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((Short description|Government-led mass execution of political prisoners in Iran))
<noinclude>((User:RMCD bot/subject notice|1=1988 Iran prison massacre|2=Talk:1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners#Requested move 22 May 2024))
</noinclude>((Copy edit|for=grammar and concision|date=December 2023))
((Use dmy dates|date=June 2021))
((Infobox event
| title = 1988 execution of political prisoners in Iran
| image = Ebrahim Raisi and Mostafa Pourmohammadi.jpg
| image_size = 
| caption = [[Ebrahim Raisi]] (right) and [[Mostafa Pourmohammadi]] (left), two members of "Judges of Death" committee, in 2013
| location = [[Iran]]
| target = Political opposition groups, most notably the [[PMOI|MEK]], [[Organization of Iranian People's Fedaian (Majority)|OIPFM]] and the [[Tudeh Party of Iran]]
| date = July–December 1988 (some sources say July–September)<ref>((Cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/08/iran-1988-mass-executions-evident-crimes-against-humanity|title=Iran: 1988 Mass Executions Evident Crimes Against Humanity|date=8 June 2022))</ref>
| type = Mass execution
| fatalities = 2,800 to 5,000 people killed<ref name=":0"/> (exact number unknown)<ref name="smith-atlas-1999">((cite book|last=Smith|first=Dan|title=The State of the Middle East, Revised and Updated: An Atlas of Conflict and Resolution |year=1999|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9781134039227 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MehRAwAAQBAJ&dq=iran+1988+executions+%2230%2C000%22&pg=PA82))</ref><ref>((cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/1321090/Khomeini-fatwa-led-to-killing-of-30000-in-Iran.html|title=Khomeini fatwa 'led to killing of 30,000 in Iran'|website=The Telegraph|date=4 February 2001 ))</ref><ref name=Stickings2022>((Cite web |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/europe/2022/07/13/iran-war-crimes-verdict-looms-as-opposition-seeks-justice-for-1988-killings/ |title=Iran war crimes verdict looms as opposition seeks justice for 1988 killings |website=[[The National (Abu Dhabi)|The National News]] |date=13 July 2022))</ref><ref name=Ehteshami2017>((cite book |last=Ehteshami |first=Anoushiravan |title=Iran: Stuck in Transition (The Contemporary Middle East) |year=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781351985451 |page=108 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzUlDwAAQBAJ&dq=iran+1988+executions+%2230%2C000%22&pg=PA108 |quote=It is estimated that as many as 30,000 individuals may have been executed at that time, in response to a religious edict issued by Ayatollah Khomeini that there was no room for apostates in his Islamic republic. Ayatollah Montazeri also alluded to this tragedy in his memoirs (published in 2001) and the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center's detailed report on the executions notes that estimates of those killed range from 1,000 to 30,000. See IHRDC, Deadly Fatwa: Iran's 1988 Prison Massacre (New Haven, CT: IHRDC, 2009). The insider's account is provided by Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, Khatirat-i Ayatollah Montazeri, Majmu'iyyih Payvastha va Dastnivisha [Memoir of Ayatollah Montazeri, the Collection of Appendices and Handwritten Notes] (2001).))</ref>
))
A series of mass executions of [[political prisoner]]s ordered by [[Ruhollah Khomeini|Ayatollah Khomeini]] and carried out by Iranian officials took place across [[Iran]], starting on 19 July 1988 and continuing for approximately five months.<ref name=Canadrec>((cite web|last1=Akhlaghi|first1=Reza|title=Canada Recognizes Iran's 1988 Massacre as Crime against Humanity|url=https://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2013/06/14/canada-recognizes-irans-1988-massacre-as-crime-against-humanity/|website=Foreign Policy Blog|date=14 June 2013 |access-date=23 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518151029/https://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2013/06/14/canada-recognizes-irans-1988-massacre-as-crime-against-humanity/|archive-date=18 May 2017|url-status=live))</ref><ref name=UNCall>((cite web|title=More Than 100 Prominent Iranians Ask UN to Declare 1988 Massacre 'Crime Against Humanity'|url=https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2016/09/1988-mass-executions-100-iranians-letter/|website=Center for Human Rights in Iran|date=7 September 2016|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170526111920/https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2016/09/1988-mass-executions-100-iranians-letter/|archive-date=26 May 2017|url-status=live))</ref><ref name="auto3">((cite web  |url= https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1394212018ENGLISH.PDF  |title= Blood-soaked secrets: Why Iran's 1998 Prison Massacres are ongoing crimes against humanity  |access-date= 14 December 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181215065955/https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1394212018ENGLISH.PDF  |archive-date= 15 December 2018 |url-status= live |publisher=Amnesty International |date=4 December 2018 ))</ref><ref name=ncr>((cite web|title=1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran|url=http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/1988-massacre-of-political-prisoners-in-iran|website=National Council of Resistance of Iran|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608195051/http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/1988-massacre-of-political-prisoners-in-iran|archive-date=8 June 2017|url-status=live))</ref><ref name=escapemassacre>((cite web|last1=Naderi|first1=Mostafa|title=I was lucky to escape with my life. The massacre of Iranian political prisoners in 1988 must now be investigated|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/i-was-lucky-to-escape-with-my-life-the-massacre-of-iranian-political-prisoners-in-1988-must-now-be-8779679.html|website=The Independent|date=22 August 2013|access-date=19 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228035723/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/i-was-lucky-to-escape-with-my-life-the-massacre-of-iranian-political-prisoners-in-1988-must-now-be-8779679.html|archive-date=28 February 2018|url-status=live))</ref><ref name=Amnest>((cite web|title=Iran still seeks to erase the '1988 prison massacre' from memories, 25 years on|date=29 August 2013|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2013/08/iran-still-seeks-erase-prison-massacre-memories-years/|publisher=Amnesty International|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405221959/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2013/08/iran-still-seeks-erase-prison-massacre-memories-years/|archive-date=5 April 2017|url-status=live))</ref> Many of the prisoners were also subject to torture.<ref name="Amnesty2018" /><ref name="hrw-2022" /><ref name="auto5">((cite web |date=5 October 2020 |title=Families Of Prisoners Killed In 1988 Mass Executions Demand Answers |url=https://en.radiofarda.com/a/families-of-prisoners-killed-in-1988-mass-executions-demand-answers/30876566.html |website=Radio Farda))</ref> The killings took place in at least 32 cities across the country.<ref name=hrw-2022/> The killings were perpetrated without any legislative basis and trials were not concerned with establishing the guilt or innocence of defendants.<ref name="auto">((cite web |date=12 December 2018 |title=Iran: Top government officials distorted the truth about 1988 prison massacres |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/12/iran-top-government-officials-distorted-the-truth-about-1988-prison-massacres/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181212191043/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/12/iran-top-government-officials-distorted-the-truth-about-1988-prison-massacres/ |archive-date=12 December 2018 |access-date=14 December 2018))</ref> Great care was taken to conceal the killings, and the government of Iran currently denies their occurrence.<ref>((Cite web |date=19 August 2016 |title=احمد خاتمی: امام خمینی با اعدام‌های ۶۷ خدمت بزرگی به ملت کرد |url=https://www.dw.com/fa-ir/%D8%A7%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%85%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%AE%D9%85%DB%8C%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%DB%B6%DB%B7-%D8%AE%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%AA-%D8%A8%D8%B2%D8%B1%DA%AF%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D9%85%D9%84%D8%AA-%DA%A9%D8%B1%D8%AF/a-19487720 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820115337/http://www.dw.com/fa-ir/%D8%A7%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%85%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%AE%D9%85%DB%8C%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%DB%B6%DB%B7-%D8%AE%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%AA-%D8%A8%D8%B2%D8%B1%DA%AF%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D9%85%D9%84%D8%AA-%DA%A9%D8%B1%D8%AF/a-19487720 |archive-date=20 August 2016 |access-date=10 June 2021 |website=[[Deutsche Welle]] persian))</ref>  

