Release of Audio File of Ayatollah Montazeri's Statements on the 1988 Executions in Meeting with Judicial Officials

The website of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the dismissed deputy of Ayatollah Khomeini, released an audio file on Tuesday related to August 15, 1988, in which this Shia cleric refers to the executions of 1988 in Iran as the 'greatest crime of the Islamic Republic' during a meeting with some judicial officials of the time. He states that his opposition to these executions stems from a 'concern for the future of Islam and the revolution.' 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. Ayatollah Montazeri describes the summer executions of 1988 as the 'greatest crime of the Islamic Republic' and asserts that history will condemn us for this crime. He calls the judicial officials present at the meeting responsible for these executions and labels them 'criminals.' He states: 'In my opinion, the greatest crime that has occurred in the Islamic Republic from the beginning of the revolution until now, which will condemn us in history, is this action carried out by you, the good and religious figures in the judiciary. You will be written down in history as criminals.' Ayatollah Montazeri also criticizes Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardebili, the then head of the judiciary, for supporting these executions. He expresses regret that the head of the judiciary is someone who is against such actions but does not act accordingly. He names Mostafa Pourmohammadi as another supporter of these executions, stating that he was responsible for intelligence at Evin and had invested in these executions. He accuses Ahmad Khomeini and some of his contemporaries of securing Ayatollah Khomeini's approval for the 'widespread executions' of 1988. Montazeri tells the attendees, 'You have questioned the judiciary with this action. For several years, Mr. Niri condemned one person to five years, another to six years, one to ten years, and another to fifteen years. For us to come and execute them without any new activity means that we all have been wrong, and our entire judiciary was wrong.' He also refers to his letters to Ayatollah Khomeini regarding the 1988 executions, questioning how they will respond to the families later. After Montazeri's criticisms, Mostafa Pourmohammadi attempts to justify the execution process, but his remarks are repeatedly interrupted by Montazeri. Previously, Montazeri's views, interviews, and analyses regarding the executions of the 1980s had been published, but his statements with the judicial officials of the time and the details of his views on this matter have been released for the first time in the form of an audio file. The website of Ayatollah Montazeri states that since knowing is the right of the people, this audio file is published for the first time 'with integrity and without any editing.' Other officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran during 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 Reyshahri, the minister of intelligence, and Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha, the attorney general of Iran. A large number of political and ideological prisoners were executed in Iranian prisons during the months of August and September 1988. There is serious controversy over the number of those executed in the summer of 1988, and no specific figure has been announced for the victims of that summer. In his memoirs, Ayatollah Montazeri estimated the number of these executions to be between 2,800 and 3,800. Human rights defenders have reported this number to be close to five thousand. A handwritten note that was first reflected in Ayatollah Montazeri's memoirs indicates that the execution orders were issued by Ayatollah Khomeini. These prisoners, mostly members of the People's Mojahedin Organization or members of leftist and communist groups, were mostly buried in unknown graves in the Khavaran cemetery in southeast Tehran after their executions. Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri protested this issue by writing a letter to Ayatollah Khomeini, and this protest led to his dismissal from his position as the deputy leader of the Islamic Republic. Official officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran have not yet provided clear answers to the ambiguities surrounding this event and have not taken responsibility for it. Political prisoners in Iran during the 1980s name Mostafa Pourmohammadi as one of the main members of the execution committee in the summer of 1988. Mostafa Pourmohammadi is currently the Minister of Justice in Hassan Rouhani's government. 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, and the international judges of this court named the events of 1988 in Iran as 'crimes against humanity.'