London, 15 April 2025: Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI) has reviewed a newly surfaced audio recording, reported by BBC Persian on 14 April 2025, which provides additional insight into the systematic mass execution of political prisoners in Iran during the summer of 1988. This recording, part of a second meeting between Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, then-Deputy Supreme Leader, and members of the so-called “Death Commission,” reveals further details of the scale, intent, ruthlessness, and consequences of what has been widely recognised as a crime against humanity.
Background: The 1988 Massacre
The 1988 massacre involved the extrajudicial execution and enforced disappearance of thousands of political prisoners, primarily members and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI or MEK), alongside other political groups, following a fatwa issued by then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The audio recording of Montazeri’s first meeting with the Tehran Death Commission, released in August 2016, exposed his strong opposition to the executions, describing them as “the greatest crime committed during the Islamic Republic.” That tape confirmed the deliberate and organised nature of the killings, implicating senior officials and revealing the use of brief, arbitrary trials to sentence prisoners to death based on their political beliefs.
New Evidence: The Second Audio Recording
The recently surfaced audio, though incomplete with some segments reportedly removed, offers further disturbing insights into the massacre.
The second meeting between Montazeri and members of the Death Commission is believed to have taken place at Montazeri’s residence in Qom on 30 December 1988 three months before his dismissal as Deputy Supreme Leader.
The Death Commission members present were Hosseinali Nayyeri (religious judge), Morteza Eshraqi (Tehran prosecutor), and Ebrahim Raisi (deputy prosecutor). Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi (representative of the Intelligence Ministry), who attended the first meeting with Montazeri, was absent during the second meeting.
In the new audio file, Montazeri’s statements corroborate and expand upon the findings of the previous tape. Key revelations include:
- Khomeini Issued Second Fatwa: Montazeri references a second fatwa handed down by Khomeini, allegedly prompted by Nayyeri, justifying the execution of leftists on charges of apostasy, determined through interrogations about their religious beliefs and political affiliations.
- Scale and Brutality of Executions: Montazeri refers to the mass execution of 300 women prisoners, including two French nationals, captured during the PMOI’s “Eternal Light” operation in the western Iranian province of Kermanshah. He recounts a discussion with Sadegh Khalkhali, a judicial official, who confirmed their execution, dismissing Montazeri’s plea to spare the foreign nationals for potential diplomatic leverage. This account highlights the indiscriminate nature of the killings, targeting women prisoners without regard for international norms.
- Targeting of Women and Legal Violations: Montazeri expresses grave concern over the execution of women prisoners, questioning the legal basis for their deaths under Islamic jurisprudence. He cites the case of a young woman from Shiraz, whose will—filled with references to the Quran and Islamic texts—demonstrated her faith, yet she was executed solely for her political sympathies. Montazeri argues that, even within the regime’s legal framework, women who had not taken up arms or renounced Islam could not be classified as “mohareb” (enemies of God) and thus should not have been executed. He further notes scholarly opinions, such as that of Ibn Idris, which argue against the execution of women classified as mohareb.
- High-Level Responsibility: The recording reaffirms the direct involvement of senior officials, including Ahmad Khomeini, son of the Supreme Leader Khomeini, and the Ministry of Intelligence. Montazeri recalls Ahmad Khomeini advocating for the execution of “10,000” PMOI supporters for merely reading the group’s publications or statements, indicating premeditation at the highest levels of the regime.
- Public Backlash and Systemic Failure: Montazeri highlights growing public disillusionment with the regime’s governance, noting that the executions fuelled resentment and validated the criticisms of opposition groups. He warns that the regime’s harsh tactics were alienating victims’ families and increasing sympathy for the PMOI, contrary to the intended suppression of dissent.
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Key Remarks by Montazeri in New Audio File
On Ahmad Khomeini’s Role:
“I told Ahmad Agha, I said, ‘I hold you and the Intelligence Ministry responsible for all these crimes.’ I said, ‘Mr. Khomeini is sitting there, and you go and create this atmosphere; this isn’t right.’… I blame everything on the Intelligence Ministry and Ahmad Agha. I said, ‘You yourself told me that 10,000 of those who read the pamphlets of these hypocrites (PMOI members) should be executed.’ That’s why you did it.”