The exact number of those killed is unknown, with various estimates by [[human rights organizations]] up to 5,000 people killed.<ref name=":1">((Cite web |date=2019-03-07 |title=Iran cleric linked to 1988 mass executions to lead judiciary |url=https://apnews.com/article/ee0e777abf19424281c363ef1978ac7f |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=AP News |language=en))</ref><ref name="smith-atlas-1999" /> [[Human Rights Watch]] puts the estimate at between 2,800 to 5,000 people killed,<ref name=":0">((Cite web |last=Da Silva |first=Chantal |date=2024-05-20 |title=Grief, but also relief for some, after Iran President Raisi dies in helicopter crash |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/death-iran-president-raisi-prompts-grief-relief-celebration-rcna153003 |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=NBC News |language=en))</ref> while [[Amnesty International]] estimates at least 5,000 killed.<ref name="Amnesty2018" />

Reportedly, the majority of those who were killed were supporters of the [[People's Mujahedin of Iran]] (MeK), but supporters of other leftist factions, including the [[Organization of Iranian People's Fedaian (Majority)|Fedaian]] and the [[Tudeh Party of Iran]] (Communist Party), were also executed.<ref>((Cite web |title=Iranian party demands end to repression |url=http://www.pww.org/article/view/5754/1/231/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050924060950/http://www.pww.org/article/view/5754/1/231/ |archive-date=24 September 2005))</ref><ref name="Abrahamian1999" />((rp|209-228)) Various motives have been offered for the executions of the victims, including that the victims were executed in retaliation for the [[Operation Mersad|1988 attack]] on the western borders of Iran by the MeK, (although members of other leftist groups which never supported or took part in the Mujahedin's invasion were also targeted for execution).<ref name="Abrahamian1999" />((rp|218)) 

Survivors of the massacre have made numerous calls for redress and they have also called for the prosecution of those who perpetrated the attack.<ref name="UNCall" /> The massacres have been called "Iran's greatest [[crime against humanity]]",<ref>((cite news|title=Trend in Prosecution of Human Rights Abusers Should Extend to Iran's President|url=https://intpolicydigest.org/trend-in-prosecution-of-human-rights-abusers-should-extend-to-iran-s-president/|website= IntPolicyDigest))</ref> without precedent in the modern [[History of Iran|Iranian history]] both in terms of scope and cover-up,<ref name="Abrahamian1999">((cite book |last=Abrahamian |first=Ervand |author-link=Ervand Abrahamian |title=Tortured Confessions: Prisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran |year=1999 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |url=http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft3s2005jq;chunk.id=0;doc.view=print |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043644/http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft3s2005jq;chunk.id=0;doc.view=print))</ref>((rp|201)) and have been denounced by deputy [[Supreme Leader of Iran]] at the time [[Hussein-Ali Montazeri|Ayatollah Montazeri]],<ref name="auto4">((cite book |first= Kaveh|last= Basmenji |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f0chBQAAQBAJ&q=iran+1988+prison+executions+women+children&pg=PT105 |title=Tehran Blues: Youth Culture in Iran|publisher= Saqui Books |year=2005|isbn=978-0863565823))</ref> the [[United Nations]] [[Human Rights Council]],<ref name="iranprobe">((Cite web |url=http://iranprobe.com/crime-against-humanity/2117.html |title=United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and NGOs condemned human rights violations in Iran |access-date=16 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128025639/http://iranprobe.com/crime-against-humanity/2117.html |archive-date=28 January 2018 |url-status=live ))</ref> and number of countries such as Sweden,<ref name="sweden-jails" /> Canada,<ref name="Canadrec" /> and Italy.

==Background==

The main victims of the 1988 massacre, the Islamist modernist group [[People's Mujahedin of Iran]] (or MeK) had a fraught history with the victors of the Iranian Revolution—Ayatollah Khomeini's clerical network and its supporters. Their guerilla forces (along with other victims the Marxist Fedeyeen) are thought to have provided crucial help in overthrowing the monarchy—if only by provoking repression and discrediting the shah.<ref name=Ruthven-348/> (They are also thought to have helped Khomeini by spreading a rumour that he was the awaited 12th Imam returning from occultation.)<ref name=Ruthven-348>((cite book |author=Ruthven, Malise|title=Islam in the World|url=https://archive.org/details/islaminworld0000ruth|url-access=registration|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-19-513841-2 |page=348-9))</ref> But they had very different views from Khomeini's group as to what form an Islamic political system would take —'' ''opposing a system of rule by Islamic clerics and claiming to support democracy, freedom, feminism and a classless society. <ref>((cite book |first=Sepehr |last=Zabih |chapter = The Non-Communist Left in Iran: The Case of the Mujahidin |title = Ideology and Power in the Middle East |editor-first1=Peter J. |editor-last1=Chelkowski |editor-first2=Robert J. |editor-last2=Pranger |year=1988 |publisher = Duke University Press |isbn = 978-0-8223-8150-1|pages= 252–254))</ref>

As the struggle to create a post-revolutionary society took shape and erstwhile liberal, leftist and moderate allies of Khomeini were physically suppressed, the MeK was both the regimes strongest foe and biggest victim. In 1980, Khomeini began to attack the MeK as ''elteqati'' (eclectic), contaminated with [[Gharbzadegi]] ("the Western plague"), and as ''[[Munafiq|monafeqin]] ''(hypocrites) and ''[[kafir|kafer]]'' (unbelievers).<ref>Moin, ''Khomeini'', 2001, p. 234, 239</ref> In February 1980 concentrated attacks by ''hezbollahi'' toughs began on the meeting places, bookstores, newsstands of Mujahideen and other leftists.<ref>Bakhash, ''The Reign of the Ayatollahs'', (1984) p. 123.</ref> The opposition's bases of support were attacked with  20,000 teachers and nearly 8,000 military officers purged for being too "Westernized".<ref>Arjomand, Said Amir, ''Turban for the Crown: The Islamic Revolution in Iran'', Oxford University Press, 1988 p. 144.</ref>   MeK offices were shut down, their newspapers outlawed, their demonstrations prohibited, and arrest warrants issued for their leaders.<ref>((cite book |first=Ervand |last=Abrahamian |author-link=Ervand Abrahamian |title=Radical Islam: The Iranian Mojahedin |year=1989 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=978-1-85043-077-3|page=206))</ref> 

The crisis came to a head when an MeK ally, Islamic modernist President [[Banisadr]]—another erstwhile supporter of Khomeini<ref>Bakhash, ''The Reign of the Ayatollahs'', (1984) p. 153</ref><ref>Moin ''Khomeini'', 2001, p. 238</ref>—was attacked by Khomeini, impeached by the Majlis/parliament and fled the country calling for "resistance to dictatorship".<ref name=Kepel-115>Kepel, ''Jihad'', 2002, p. 115</ref>  

