Kadirov: Those Executed in 67 Were Not 'Mohareb' Even According to Ayatollah Khomeini's Views

While some officials of the Islamic Republic have claimed that the political prisoners executed in 67 were 'mohareb' (waging war against God), Mohsen Kadirov, a prominent cleric and student of Ayatollah Montazeri, states that even based on Ayatollah Khomeini's 'jurisprudential principles', these prisoners were not 'mohareb'. In an interview with Radio Farda on Friday, August 29, Kadirov said that these executions could only be considered 'legal or religious' if one assumes Ayatollah Khomeini as 'the legislator, meaning God', stating that 'because he did it, it is right'. This well-known cleric critical of the Islamic Republic emphasized that the executed prisoners in 67 did not meet Khomeini's definition of 'mohareb' in his book 'Tahrir al-Wasilah'. According to Kadirov, Khomeini defined 'mohareb' as individuals who committed murder and theft or drew weapons and frightened people. Based on this ruling, those who committed murder and theft were to be executed, while those who drew weapons and frightened people were to be exiled. Kadirov also noted that according to Khomeini's other rulings, 'three conditions are necessary for the subject of 'mohareb': armed action, frightening people, and intent to corrupt the earth'. He stressed that 'certainly' none of the executed prisoners in 67 had committed murder or theft to warrant execution. Kadirov pointed out that these prisoners were in prison at the time of their execution and had not committed any new crimes, thus they could not be considered 'mohareb' by any 'jurisprudential and legal standards'. Following the release of an audio file of Ayatollah Montazeri's remarks on the execution of political prisoners in 67, some officials of the Islamic Republic and close associates of Ayatollah Khomeini have defended these executions. For instance, according to ISNA news agency, Ahmad Khatami, the Friday prayer leader of Tehran, on Friday, August 28, referred to the executed prisoners in 67 as 'mohareb' and described Khomeini's action regarding these executions as 'a jurisprudential, Quranic, revolutionary act and a great service to the Muslim nation of Iran'. He claimed that a week before the Mujahedin-e Khalq's attack on Iran in 67, the prisoners' behavior had 'changed, and they told the prison guards that next week we will be your guards'. Khatami added: 'Isn't this collusion with the 'mohareb'? It is called 'moharebeh'. The Quran prescribes the severest punishments for 'mohareb'. In this regard, Asadollah Imani, the Friday prayer leader of Shiraz, also told Mehr news agency that 'the hypocrites are not worthy of anyone's mercy, but because of the sins they committed against the Iranian nation, they deserved every kind of punishment'. On Friday, Ahmad Montazeri, the son of Ayatollah Montazeri, reacted to the claims made about the executions being due to the prisoners' intent to rebel after the Mujahedin-e Khalq's attack on Iran, stating that 'regardless of whether such an opportunity existed for the prisoners given the usual restrictions of prisons, especially in those years; even the committee responsible for the executions did not mention this claim of rebellion and collaboration, only the issue of their stance was raised'. Meanwhile, Mohsen Kadirov, in an interview with Radio Farda, responded to Ahmad Khatami's remarks by saying that the officials of the Islamic Republic are 'costing' Islam to maintain their power, and these actions are similar to the 'misuse' of 'sacred texts' by ISIS. He also reacted to the remarks of the head of the judiciary, who claimed these executions were 'legal and religious', emphasizing that these executions could only be considered 'legal or religious' if we assume Khomeini as 'the legislator, meaning God', and say that 'because he did it, it is right'. According to this prominent cleric, the executions of 67 were 'against Sharia' and 'forbidden', and 'both the one who ordered and the one who carried out these executions' should be 'tried for the crime of killing respected lives'. Kadirov also wrote on his website under the title 'The Tape That Shook the Foundations of the Regime' that 'the only way to justify the executions of 67 is to assume Mr. Khomeini as the legislator and to invalidate the jurisprudential, ethical, and legal standards and replace them with one principle: the preservation of the regime is the most important obligation'. He stressed that those who still 'talk about the golden era of the late Imam or praise and encourage the repetition of the same methods by his successor should know that in addition to being backward, they have gone astray and are inviting others to the wrong path'. Sadegh Larijani, the head of the Iranian judiciary, on Tuesday, August 25, defended the executions of political prisoners in 67, stating that these executions were 'carried out according to jurisprudential standards and laws'. Officials of the Islamic Republic have rarely spoken about the mass execution of political and ideological prisoners in the summer of 67. Most of those executed that year were members of groups such as the Mujahedin-e Khalq, the Tudeh Party, the Fadaiyan, and other leftist groups who had previously been tried and were serving their prison sentences. The exact names and numbers of those executed in 67, many of whom were anonymously buried in the Khavaran cemetery, are still not completely known. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights has reported the number to be at least 1,879, while Ayatollah Montazeri, in his memoirs, emphasized that he did not remember the exact number, estimating it to be between 2,800 and 3,800. However, groups such as the Mujahedin-e Khalq have reported the number of executions to be much higher.