Commander of Iran's Basij: The Executions of 1988 Were 'Completely Correct' and Based on Khomeini's Fatwa

The head of the Basij Organization, in response to the release of an audio file by Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri regarding the 1988 executions, stated that these executions were 'completely correct' and 'in accordance with legal, jurisprudential, Islamic, international, and domestic standards.' According to the IRNA news agency, Mohammad Reza Naqdi on Tuesday, September 9, referred to those executed in 1988 as 'hypocrites' who were executed for 'colluding with the Saddamites and organizing to overthrow the Islamic Republic of Iran.' He attributed the 1988 executions to a fatwa from Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, asserting that these fatwas have solid jurisprudential and legal foundations. Naqdi added, 'Some individuals who are children of prominent figures comment that this was a mistake.' This seems to refer to recent comments by Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, who on Tuesday reiterated his previous stance regarding Montazeri's audio file, urging 'officials' to explain to the people instead of shouting slogans about the 1988 executions. Motahari, speaking in the open session of the parliament in response to a representative's reminder, criticized the 'strange sensitivities' regarding his letter to Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a member of the 1988 execution committee. In his letter to the Iranian Minister of Justice, Motahari had requested a clear stance on this audio file. Pourmohammadi also emphasized in response to Motahari's inquiry last Sunday that he 'takes pride' in his role in the mass executions of 1988. Following the release of this letter, more than 30 parliament representatives called for an investigation into Motahari's qualifications to remain as Deputy Speaker of the parliament. These representatives, in their letter addressed to the 'Supervisory Board on the Conduct of Representatives,' demanded action against Motahari. However, a member of the Supervisory Board stated that this issue has no relation to their board. According to Mehr News Agency, Mohammad Javad Javadjamali Nobandegani said, 'This issue does not relate to the board of supervision, as our oversight pertains to specific aspects of representatives' affairs.' Simultaneously, Mohsen Kouhkan, a representative from Lanjan in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, told Mehr News Agency, 'An issue like Mr. Motahari's remarks, which means creating margins and distancing from principles, should be resolved with a reminder. However, if his actions contradict national security, another section should investigate.' Ali Motahari described the reactions to his letter as 'strange sensitivities' that, according to him, are raised with 'political objectives.' The website of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the ousted deputy of Ayatollah Khomeini, published an audio file on August 20, related to August 24, 1988, in which this Shia cleric refers to the 1988 executions in Iran as 'the greatest crime of the Islamic Republic.' In this audio file, Montazeri addresses the judicial officials present, describing the summer 1988 executions as 'the greatest crime of the Islamic Republic' and stating that history will condemn us for this crime. Montazeri calls the judicial officials present in the meeting responsible for these executions and 'criminals.' The judicial officials present at this meeting included Hossein Ali Niri, the then Islamic judge, Morteza Eshraqi, the then prosecutor of Tehran, Ebrahim Raisi, the then deputy prosecutor, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the representative of the Ministry of Intelligence at Evin prison at that time. The release of this audio file has faced reactions and criticism from several officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Sadegh Amoli Larijani, the head of the judiciary, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council, Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, Mohammad Mohammadi Rishahri, the former Minister of Intelligence, and Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General of Iran, are among those who criticized the release of Ayatollah Montazeri's remarks about the 1988 executions. Ahmad Montazeri, the son of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, has been summoned and interrogated three times by the Special Court for Clergy in Qom following the release of his father's audio file regarding the 1988 executions. Other officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the time of the 1988 executions include Ali Khamenei, the president, Mir Hossein Mousavi, the prime minister, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Mohammad Mohammadi Rishahri, the Minister of Intelligence, and Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha, the Attorney General of Iran. A large number of political and ideological prisoners were executed during the months of August and September 1988 in Iranian prisons. There is serious contention over the number of those executed in the summer of 1988, and no specific figure of the victims from that summer has been announced to date. In relation to the 1988 executions, a court was held in 2012 with the presence of victims' families, witnesses, and international judges at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, where the international judges named the 1988 executions in Iran as 'crimes against humanity.'