The Massacre of 67; Thirty Years Later

This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the mass execution of political prisoners in Iran, known as the 67 massacre. There are no accurate statistics on the number of victims, and their burial sites remain unknown. Families continue to seek justice and are still under pressure and harassment from the security forces of the Islamic Republic. The families of the deceased are even deprived of mourning at the graves they believe their loved ones are buried in. In 2016, an audio file of a meeting and conversation between Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the ousted deputy of the founder of the Islamic Republic, and Hossein Ali Niri, the Sharia judge at that time, Morteza Eshraqi, the then Tehran prosecutor, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the then representative of the Ministry of Intelligence at Evin Prison, was released. In this conversation, Ayatollah Montazeri refers to the mass execution of political prisoners as a crime. These three individuals, along with Ebrahim Raisi, have become known as the 'Death Committee' regarding the 67 executions. This week's program examines what happened thirty years ago, featuring Mehdi Aslani, a former supporter of the Fedayeen Khalq and a witness and survivor of the 67 massacre, and Shayesteh Vatandoust, a political prisoner who spent 18 years in prison and whose husband was executed during the 67 massacres.