The Assembly of Experts Defends the Executions of 1988

The Assembly of Experts has defended the mass execution of political and ideological prisoners in 1988, praising what it calls the 'historic and revolutionary decision of Imam Khomeini to seriously and uncompromisingly confront the hypocrites and to conduct a fair trial of the leaders and some members of the hypocritical group.' In a statement published on the Assembly's website on Sunday, September 7, it is mentioned that the audio file of a meeting of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri with members of the committee that decided on those executions was released by 'those loyal to the hypocritical group.' In the official literature of the Islamic Republic, members and supporters of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran are referred to as 'hypocrites'; most of the executed in 1988 were members and supporters of this organization. The Assembly's statement also adds that the release of this audio file 'was done with sinister objectives' and accuses the United States of 'occasionally provoking its agents and mercenaries under various pretexts.' Ahmad Montazeri, the son of Ayatollah Montazeri, released the audio file of his father's meeting with the committee members. In this meeting, dated back to the summer of 1988, Ayatollah Montazeri, who was then the deputy of Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic Republic, told Hossein Ali Niri, Morteza Eshraqi, Mostafa PourMohammadi, and Ebrahim Raisi that the execution of political and ideological prisoners 'has no legal or religious justification.' Thousands of political and ideological prisoners were executed in 1988. Although Ayatollah Montazeri has written extensively about those executions in his memoirs, the release of the audio file of this meeting has faced widespread reactions within the Islamic Republic and in the media. The Assembly of Experts has described this action as 'pouring water into the enemies' mill' and stated: 'The audio tape attributed to Mr. Montazeri is circulated with various analyses that are full of errors and distortions and is a controversial exhumation after the defeat of the treacherous hypocrites in Operation Mersad.' The Assembly of Experts acknowledged in its statement that Ayatollah Khomeini 'at that critical juncture, with that timely decision, blinded the eye of sedition and deprived the group, whose hands are soaked to the elbows in the blood of this oppressed and tormented nation, of the opportunity to show off and create sedition.' In recent days, many senior officials, both past and present, of the Islamic Republic have explicitly or implicitly defended the executions of 1988. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, head of the Expediency Discernment Council, who was the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly at the time of the executions, Mohammad Mohammadi Rishahri, the then Minister of Intelligence, Majid Ansari, the legal deputy of the President who was the head of the Prisons Organization in the summer of 1988, Gholamhossein Daei Najafabadi, former Minister of Intelligence, Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini, and Sadegh Amoli Larijani, head of the judiciary, were among these individuals and officials. However, Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, has called for an explanation and 'apology' from those who ordered the executions. The People's Mojahedin Organization has also, referring to this audio file, once again called for the 'trial' of the leaders of the Islamic Republic for 'crimes against humanity.'