In the ensuing fight<ref name=Kepel-115/> an "unprecedented reign of terror" was unleashed against the MeK and similar groups. "In less than six months, 2,665 persons, 90 per cent of whom were MeK members, were executed".<ref>((cite book|last=Cronin|first=Stephanie|year=2013|title=Reformers and Revolutionaries in Modern Iran: New Perspectives on the Iranian Left|series=Routledge/BIPS Persian Studies Series|isbn=978-1-134-32890-1|publisher=Routledge|page=48))</ref>  The MeK retaliated with "spectacular" attacks,<ref name=Kepel-115/> killed around 70 leaders of the Khomeinist [[Islamic Republic Party]] in one bombing,<ref>Moin, ''Khomeini'' (2000), pp. 241–42.</ref> and the successor leader of the IRP ([[Mohammad Javad Bahonar]]) a couple months later.<ref name="HRW">[http://hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/iran0505/2.htm Iran] ((Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081019120102/http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/iran0505/2.htm |date=2008-10-19 )) Backgrounder, [http://hrw.org/ HRW] .</ref><ref name="auto3" />   

Remnants of the MeK fled across the border to Iraq which was waging war against Iran. About six years later, in July 1988, in an operation known as [[Operation Mersad]], [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraqi]] forces and 7,000 militants from the MeK invaded from Iraq into Iranian Kurdistan, hoping to capture the city of [[Kermanshah]] and eventually lead an uprising.<ref name="Farrokh 03">((cite book |last=Farrokh |first=Kaveh |title=Iran at War: 1500–1988 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |location=Oxford, England |isbn = 978-1-78096-221-4 |date=20 December 2011 ))</ref> The MeK militants were armed, equipped and given air support by the [[Iraqi Armed Forces|Iraqi military]]. They were quickly defeated but the fact that this attack came  after Ayatollah Khomeini had officially announced his acceptance of a UN brokered ceasefire resolution between Iraq and Iran and Iran thought the bloody war was all but over, is likely to have greatly angered the Islamic Republican government. It is also thought not to be a coincidence the killings started about the same time.<ref>((cite journal |last1=Kaveh |first1= Shahrooz|date=2007 |title=With revolutionary rage and rancor: a preliminary report on the 1988 massacre of Iran's political prisoners |url=https://harvardhrj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2020/06/20HHRJ227-Shahrooz.pdf |journal=Harvard Human Rights Journal |volume=20 |issue= |pages=|quote="The letter from Khomeini to the judiciary is explicit in its demand that the Islamic Republic's political opponents be rapidly eliminated."))</ref><ref>((cite journal |last1=M |first1= Behrooz|date= |title=REFLECTIONS ON IRAN'S PRISON SYSTEM DURING THE MONTAZERI YEARS (1985-1988)|url=https://www.iranian.com/News/2005/May/IAQWinter05.pdf#page=11 |journal=Iran Analysis Quarterly |volume= |issue= |pages=|quote="...the IRI under the leadership of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was, in effect, attempting to bring about uniformity in its leadership and to consolidate power by eliminating all opposition."))</ref><ref name=Amnesty2018 /><ref name="auto31">((cite web |url= https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/12/iran-top-government-officials-distorted-the-truth-about-1988-prison-massacres/|title= Iran: Top government officials distorted the truth about 1988 prison massacres|date= 12 December 2018|access-date=14 December 2018))</ref><ref name="Montazeri01">((cite book |first= Sussan|last= Siavoshi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3tUoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA131 |title=Montazeri: The Life and Thought of Iran's Revolutionary Ayatollah|publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2017|isbn= 978-1316509463|pages=131))</ref><ref name="auto3" /><ref name="r4">((cite news |last1=Merat |first1=Arron |title=Terrorists, cultists – or champions of Iranian democracy? The wild wild story of the MeK |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/nov/09/mek-iran-revolution-regime-trump-rajavi |access-date=9 February 2019 |work=News agency |agency=theguardian |publisher=theguardian.com |date=9 November 2018))</ref> 

In 2016, an audio recording was posted online of a high-level official meeting that took place in August 1988 between [[Hossein Ali Montazeri]] and the officials responsible for the mass killings in Tehran.<ref name=AlMonitor2016>((Cite web |title=New audio file sheds light on 1980s executions in Iran |first=Arash |last=Karami |date=10 August 2016 |publisher=[[Al-Monitor]] |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2016/08/montazeri-executions-1988-iran-mek-khomeini.html |url-status=live |archive-date=July 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210702003843/https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2016/08/montazeri-executions-1988-iran-mek-khomeini.html))</ref> In the recording, Montazeri is heard saying that the ministry of intelligence used the MeK's armed incursion as a pretext to carry out the mass killings, which "had been under consideration for several years". Iranian authorities have dismissed the incident as "nothing but propaganda", presenting the executions as a lawful response to a small group of incarcerated individuals who had colluded with the MeK to support its 25 July 1988 incursion.<ref name="auto3" /><ref name="auto31"/>

== Massacre ==

=== Khomeini's order ===
[[File:67letter.gif|thumb|Khomeini's order letter]]
Shortly before the executions commenced, Iranian leader [[Ruhollah Khomeini]] issued "a secret but extraordinary order—some suspect a formal [[fatwa]]." This order led to the creation of "Special Commissions with instructions to execute members of People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran as ''[[Moharebeh|moharebs]]'' (those who war against [[Allah]]) and [[leftist]]s as ''[[Apostasy in Islam|mortads]]'' (apostates from Islam)."<ref name=Abrahamian1999 />((rp|210))

In part, the letter reads as follows:<ref>Upholding the truth (''Pasdasht e Haghighat'') (رضایی و سلیمی نمین، پاسداشت حقیقت) by [[Mohsen Rezaee]] and Abbas Salimi-Namin. Page 147. 2002</ref><ref name="Ruhollah Khomeini's decree">((cite web|title=Ayatollah Khomeini's Decree Ordering the Execution of Prisoners 1988|url=http://www.iranrights.org/library/document/106|website=Human Rights & Democracy for Iran|publisher=Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation|access-date=13 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821054143/http://www.iranrights.org/library/document/106|archive-date=21 August 2016|url-status=live))</ref>

<blockquote>
[In the Name of God,
The Compassionate, the Merciful,]<br />
As the treacherous Monafeqin [Mojahedin] do not believe in Islam and what they say is out of deception and hypocrisy, and <br />
As their leaders have confessed that they have become renegades, and <br />
As they are waging war on God, and <br />
As they are engaging in classical warfare in the western, the northern and the southern fronts, and <br />
As they are collaborating with the Baathist Party of Iraq and spying for Saddam against our Muslim nation, and <br />
As they are tied to the World Arrogance, and in light of their cowardly blows to the Islamic Republic since its inception,<br />
It is decreed that those who are in prison throughout the country and remain steadfast in their support for the Monafeqin [Mojahedin] are waging war on God and are condemned to execution.
</blockquote>

=== Administering of the executions ===
The executions were carried out by several high-ranking members of Iran's current government.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk">((cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/02/04/wiran04.xml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210125211/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2001%2F02%2F04%2Fwiran04.xml |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 February 2006 |title=Khomeini fatwa 'led to killing of 30,000 in Iran' |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |date=2 February 2001 |access-date=12 September 2021 ))</ref>
In [[Tehran]] the special commission for the executions had 16 members representing the various authorities of the Islamic government—Imam Khomeini himself, the president, the chief prosecutor, the [[Islamic Revolutionary Court|Revolutionary Tribunals]], the ministries of Justice and [[Ministry of Intelligence and National Security of Iran|Intelligence]], and the administration of [[Evin Prison|Evin]] and [[Gohardasht Prison|Gohar Dasht]], the two prisons in the Tehran area from which the prisoners were eliminated. The chair of the commission was Ayatollah [[Morteza Eshraqi]]. His two special assistants were Hojatt al-Islam [[Jaafar Nayyeri|Hossein-Ali Nayyeri]] and Hojjat al-Islam [[Ali Mobasheri (judge)|Ali Mobasheri]]. The commission shuttled back and forth between Evin and Gohar Dasht prisons by helicopter. In the provinces similar commissions were established, but less is known about them.<ref name=Abrahamian1999 />((rp|210))

