What is the Fear of Montazeri's Voice About?

The mass execution of political prisoners in the summer of 1988 and Ayatollah Montazeri's opposition to these executions remains a significant and fresh topic nearly three decades later. Just a few weeks after the release of a 28-year-old audio file of Hossein Ali Montazeri's critical remarks before the 'Amnesty Committee' or, as opponents of the Islamic Republic call it, the 'Death Committee', on Saturday, September 6, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a close associate of Ayatollah Khomeini and the current head of the Expediency Discernment Council, indirectly referred to Montazeri's letter, stating that the wave of criticism regarding the execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 is aimed at undermining Ahmad Khomeini, the son of Ruhollah Khomeini, and other members of the Khomeini family. But what did Ayatollah Montazeri say about Ahmad Khomeini that has become so significant and controversial? In the presence of the members of the decision-making body for the executions (Niri, Eshraqi, Pourmohammadi, and Raisi), he explicitly states that Ahmad Khomeini had believed for years before 1988 that all members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization and their supporters should be executed, and that the massacre of summer 1988 was not solely designed and executed due to the military operations of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (Eternal Light) against the Islamic Republic in the spring of that year. In fact, according to Ayatollah Montazeri, after the Eternal Light operation, Ahmad Khomeini found the necessary pretext to request the issuance of execution orders for political prisoners from his father, Ruhollah Khomeini. Besides Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mohammad Mohammadi Reyshahri, the Minister of Information at the time in the 1980s, also reacted to the audio file of Ayatollah Montazeri's opposition to the mass executions of summer 1988, stating: 'The operators of Ayatollah Montazeri's website must answer why, if Mr. Montazeri's office has no connection with the Mojahedin-e Khalq, they engage in purifying them and seeking revenge against Ayatollah Khomeini and his family.' Of course, Rafsanjani and Reyshahri are not the only political figures aware of the 1988 executions who reacted to the release of Ayatollah Montazeri's audio file. On Saturday, September 6, Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, also officially asked Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the current Minister of Justice, whether the rumors about the 1988 executions and his (Pourmohammadi's) role in executing Ayatollah Khomeini's orders are true or not. The first reason for the alignment of both factions of the Islamic Republic is that the dimensions of this crime, which have often remained hidden, are being directly transmitted to the new generation, as the audio file reaches a much larger audience compared to the late Montazeri's memoirs and is more documentary. Majid Mohammadi, a political analyst, states that in the released audio file of Ayatollah Montazeri, he explicitly mentions Mr. Pourmohammadi's presence as a representative of the Ministry of Information in the decision-making body for the executions, saying that the Ministry of Information had 'had a view on the execution of political prisoners for years.' The second reason for the alignment against Montazeri's household and the release of Ayatollah Montazeri's audio file is that this audio file disrupts the official historiography of the Islamic Republic, allowing students and the younger generation to understand the dimensions of the tragedy and recognize the fabricated history. Majid Mohammadi, a political analyst residing in the United States, tells Radio Farda that for three main reasons, both main factions and most political figures in the Islamic Republic who were in power at that time are afraid of the release of Ayatollah Montazeri's remarks and positions. According to Majid Mohammadi, 'The first reason for the alignment of both factions of the Islamic Republic is that the dimensions of this crime, which have often remained hidden, are being directly transmitted to the new generation, as the audio file reaches a much larger audience compared to the late Montazeri's memoirs and is more documentary. The third reason is that both the left and right factions (reformists and conservatives) and their prominent figures who were in power at that time share responsibility for this crime.' Previously, relatives of Ruhollah Khomeini, including his grandsons Hassan and Ali Khomeini and Mohammad Ali Ansari, a member of Ayatollah Khomeini's office, had protested the release of Ayatollah Montazeri's remarks, stating that the release of Ayatollah Montazeri's audio file signifies an attempt to 'purify' the Mojahedin-e Khalq and support them. Prominent figures and officials of the Islamic Republic have rarely spoken about the mass execution of several thousand (at least 3,800) political and ideological prisoners in the summer of 1988. However, after the release of Ayatollah Montazeri's audio file, there have been similar, aligned, and hasty comments regarding what this prominent cleric referred to as the 'great crime.'