Pour Mohammadi on the Mojahedin-e Khalq: Some Seek to Whitewash Iran's Bloodthirsty Enemies

Mostafa Pour Mohammadi, a member of the decision-making committee regarding the execution of political and ideological prisoners in 1988, reacted to the release of a voice file of Ayatollah Montazeri by referring to the Mojahedin-e Khalq organization as "bloodthirsty enemies of Iran" and stated that "some are seeking to whitewash" this group. The current Minister of Justice of the Islamic Republic is the first member of the mentioned committee to respond to the release of this voice file. According to Tasnim News Agency, Mr. Pour Mohammadi, in a strongly worded speech at the administrative council of Hamadan province on Thursday evening, September 4, compared the Mojahedin-e Khalq group to the Islamic State (ISIS). He emphasized that these individuals "have nothing but treachery, malice, and wickedness in their records." Mr. Pour Mohammadi stated that this year marks the anniversary of the assassination of Mohammad Ali Rajai and Mohammad Javad Bahonar, the former President and Prime Minister of Iran, which "coincides with the conspiracy and malice, enmity, and brutality of the enemies, and some are seeking to whitewash the bloodthirsty enemies of this nation." Mostafa Pour Mohammadi, as a representative of the Ministry of Intelligence, was a member of the committee that, at the order of Ayatollah Khomeini, the then leader of the Islamic Republic, made decisions regarding the execution of political and ideological prisoners in the summer of 1988. In the released voice file of Ayatollah Montazeri, he refers to Mr. Pour Mohammadi's presence as a representative of the Ministry of Intelligence in this committee, stating that the Ministry of Intelligence had long had a "view" on the execution of political prisoners and had "invested" in it. Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, on Tuesday, August 16, after the release of Ayatollah Montazeri's voice file, called for explanations from those involved in the mass execution of political prisoners in Iran, including Mr. Pour Mohammadi. He wrote in a note that "it would be good for Mr. Raisi, Niyari, and Pour Mohammadi, who were involved in the matter, to clarify the issue for the people and, of course, if there was any negligence in the execution of the sentence, an apology should be made." Before Mr. Pour Mohammadi, some officials of the Islamic Republic, including Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General of the country, considered the release of Ayatollah Montazeri's voice file as an attempt to "whitewash" the Mojahedin-e Khalq group and support this group. Ahmad Montazeri, the son of Ayatollah Montazeri, on Friday, August 20, in response to these accusations emphasized that some individuals are "ignorantly or deliberately" distorting the issue and portraying Ayatollah Montazeri's criticism of the execution of prisoners as support for the Mojahedin-e Khalq. Mr. Pour Mohammadi, on Thursday, September 4, in another part of his speech stated: "Today, the enemies of the great Iranian nation and the revolution have resorted to the hypocrites, and this shows how miserable and left behind the enemies are... and how empty their hands are that they have turned to these wretches, and yet the greatest social hatred is directed at them." In recent weeks, some officials of the Islamic Republic and media close to conservatives have linked the release of Mr. Montazeri's voice file to the Mojahedin-e Khalq organization's conference in Paris and the presence of Turki Al-Faisal, the former head of Saudi intelligence, at this conference, considering it a sign of "planning" for this action. Ahmad Montazeri, the son of Ayatollah Montazeri, in response to this accusation also stated that the connection between Saudi officials and Palestinian officials with the Mojahedin-e Khalq group has been raised for several months and has "absolutely nothing" to do with the release of this voice file. He emphasized that if the attack on Saudi diplomatic sites in Iran had not been carried out by "government favorites" or had been addressed "immediately and seriously," there would have been "no basis" for the connection between Saudi Arabia and the Mojahedin-e Khalq. Mostafa Pour Mohammadi served for years as the Deputy Foreign Minister of Intelligence and was dismissed during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami and the appointment of Ali Younesi as Minister of Intelligence. He was appointed as Minister of Interior during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency but was dismissed in 2008. After being dismissed from this position, he was appointed as the head of the General Inspection Organization and was elected as Minister of Justice in Hassan Rouhani's government in 2013.