Another description of the administration of the executions has it implemented by a "four-man commission, later known as the 'death committee'".<ref name=sotoudeh>((cite web|title=Nasrin Sotoudeh: Investigate Iranian Presidential Hopeful Ebrahim Raisi for 1988 Mass Executions|url=https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2017/04/nasrin-sotoudeh-investigate-iranian-presidential-hopeful-ebrahim-raisi-for-1988-mass-executions/|website=Center for Human Rights in Iran|access-date=18 May 2017|date=17 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613174447/https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2017/04/nasrin-sotoudeh-investigate-iranian-presidential-hopeful-ebrahim-raisi-for-1988-mass-executions/|archive-date=13 June 2017|url-status=live))</ref> Members were Hossein-Ali Nayyeri (who was then a judge), Morteza Eshraqi (then Tehran Prosecutor), [[Ebrahim Raisi]] (then deputy prosecutor general) and [[Mostafa Pourmohammadi]] (then the representative of the Intelligence Ministry in Evin Prison).<ref name=Abrahamian2017>((Cite web |title=An Interview with Scholar and Historian Ervand Abrahamian on the Islamic Republic's "Greatest Crime" |last=Abrahamian |first=Ervand |date=4 May 2017 |website=Center for Human Rights in Iran |url=https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2017/05/an-interview-with-scholar-and-historian-ervand-abrahamian-on-the-islamic-republics-greatest-crime/ |archive-date=5 May 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170505122525/https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2017/05/an-interview-with-scholar-and-historian-ervand-abrahamian-on-the-islamic-republics-greatest-crime/))</ref> Raisi went on to campaign for [[2017 Iranian presidential election|president of Iran in 2017]] as a hard-line conservative where he was criticized for his role in the executions, before being elected as president on his second try, in [[2021 Iranian presidential election|2021]].<ref name=sotoudeh /><ref name=Abrahamian2017 /> His role earned Raisi, like [[Sadegh Khalkhali]] before him, the reputation of being a "[[hanging judge]]",<ref>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-05-20/ebrahim-raisi-from-hanging-judge-to-guardian-of-the-principals-of-the-islamic-republic-of-iran.html</ref><ref>https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/iranian-president-raisi-hanging-judge</ref> and the nickname 'Butcher of Tehran.'<ref>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/05/20/ebrahim-raisi-iran-president-helicopter-butcher-tehran/</ref><ref>https://www.euronews.com/2024/05/20/butcher-of-tehran-who-was-iranian-president-ebrahim-raisi</ref><ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/death-iran-president-raisi-prompts-grief-relief-celebration-rcna153003</ref>

[[Amnesty International]] identified and analyzed evidence that linked several Iranian officials to participation in the massacre. These included [[Alireza Avayi]] (tasked to participate in the so-called "death commission" of Dezful), Raisi (member of the "death commission" in Tehran), Mostafa Pourmohammadi and others.<ref name="auto3" /><ref name="auto2">((cite web|url= https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/12/iran-top-government-officials-distorted-the-truth-about-1988-prison-massacres/|title= Iran: Top government officials distorted the truth about 1988 prison massacres|date= 12 December 2018|access-date= 14 December 2018|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181212191043/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/12/iran-top-government-officials-distorted-the-truth-about-1988-prison-massacres/|archive-date= 12 December 2018|url-status= live))</ref>

The prisoners were not executed without any proceedings, but were "tried" on charges totally unrelated to the charges that had landed them in prison. They were interviewed by commissions with a set list of questions to see if they qualified as ''moharebs'' or ''mortads'' to the satisfaction of that commission. Many, if not most, of the prisoners were unaware of the true purpose of the questions, although later some were warned by the prison [[Gossip|grapevine]].((citation needed|date=October 2022))

Some of the victims were killed because of their beliefs about religion—because they were atheists or because they were Muslims who followed different versions of Islam.

Many of those killed were also subjected to "torture and other [[inhuman or degrading treatment|cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment]] or punishment in the process".<ref name=Amnesty2018>((cite web |title=Blood-soaked secrets with Iran's 1998 Prison Massacres are ongoing crimes against humanity |date=4 December 2018 |publisher=[[Amnesty International]] |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/9421/2018/en/ |url-status=live |archive-date=15 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215065955/https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1394212018ENGLISH.PDF |quote=To date, the exact number of those killed is unknown but minimum estimates put the death toll at around 5,000. The real number could be higher, especially because little is still known about the names and details of those who were rearrested in 1988 and extrajudicially executed in secret soon after arrest.))</ref><ref name=hrw-2022>((cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/08/irans-1988-mass-executions|title=Iran's 1988 Mass Executions|website=Human Rights Watch|date=8 June 2022))</ref><ref name="auto5"/><ref>((cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/exclusive-un-expert-backs-probe-into-irans-1988-killings-raisis-role-2021-06-29/|title=EXCLUSIVE U.N. expert backs probe into Iran's 1988 killings, Raisi's role|website=Reuters|date=29 June 2021 |last1=Nebehay |first1=Stephanie ))</ref><ref>((cite web |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/08/sweden-opens-trial-iranian-accused-role-1988-mass-murder|title=Sweden opens trial of Iranian accused of role in 1988 mass murder|website=Al Monitor|date=10 August 2021 ))</ref>

=== Isolation of the prisoners ===
Some scholarly examinations of the massacre argue that the planning stages of the 1988 Massacre began months before the executions started. According to one report: "prison officials took the unusual step in late 1987 and early 1988 of re-questioning and separating all political prisoners according to party affiliation and length of sentence."<ref>Kaveh Sharooz, "With Revolutionary Rage and Rancor: A Preliminary Report on the 1988 Massacre of Iran's Political Prisoners", ''Harvard Human Rights Journal'', Volume 20, p. 233.</ref>

The execution process began in the early hours of 19 July 1988 with the isolation of the political prisoners from the outside world. According to [[Ervand Abrahamian]], Iranian authorities suddenly isolated major prisons on 19 July, having its courts of law go on an unscheduled holiday to avoid relatives finding out about those imprisoned.<ref name=Abrahamian1999 />((rp|209–214)) Prison gates were closed, scheduled visits and telephone calls were canceled, letters, care packages, and even vital medicines from the outside were turned away. Relatives of prisoners were forbidden to congregate outside the prison gates.((citation needed|date=August 2022))

Inside the prison, cell blocks were isolated from each other and cleared of radios and televisions. Places where prisoners gathered communally, such as lecture halls, workshops, infirmaries, were all closed down and inmates were confined to their cells. Prison guards and workers were ordered not to speak to prisoners. One prisoner constructed a homemade radio set to listen to the radio news from the outside but found news broadcasters were saying nothing at all about the lockdown.<ref name=Abrahamian1999 />((rp|209-10))

=== Dealing with the MeK (People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran) ===
((See also|People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran))
Prisoners were initially told that this was not a trial but a process for initiating a general amnesty and separating "Muslims" from "non-Muslims". Prisoners were asked if they were willing to denounce the MeK before cameras, help the IRI hunt down MeK members, name secret sympathizers, identify phoney repenters, or go to the war front and walk through enemy minefields. According to Abrahamian, the questions were designed to "tax to the utmost the victim's sense of decency, honour, and self-respect". Mojahedin who gave unsatisfactory answers were promptly taken to a special room and later hanged in batches of six. At first this secrecy was effective. One survivor thought the purpose of his interview was to be released in time for the forthcoming peace celebrations.<ref name=Abrahamian1999 />((rp|209–214))

