Are You the Grandson of Taleghani? Execution!

His grandfather was the first Friday prayer leader of Tehran after the Islamic Revolution and the head of the Revolutionary Council. When Mahmoud Taleghani died in 1979, Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder and first leader of the Islamic Republic, compared him to "Abu Zar" and "Malik Ashtar," stating that he had lost a "very dear brother." Less than a decade later, in Gohardasht prison in Karaj, they told "Masoud Khesto": "Are you the grandson of Taleghani? Execution." Masoud Khesto was born on June 28, 1964, and was arrested on August 27, 1981, at his parents' home in Tehran. A family member told Radio Farda that when Masoud Khesto was arrested, his parents were told that this 17-year-old boy would be taken for a few questions and would be returned. However, seven years later, they did not even return his corpse to his family. The Khesto family only knows that his body is buried somewhere in Khavaran cemetery among other nameless corpses. This member of the Taleghani family says that nearly three decades after his death, when Masoud Khesto's parents went to the Islamic Revolutionary Committee in the Gisha neighborhood of Tehran to inquire about their son's situation, they were also arrested. They were detained for 45 days. In this photo, Masoud Khesto is a teenager praying behind Mahmoud Taleghani. The other person in the picture is Mehdi Taleghani, the son of Ayatollah Taleghani. Masoud Khesto's mother was Maryam Alai Taleghani, the daughter of Ayatollah Mahmoud Taleghani. Mrs. Alai Taleghani was the candidate supported by the People's Mujahedin of Iran in the first parliamentary elections after the establishment of the Islamic Republic. Mojtaba Taleghani, one of Mahmoud Taleghani's sons, told Radio Farda that his sister and Masoud's mother, despite their candidacy in the first parliamentary elections after the establishment of the Islamic Republic, were not very political, unlike their son Masoud, who was an active supporter of the People's Mujahedin. Mojtaba Taleghani himself was arrested in April 1979 by a group of military personnel under the command of Mohammad Gharazi. His arrest during the tense days of 1979 caused his father great distress and led him to leave Tehran in protest. Mr. Taleghani says that his nephew would visit him when he was in a secret house in Tehran and spoke of the necessity of continuing the struggle. The Quran that Ayatollah Taleghani presented to his grandson Masoud Khesto. Another member of the Taleghani family told Radio Farda that Masoud Khesto was sentenced to 80 lashes and 12 years in prison after being accused of membership in the People's Mujahedin. Fereydoun Najafi was a friend and cellmate of Masoud Khesto for years in prison. Mr. Najafi, who now resides in Australia, told Radio Farda that the death sentence for Ayatollah Taleghani's grandson was directly issued by Hossein Ali Niri, the head of the committee that decided on the execution of political prisoners in August 1988. According to Mr. Najafi, Hossein Ali Niri, who is currently the Deputy of the Supreme Court, personally knew Masoud Khesto and after insulting him and his grandfather said: "Are you the grandson of Taleghani? Execution." Mojtaba Taleghani says that being the grandson of Mahmoud Taleghani did not help Masoud Khesto's situation, and if his father had been alive, he would have "definitely" been killed by the Islamic Republic as well. Fereydoun Najafi also states that being the grandson of Taleghani was more detrimental to Masoud Khesto. Iraj Masdagh, a historian and former member of the People's Mujahedin who himself was a political prisoner in the 1980s, told Radio Farda that Masoud Khesto spent more than two years in solitary confinement in Gohardasht prison. Fereydoun Najafi adds that he and Masoud Khesto were actually imprisoned in two solitary confinement cells facing each other for nearly four years. Mr. Najafi says that they secretly communicated with each other and were beaten and whipped daily for this reason. These days, the release of an audio file of a meeting between Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the then Deputy Leader of the Islamic Republic, and members of the committee that decided on the execution of political prisoners in 1988 has once again brought this controversial issue of contemporary Iranian history back into the media and political space. This audio file was released on the anniversary of the execution of thousands of prisoners, most of whom were members and supporters of the People's Mujahedin. Although most of those executed in the summer of 1988 were members and supporters of the People's Mujahedin, affiliates of groups such as the Fadaiyan Khalq, Tudeh Party, Kurdish parties, the Revolutionary Workers Organization of Iran, the Paykar Organization, and others were also among the executed. Masoud Khesto, who was serving his prison term and was supposed to be released in the early 1990s, was less than 25 years old at the time of his execution. His family and fellow inmates say that Masoud Khesto never expressed regret or repentance for his beliefs until his death.