On Public Sentiment:
“The concept of Velayat-e Faqih has become repulsive to the people; the people are fed up with it… The very families we’ve now killed are all saying that the hypocrites were right… If we had attracted them with kindness, compassion, and such things, their numbers would have decreased, but instead, we keep increasing them.”
On the Execution of Women Prisoners from the Eternal Light Operation:
“Mr. Khalkhali was sitting right here and said 300 girls were brought in, supposedly involved in Mersad (Operation Eternal Light), in Bakhtaran (Kermanshah province), and two of them were French nationals. Incidentally, Khalkhali said he was there. I said, ‘Now, execute everyone… but don’t execute these two French girls.’… They said, ‘No, execute them.’… I read that a committee has been formed in France to investigate… This woman was captured in Mersad, bang! That’s it. Did we realise how much we could have negotiated with France for those two girls, with prisoners or something else?”
On the Execution of a Female Prisoner from Shiraz:
“One night, Eslami from Shiraz brought a file, a girl from Tehran… He brought her will… This girl wrote to her parents, ‘Don’t be upset, the world is transient,’ citing the Quran, Nahj al-Balagha, and such things… I asked, ‘Does this girl have a history of murder or something?’ He said, ‘No, she was just a supporter.’… From head to toe, her will was radiant with light… Islamic law says that if a woman doesn’t believe in God, the Prophet, the Quran, or anything, she’s an apostate, then she can’t be killed… This girl who believes in God, the Prophet, the Quran, everything, but just says, ‘This Islamic Republic isn’t to my taste,’ can she be executed? Is this what jurisprudence has become?”
On the Legal Status of Women Prisoners:
“I even have doubts about women and girls. Ibn Idris claims it’s widely accepted that a female mohareb cannot be executed. Many of them weren’t mohareb anyway; a mohareb is someone who takes up arms. In reality, many of them had just read pamphlets and then ended up in prison.”
On the Regime’s Approach and Consequences:
“The international community has condemned us so much, families are all grieving, upset. The solution was what I said that day [in the first meeting]. Those who were organising in prisons or connected to them, Eshraqi would come, try them, convict them—say 100 people—then execute those 100, and we’d announce, ‘Yes, they did this.’… But now we’ve done something that aligns with neither Sharia nor logic.”
On Preserving the Regime’s Image:
“I wished that the sanctity of Velayat-e Faqih would remain respected, as it was when Mr. Khomeini first came to Iran, inspiring hope in everyone. Everyone loved him. I wished he could stay that way.”
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Human Rights Implications
The new audio strengthens the case for classifying the 1988 massacre as both a crime against humanity and genocide, as concluded by Professor Javaid Rehman, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran, in his landmark Atrocity Crimes report, published in July 2024. The deliberate targeting of a particular group of prisoners, the scale of the executions, and the systematic cover-up—evidenced by the partial nature of this recording—meet the legal thresholds for these classifications under international law.
The recording also highlights specific violations, including:
- Extrajudicial Executions: Prisoners were killed without fair trials, often based on vague or fabricated charges.
- Gender-Based Violence: The execution of women prisoners, many of whom were not combatants, reflects a pattern of misogyny and disregard for protections under international humanitarian law.
- Suppression of Dissent: The massacre aimed to eradicate political opposition, violating fundamental rights to freedom of thought and association.
- Ongoing Impunity: As Prof. Rehman noted, many perpetrators, including judges, prosecutors, and intelligence officials, continue to hold senior positions, underscoring the absence of accountability.
JVMI’s Call to Action
JVMI reiterates its commitment to seeking justice for the victims of the 1988 massacre. This new evidence underscores the urgent need for:
- International Investigations: The United Nations and other bodies must establish an independent inquiry to investigate the massacre, building on existing documentation and survivor testimonies. The Fact-Finding Mission on Iran (FFMI), whose mandate was expanded earlier this month, should in particular investigate the ongoing crimes against humanity associated with the enforced disappearances of 1988.
- Accountability: Perpetrators, regardless of their current status, must face prosecution in international or hybrid tribunals for crimes against humanity. UN Member States should use Universal Jurisdiction to prosecute perpetrators of the 1988 massacre.
For further information or to support our efforts, please contact JVMI at [email protected].