Most of the prisoners executed were serving prison terms for peaceful protest activities (distributing opposition newspapers and leaflets, taking part in demonstrations, or collecting donations for political oppositions) or holding outlawed political views. The executions did not conform with existing legislation, took place without any proven "internationally recognized criminal offence", and have since been termed a "crime against humanity" by the standards of international law.<ref name="auto3" /><ref name="auto31"/> Those executed included children.<ref name="auto1">((cite news |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2013/08/iran-still-seeks-erase-prison-massacre-memories-years/ |title=Iran still seeks to erase the '1988 prison massacre' from memories, 25 years on |newspaper=Amnesty International))</ref><ref>((cite web |url=https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/49700/death-of-political-prisoners-in-iran-in-1988 |title=DEATH OF POLITICAL PRISONERS IN IRAN IN 1988 |newspaper=UK Parliament))</ref>

Human rights organizations say that the number of those executed remains a point of contention.<ref name="auto1">((cite news |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2013/08/iran-still-seeks-erase-prison-massacre-memories-years/ |title=Iran still seeks to erase the '1988 prison massacre' from memories, 25 years on |newspaper=Amnesty International))</ref> Prisoners were charged with "''moharebeh''" or "waging war on god"<ref>((cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/i-was-lucky-to-escape-with-my-life-the-massacre-of-iranian-political-prisoners-in-1988-must-now-be-8779679.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/i-was-lucky-to-escape-with-my-life-the-massacre-of-iranian-political-prisoners-in-1988-must-now-be-8779679.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=I was lucky to escape with my life. The massacre of Iranian political prisoners in 1988 must now be investigated|newspaper=The Independent))</ref> and those who said to be affiliated with the MeK, including children as young as 13 years old, were hanged from cranes by [[Ayatollah Khomeini]]'s direct orders.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk" /> The Iranian government accused those investigating the executions of "disclosing state secrets" and threatening national security". According to [[Amnesty International]], "there has also been an ongoing campaign by the Islamic Republic to demonize victims, distort facts, and repress family survivors and human rights defenders."<ref name="auto3" /><ref name="auto31" /> In 2019, [[Maryam Rajavi]] released a book named ''Crime Against Humanity''. The book is about the 1988 massacres of political prisoners in Iran, listing the location of 36 Iranian mass graves and explaining that about 30,000 people were executed, with the majority being MeK members.<ref>((Cite news|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/oct/23/new-book-details-atrocities-iranian-regime-1980s/|title=New book details atrocities by Iranian regime in the 1980s|newspaper=The Washington Times|first=Eric J.|last=Lyman|date=23 October 2019|access-date=12 December 2021))</ref>

=== Dealing with leftists ===
After 27 August, the commission turned its attention to the leftist [[prisoner]]s, such as members of the [[Tudeh]], Majority [[Fedayeen#Iran|Fedayi]], Minority Fedayi, other Fedayi, Kumaleh, Rah-e Kargar, [[Organization of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class|Peykar]]. These were also assured they were in no danger and asked: ((Citation needed|date=August 2011))

*"Are you a [[Muslim]]?"
*"Do you believe in [[Allah]]?"
*"Is the [[Holy Qur'an]] the Word of Allah?"
*"Do you believe in [[Jannah|Heaven]] and [[Jahannam|Hell]]?"
*"Do you accept the Holy [[Muhammad]] to be the [[Seal of the Prophets]]?"
*"Will you publicly recant historical materialism?"
*"Will you denounce your former beliefs before the cameras?"
*"Do you [[Fasting in Islam|fast]] during [[Ramadan]]?"
*"Do you pray and read the Holy Qur'an?"
*"Would you rather share a cell with a Muslim or a non-Muslim?"
*"Will you sign an affidavit that you believe in Allah, the Prophet, the Holy Qur'an, and the Resurrection?"
*"When you were growing up, did your father pray, fast, and read the Holy Qur'an?"

Prisoners were told that authorities were asking them these questions because they planned to separate practicing Muslims from non-practicing ones. However, the real reason was to determine whether the prisoners qualified as apostates from Islam, in which case they would join the ''moharebs'' in the gallows.

Some prisoners saved from execution by answering the questions properly returned to their cells and passed along what the commission was asking. A leftist prisoner who had once attended a seminary realised the theological significance of the questions, and sent [[morse code]] messages to other cells, warning of the dangers, by knocking on the prison walls. The questioners wanted to know if prisoners' fathers prayed, fasted, and read the Qur'an because the sons of devout men could be called apostates. If they had not been raised in proper Muslim homes first and "exposed to true Islam," they could not be apostates. Another wrong answer was refusing to reply on the grounds of 'privacy', a response which was often taken as an admission of apostasy.<ref name=Abrahamian1999 />((rp|212))

All this was a surprise to the prisoners, with one commenting: "In previous years, they wanted us to confess to spying. In 1988, they wanted us to convert to Islam."<ref name=Abrahamian1999 />((rp|212-13))<ref>Editorial, 'The Islamic Law of Repentance,' Aksariyat 18 May 1989</ref> It also meant there was no correlation between the length of sentence being served and the likelihood of death. The first leftist to go before the commission were those with short sentences, some even completed. These had no warning of what was in store and many died.

=== Dealing with women ===
Mojahedin women were given equal treatment with Mojahedin men, almost all were hanged as "armed enemies of Allah". However, for apostasy the punishment for women was different and lighter than that for men.  Since according to the commission's interpretation of Islamic law, women were not fully responsible for their actions, "disobedient women—including apostates—could be given discretionary punishments to mend their ways and obey male superiors."

Leftist women—even those raised as practicing Muslims—were given another "opportunity" to recant their "apostasy".  "After the investigation, leftist women began to receive five lashes every day—one for each of the five daily prayers missed that day, half the punishment meted out to the men. After a while, many agreed to pray, but some went on hunger strike, refusing even water. One died after 22 days and 550 lashes, and the authorities certified her death as suicide because it was 'she who had made the decision not to pray.(('"))<ref name=Abrahamian1999 />((rp|215))<ref>E. Mahbaz (pseudonym, 'The Islamic Republic of Iran – The Hell for women: Seven Years in Prison" (unpublished paper, 1996)</ref>

=== Families ===
According to Iranian human rights lawyer [[Shirin Ebadi]], executed prisoner's families were told that they would not be permitted to hold a funeral or mourn publicly for one year. After that time, if their conduct was deemed acceptable by the authorities, they would be told the place of burial. The justification given to these families for the execution of their loved ones was that the prisoner's name had appeared on notes pinned to PMOI members killed in the Mersad attack whose bodies had been recovered by Iranian Islamic officials. The notes listing the PMOI's supporters' in prison so the prisoners had been guilty of aiding the attack. Ebadi complained that aside from being improbable, this did not explain why the prisoners had not received a trial for the charge of giving support to the enemy.<ref>Ebadi, Shirin, ''Iran Awakening'', by Shirin Ebadi with Azadeh Moaveni, Random House New York, 2006, pp. 87, 88.</ref> In 2009, the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center commissioned [[Geoffrey Robertson]] QC to write a legal opinion based on evidence and witness testimonies gathered by the center. Robertson's final report accused Tehran of continuing to deny relatives of the victims their right to know where their loved ones are buried.<ref name= Geoffrey>((cite news |url=http://www.doughtystreet.co.uk/files/Iran%20Massacre%20Report.pdf |title=The Massacre of Political Prisoners in Iran, 1988 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100705022536/http://www.doughtystreet.co.uk/files/Iran%20Massacre%20Report.pdf |archive-date=5 July 2010 |access-date=23 April 2013))</ref>

