London, 4 April 2025 – Hossein-Ali Nayyeri, the former head of the Tehran Death Commission, responsible for the extrajudicial execution and enforced disappearance of thousands of political prisoners during the 1988 massacre in Iran, has died, state media reported on 3 April 2025.
Nayyeri was never held accountable for his role in the 1988 massacre, during which some 30,000 political prisoners perished on the orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
In 1988, Nayyeri headed the Tehran Revolutionary Court. He was appointed as the Head of the “Death Commission” in Tehran upon Khomeini’s orders.
His name appears first in the list of ‘judges’ appointed to the Tehran Death Commission on Khomeini’s handwritten fatwa ordering the 1988 massacre.
The fatwa, which was later published by Iran’s former Deputy Supreme Leader Hossein-Ali Montazeri, states in part:
“[T]hose in prisons throughout the country who remain steadfast in their support for the Monafeqin [PMOI or MEK] are waging war on God and are condemned to execution”.
“The task of implementing the decree in Tehran is entrusted to Hojjatol-Eslam Nayyeri, the Shari’a Judge, Mr. Eshraqi, the Tehran prosecutor, and a representative of the Intelligence Ministry”.
Survivors have testified that the “Tehran Death Commission” started its work in Evin Prison on 28 July 1988. The commission operated in both Evin and Gohardasht prisons. It is reported that members of the commission used helicopters to commute rapidly between Evin and Gohardasht to issue death sentences.
In later years, Nayyeri was appointed Head of the Supreme Disciplinary Court for Judges and Vice President of the Supreme Court.
In 2022, after 34 years, Nayyeri broke his silence and defended the 1988 massacre with total impunity.
In an interview with the state entity Islamic Revolution Documents Centre (IRDC), published on 9 July 2022, asked about the mass executions of 1988, Nayyeri stated: “In such critical circumstances, what were we to do? We had to hand down verdicts decisively. He who is running the court and dealing with the cases has to resolve the cases. In such circumstances, we cannot run the country by offering them hugs and kisses!”
Nayyeri went on to vilify the victims by claiming they had staged riots in prisons. He added: “The atmosphere of the prison was in their hands and therefore new conspiracies were at work.”
“If it wasn’t for Imam [Khomeini]’s decisiveness, maybe we wouldn’t have this security at all,” he said in the interview. “Maybe the situation would have been different. Perhaps the Islamic Republic would not have survived at all.”
Translation of Nayyeri’s interview with IRDC: https://iran1988.org/top-iranian-judiciary-official-defends-1988-massacre/