 survivors of this crime against humanity took part, along with many European legal and political experts.

Many of these experts spoke during the event and reiterated the calls for Raisi to be prosecuted for his role in the massacre. UK human rights barrister, Geoffrey Robertson stated that the atrocities of the summer of 1988 amount to genocide, and as a result, the international community should definitely take action against the perpetrators.

The NCRI said, “The list of appointees included an unprecedented number of officials from the regime’s hardline paramilitary, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). More to the point, some of those appointees had played leading roles in the IRGC during a time when it was involved in high-profile terrorist operations throughout the world.”

The Interior Minister, Ahmad Vahidi is wanted by Interpol for his role in the 1994 bombing in Argentina which killed 85 people. Vice President for Economic Affairs, Mohsen Rezaee was also involved in the bombing. Both men had roles in the IRGC.

The NCRI said, “Collectively, the new president and his cabinet have decades of experience with the interconnected functions of Iranian institutions that violently suppress dissent, steal from the public, and direct the proceeds toward terrorism. There can be little question that this entire cycle will accelerate over the next four years unless the Western powers are willing to take serious actions to interrupt it.”