=== Death toll estimates ===
The exact number of those killed is unknown, with various estimates by [[human rights organizations]] up to 5,000 people killed.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="smith-atlas-1999" /> [[Amnesty International]] has investigated the number of killed. In 1990, after interviewing the relatives of dozens of prisoners, Amnesty International wrote that "most of the executions were of political prisoners" in "the biggest wave of political executions [in Iran] since the early 1980s". From January 1987 to June 1990, Amnesty International collected the names of at least 2,100 executions announced in Iranian press.<ref name="Amnesty1990">((cite web |date=1 December 1990 |title=Iran: Violations of human rights 1987–1990 |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/021/1990/en/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209124547/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/021/1990/en/ |archive-date=9 December 2018 |website=Amnesty International |quote="In 1989 Amnesty International recorded over 1,500 executions announced for criminal offences, more than 1,000 of them for drug-trafficking offences." 1987: 158; 1988: 142; 1989: 1500; 1990 January-June: 300))</ref> In their 2008 report, Amnesty International wrote "between 4,500 and 5,000 prisoners are believed to have been killed, including women."<ref name="Amnesty2008">((Cite web |date=19 August 2008 |title=Iran: The 20th anniversary of 1988 "prison massacre" |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/118/2008/en/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704055527/http://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/MDE13/118/2008/en/ |archive-date=4 July 2015 |publisher=[[Amnesty International]]))</ref> In their 2018 report, Amnesty International wrote that "minimum estimates put the death toll at around 5,000".<ref name="Amnesty2018" /> [[Human Rights Watch]] puts the estimate at between 2,800 to 5,000 people killed.<ref name=":0" /> 

In his autobiography, [[Hussein-Ali Montazeri]], deputy of then-[[Supreme Leader of Iran|Supreme Leader]] [[Ruhollah Khomeini]], put the number of prisoners executed at between 2,800 and 3,800,<ref>((cite book |last=von Schwerin |first=Ulrich |title=The Dissident Mullah: Ayatollah Montazeri and the Struggle for Reform in Revolutionary Iran |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2015 |isbn=9780857737748))</ref> MeK says 30,000 were killed.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="smith-atlas-1999" /><ref name="Stickings2022" /><ref name="Ehteshami2017" />

It is extremely difficult to estimate an accurate death toll because many of the killings were carried out in remote Kurdish and Baluchi cities.((Cn|date=May 2024)) 

Several other estimates have been put forth. In 1999, Abrahamian collected several testimonies from eyewitnesses and ex-prisoners. One anonymous ex-prisoner put the death toll in the 'thousands.' Another eyewitness estimated that between 5,000 and 6,000 individuals were killed—1,000 of them were leftists and the rest of them were Mojahedin.<ref name="Abrahamian1999" />((rp|212))<ref>Anonymous, 'I Was Witness to the Slaughter of Political Prisoners in Gohar Dasht,' Cheshmandaz, n.14 (Winter 1995): 68</ref> Another eyewitness placed it in the 'thousands', with as many as 1,500 killed at Gohar Dasht prison alone.<ref name="Abrahamian1999" />((rp|212))<ref>K. Homayun, 'The Slaughter at Gohar Dasht', Kar 62, (April 1992)</ref> Mohajer 1996, a study using scattered information from the provinces placed, the death toll at 12,000.<ref name="Abrahamian1999" />((rp|212))<ref>N. Mohajer, 'The Mass Killings in Iran' Aresh 57 (August 1996): 7</ref>

Because the number of prisoners who were going to be executed was extremely large, the prisoners were loaded into [[forklift]] trucks in groups of six and hanged from [[Crane (machine)|cranes]] in half-hour intervals.<ref>''The World's Most Notorious Dictators''. Athlon Special Issue. 2017. p. 80</ref><ref>((cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/1321090/Khomeini-fatwa-led-to-killing-of-30000-in-Iran.html|title=Khomeini fatwa 'led to killing of 30,000 in Iran'|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=4 February 2001 ))</ref> According to Christina Lamb, writing in ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]'': "Secret documents smuggled out of Iran reveal that, because of the large numbers of necks to be broken, prisoners were loaded onto forklift trucks in groups of six and hanged from cranes in half-hourly intervals."<ref name="Lamb">((cite web |last=Lamb |first=Christina |date=4 February 2001 |title=Khomeini fatwa 'led to killing of 30,000 in Iran' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/1321090/Khomeini-fatwa-led-to-killing-of-30000-in-Iran.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701102148/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/1321090/Khomeini-fatwa-led-to-killing-of-30000-in-Iran.html |archive-date=1 July 2017 |access-date=23 June 2017 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]))</ref>

It is estimated that most of those who were executed were either high school or college students or fresh graduates, and over 10% of them were women.<ref>Ebadi, Shirin, ''Iran Awakening'', by Shirin Ebadi with Azadeh Moaveni, Random House New York, 2006, pp. 90-1.</ref>

== Response ==
=== International reaction and criticism ===
On 30 August 2017, the [[The United Nations|United Nations]] [[Human Rights Council]] highlighted the 1988 massacre and distributed a written statement by three [[non-governmental organizations]] titled, "The 1988 Massacre of Political Prisoners in Iran: Time for the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence"<ref name=iranprobe/> The  statement points to the following: In 1988, the government of Iran massacred 30,000 political prisoners. The executions took place based on a fatwa by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini. Three-member commissions known as a 'Death Commission' were formed across Iran sending political prisoners who refused to abandon their beliefs to execution. The victims were buried in secret mass graves. The perpetrators continue to enjoy impunity.<ref>((Cite web |url=http://undocs.org/A/HRC/36/NGO/42 |title=On the 29th anniversary of the 1988 mass extra-legal executions of political prisoners in the Islamic Republic of Iran |access-date=16 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916182417/http://undocs.org/A/HRC/36/NGO/42 |archive-date=16 September 2017 |url-status=live ))</ref>

Another joint written statement by five NGOs with consultative status with the United Nations was circulated during the UN Human Rights Council in February 2018 urged "UN to launch fact-finding mission to investigate Iran's 1988 [[Mass murder|massacre]] in order to end [[impunity]] and prevent the same fate for detained protesters.<ref>((Cite web |url=https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G18/042/97/PDF/G1804297.pdf?OpenElement |title=Written statement by NGOs on Iran, during Human Rights Council  |access-date=2018-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317102722/https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G18/042/97/PDF/G1804297.pdf?OpenElement |archive-date=2018-03-17 |url-status=live ))</ref>"

On 4 December 2018 Amnesty International asked the government of Iran to bring to light what happened to the political detainees in the country. Amnesty asked the United Nations to set up an investigation group to find the facts of crimes against humanity in Iran.<ref name="amnesty.org">((Cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/12/iran-committing-crimes-against-humanity-by-concealing-fate-of-thousands-of-slaughtered-political-dissidents/ |title=Iran committing crimes against humanity by concealing fate of thousands of slaughtered political dissidents |date=4 December 2018 |access-date=15 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181210063241/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/12/iran-committing-crimes-against-humanity-by-concealing-fate-of-thousands-of-slaughtered-political-dissidents/ |archive-date=10 December 2018 |url-status=live ))</ref>

In November 2019, [[Sweden]] arrested Hamid Nouri, accused of being an assistant prosecutor during the massacres and playing a key role during the mass executions. UN Special Rapporteur [[Agnès Callamard]] stated that Nouri's arrest was the first time that someone was held responsible for the mass killings.<ref name=sweden-jails>((Cite web|title=Sweden Jails Iranian Prosecutor Implicated In Mass Execution In Prisons|url=https://en.radiofarda.com/a/sweden-jails-iranian-prosecutor-implicated-in-mass-execution-in-prisons/30269784.html|access-date=18 July 2020|website=RFE/RL|date=13 November 2019 |language=en))</ref> [[Trial of Hamid Nouri|His trial]], initially scheduled to begin in June 2021,<ref>((cite news |title=Suspect in Iran 1988 mass executions to be tried in Sweden in June |url=https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/03/26/Suspect-in-Iran-1988-mass-executions-to-be-tried-in-Sweden-in-June- |access-date=28 April 2021 |work=Al Arabiya English |date=26 March 2021 |language=en))</ref> began August 2021.<ref>((cite news |title=Sweden tries Hamid Nouri over 1988 Iran prison massacre|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-58165166 |access-date=11 August 2021 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=8 August 2021|language=en))</ref>
According to an indictment, Noury is accused of "torturing prisoners and subjecting them to inhumane conditions".<ref>((cite news |title=First-ever prosecution in 1988 Iran massacre puts spotlight on regime|url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2022/02/07/sweden-iran-trial-1988-massacre-hamid-noury-MEK/4511638287097/ |access-date=8 March 2022 |work=UPI|language=en))</ref> In July 2022 he was sentenced to life in prison.

According to the US State Department, the "death commissions" responsible for the 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners started on 19 July (1988) and included the current head of the Iranian judiciary and current Minister of Justice.<ref>((cite web |url=https://doc.es.amnesty.org/ms-opac/recordmedia/1@000030424/object/39333/raw |title=BLOOD-SOAKED SECRETS WHY IRAN'S 1988 PRISON MASSACRES ARE ONGOING CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY|access-date=13 May 2022))</ref> According to [[Amnesty International]], "thousands of political dissidents were systematically subjected to enforced disappearance in Iranian detention facilities across the country and extrajudicially executed pursuant to an order issued by the Supreme Leader of Iran and implemented across prisons in the country. Many of those killed during this time were subjected to [[torture]] and other cruel, [[inhuman and degrading treatment]] or punishment in the process."<ref name="auto3" />

=== Montazeri ===
[[File:Montazeri khomeyni.JPG|thumb|left|Deputy Supreme Leader [[Hussein Ali-Montazeri]] condemned the executions. He was dismissed by Khomeini and later placed under [[house arrest]].]]
One of the consequences of the killings was the resignation of [[Hussein-Ali Montazeri]] as the heir-designate to Ayatollah Khomeini as Supreme Leader of Iran.
Prior to the killings, Montazeri "had taken issue with the diehard cleric on a number of subjects—the trial of [[Mehdi Hashemi]], the anti-hoarding campaign ..." When he heard of the killings Montazeri rushed off three public letters—two to Khomeini, one to the Special Commission—denouncing the executions "in no uncertain terms." 
Montazeri also wrote to Khomeini saying "at least order to spare women who have children ... the execution of several thousand prisoners in a few days will not reflect positively and will not be mistake-free",<ref name="auto4"/><ref name="Lamb" />  and "a large number of prisoners have been killed under torture by interrogators ... in some prisons of the Islamic Republic young girls are being raped ... As a result of unruly torture, many prisoners have become deaf or paralyzed or afflicted with chronic diseases."<ref name="auto4"/>

He also took the Special Commission "to task for violating Islam by executing repenters and minor offenders who in a proper court of law would have received a mere reprimand."<ref>editor, 'Montazeri's Letters,' Cheshmandaz, n.6 (Summer 1989), 35-37, quoted in Abrahamian,  ''Tortured Confessions'', (1999), p.220</ref> 

Montazeri was asked to resign, with Khomeini maintaining he had always been doubtful of Montazeri's competence and that 'I expressed reservations when the Assembly of Experts first appointed you.(('")) But the Assembly of Experts had insisted on naming Montazeri the future Supreme Leader.<ref>Abrahamian,  ''Tortured Confessions'', (1999), p. 220.</ref>

The regime published letters between the two Ayatollahs but "the selection dealt only with the Hashemi affair and scrupulously avoided the mass executions—thus observing the official line that these executions never took place."<ref>''Ranjnameh-e Hazrat Hojjat al-Islam va al-Muslman Aqa-ye Hajj Sayyed Ahmad Khomeini beh Hazrat Ayatollah Montazeri'' (Tehran, 1990), quoted in Abrahamian,  ''Tortured Confessions'', (1999), p. 220.</ref>

On 9 August 2016, a website run by followers of Montazeri published an audio recording from a meeting he held on 15 August 1988 with the special judicial tribunal (Tehran Prosecutor Morteza Eshraghi, Judge Hossein-Ali Nayeri, Deputy Prosecutor General [[Ebrahim Raeesi]] and [[Ministry of Intelligence (Iran)|MOIS]] representative in Evin [[Mostafa Pourmohammadi]]).<ref name="Audio file">((cite web|url=http://audio.rferl.org/FRD/2016/08/09/f2720a29-b951-4fc6-855a-c18cd25baef0.mp3|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|access-date=12 August 2016|title=audio.rferl.org/FRD/2016/08/09/f2720a29-b951-4fc6-855a-c18cd25baef0.mp3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812005847/http://audio.rferl.org/FRD/2016/08/09/f2720a29-b951-4fc6-855a-c18cd25baef0.mp3|archive-date=12 August 2016|url-status=live))</ref><ref name="ICHR: Recording taken off">((cite web|title=Iran's Intelligence Ministry Tries to Hide Evidence of Massacre of Thousands of Political Prisoners in 1988|url=https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2016/08/ahmad-montazeri/|website=International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran|date=12 August 2016|publisher=N/A|access-date=13 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814151302/https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2016/08/ahmad-montazeri/|archive-date=14 August 2016|url-status=live))</ref> One can hear Montazeri condemning the mass executions. The [[Ministry of Intelligence and Security]] (MOIS) had the recording taken down the day after its release.<ref name="Audio file suppressed">((cite web|title=Iran News Round Up – August 10, 2016|url=http://www.criticalthreats.org/iran-news-round-august-10-2016|publisher=criticalthreats.org|access-date=12 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811130357/http://www.criticalthreats.org/iran-news-round-august-10-2016|archive-date=11 August 2016|url-status=dead))</ref><ref name="...inquiry into massacre of prisoners">((cite web|title=Audio file revives calls for inquiry into massacre of Iran political prisoners|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/iran-blog/2016/aug/11/hossein-ali-montazeri-audio-file-calls-for-inquiry-1988-massacre-iran-political-prisoners|work=The Guardian|date=11 August 2016|access-date=12 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811205108/https://www.theguardian.com/world/iran-blog/2016/aug/11/hossein-ali-montazeri-audio-file-calls-for-inquiry-1988-massacre-iran-political-prisoners|archive-date=11 August 2016|url-status=live))</ref>
According to Human Rights Watch, the tape had been released by Ayatollah Montazeri's son, Ahmed Montazeri. After the release of the audiotape, Iran's Special Court of Clergy charged Ahmed Montazeri with "spreading propaganda against the system" and "revealing plans, secrets or decisions regarding the state's domestic or foreign policies… in a manner amounting to espionage." He was later sentenced to 21 years in prison, but the sentence was suspended.<ref>((cite web |title=Iran: 1988 Mass Executions Evident Crimes Against Humanity |date=8 June 2022 |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/08/iran-1988-mass-executions-evident-crimes-against-humanity |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004101907if_/https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/08/iran-1988-mass-executions-evident-crimes-against-humanity |archive-date=4 October 2022))</ref>

=== Iranian government's position ===

Pourmohammadi, who was speaking in the administrative council meeting in the city of Khorram-Abad in Lorestan province, on 28 August 2016 said: "We are proud we have implemented God's order about Mojahedin (PMOI or MEK)."<ref>((cite web |url=http://www.bbc.com/persian/iran/2016/08/160828_l26_pormohammadi_iran_executions_67_mojahedin_mko |title=پورمحمدی درباره اعدام‌های ۶۷: افتخار می‌کنیم حکم خدا را اجرا کردیم |language=fa |trans-title=67 executions: proud to have performed the commandment of God |date=28 August 2016 |access-date=1 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160831184747/http://www.bbc.com/persian/iran/2016/08/160828_l26_pormohammadi_iran_executions_67_mojahedin_mko |archive-date=31 August 2016 |url-status=live ))</ref> In 2017 [[Ali Khamenei]] defended the executions, stating that those killed were "terrorists" and "hypocrites".<ref>((cite news |title=Khamenei defends Iran's 1980s political executions that killed thousands |url=https://english.alarabiya.net/features/2017/06/06/Khamenei-defends-1980s-executions-that-killed-thousands-of-politicians- |access-date=28 April 2021 |work=Al Arabiya English |date=6 June 2017 |language=en))</ref>

The [[Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran|Iranian government]] accused those who were investigating the killings of  "disclosing state secrets" and "threatening national security". According to Amnesty International, the Islamic Republic has engaged in an ongoing campaign to [[Demonization|demonize]] victims, distort facts, silence family members of victims, silence survivors and silence human rights defenders.<ref name="auto3"/><ref name="auto2"/>

Officials implicated in the massacre have subsequently enjoyed promotions.<ref>((cite journal |last1=Kaveh |first1=Sharooz |date=2007 |title=With revolutionary rage and rancor: a preliminary report on the 1988 massacre of Iran's political prisoners |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/hhrj20&div=17&id=&page= |journal=Harv. Hum. RTS |volume= 20|issue= |pages=260–261 |doi= |access-date=))</ref> Public awareness about the massacres and widespread condemnation have "compelled the Islamic Republic to engage in a damage-containment propaganda exercise."<ref>((cite book |last=Barlow |first=Rebecca  |date=2018 |title=Human Rights and Agents of Change in Iran: Towards a Theory of Change (Studies in Iranian Politics)|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |pages=100–101|isbn=978-0-19-533402-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1QbX90fmCVUC&dq=iran+1988+massacre+%22perpetrators%22&pg=RA2-PA203))</ref>

=== Other criticisms ===
One complaint which was made against the mass killings was that almost all of the prisoners who were executed had been arrested for relatively minor offenses, since those who had been charged with committing serious crimes had already been executed. The 1988 killings resembled the 'disappearances' of prisoners in 20th-century [[Latin America]].<ref>Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions'', (1999), p. 217.</ref>

The "Islamic Revolutionary Courts" have been criticized "for holding unfair, secret summary trials without any semblance of due process and in violation of international human rights standards".<ref>((cite book |last=Ganji |first=Manouchehr  |date=2003 |title=Defying the Iranian Revolution: From a Minister to the Shah to a Leader of Resistance|publisher=Praeger |page= |isbn=9780275971878 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NboVl-CeYs0C&q=1988&pg=PA104))</ref>

According to Kaveh Shahrooz, "it is baffling that two of the world's most powerful human rights organizations, Amnesty International and [[Human Rights Watch]] (HRW), have simply never written full reports on a crime as widespread as the 1988 extermination campaign."<ref>[http://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=1078&language=english Twenty Years of Silence: The 1988 Massacre and the Quest for Accountability] ((Webarchive|url=https://swap.stanford.edu/20090128162654/https://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=1078&language=english |date=28 January 2009 )), Gozaar</ref>

Amnesty International's report "Iran: Violations of Human Rights 1987-1990" which was published in 1990 devotes a few pages to the massacre,<ref name=Amnesty1990 /> the human rights organization had never written a full report on the killings until its 2018 report.<ref name=Amnesty2018 /> The 1990 Amnesty International report states:

((blockquote|The political executions took place in many prisons in all parts of Iran, often far from where the armed incursion took place. Most of the executions were of political prisoners, including an unknown number of prisoners of conscience, who had already served a number of years in prison. They could have played no part in the armed incursion, and they were in no position to take part in spying or terrorist activities. Many of the dead had been tried and sentenced to prison terms during the early 1980s, many for non-violent offences such as distributing newspapers and leaflets, taking part in demonstrations or collecting funds for prisoners' families. Many of the dead had been students in their teens or early twenties at the time of their arrest. The majority of those killed were supporters of the PMOI, but hundreds of members and supporters of other political groups, including various factions of the PFOI, the Tudeh Party, the KDPI, Rah-e Kargar and others, were also among the execution victims.))

Similarly, HRW devotes a mere handful of pages to the massacre in a background report concerning President Ahmadinejad's cabinet picks.<ref name="hrw.org">((Cite web |url=http://hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/iran1205/2.htm |title=HRW – ''Pour-Mohammadi and the 1988 Prison Massacres'' |access-date=10 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070316072748/http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/iran1205/2.htm |archive-date=16 March 2007 |url-status=live ))</ref>

HRW described the executions as "deliberate and systematic ... extrajudicial killings," and condemned them as [[crimes against humanity]]. HRW also accused Pourmohammadi, Iran's Interior Minister from 2005 to 2008, of direct involvement in the killings.<ref name="hrw.org" />

UN judge and human rights lawyer [[Geoffrey Robertson]] QC urged the [[United Nations Security Council|UN Security Council]] to set up a special court, along the lines of the International Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, to try the men who were involved "for one of the worst single [[human rights]] atrocities since the [[World War II|Second World War]]."<ref name= Geoffrey />

== Motivation ==
[[File:Iran 1988 massacre protest in Finchley, London 04.jpg|thumb|Campaigners for justice for the executed, London, 2018]]
A 2018 research by Amnesty International found that Ruhollah Khomeini had ordered the torture and execution of thousands of political prisoners through a secret fatwa. In 2016, an audio recording was posted online of a high-level official meeting that took place in August 1988 between Hossein Ali Montazeri and the officials responsible for the mass killings in Tehran.<ref name=AlMonitor2016 /> In the recording, Hossein Ali Montazeri is heard saying that the ministry of intelligence used the MeK's armed incursion as a pretext to carry out the mass killings, which "had been under consideration for several years."<ref name="auto3"/><ref name="auto"/>
 
Scholars disagree over why the prisoners were killed. Ali Akbar Mahdi believes the intense overcrowding of Iranian prisons and the July 1988 Mojahedin [[Operation Mersad]] offensive "had much to do" with the massacre.<ref>((cite journal |title=''Tortured Confessions: Prison and Public Recantations in Modern Iran'' by Ervand Abrahamian, Review by Ali Akbar Mahdi |last1=Mahdi |first1=Ali Akbar |journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies|date=2000 |volume=32 |page=417 |doi=10.1017/S0020743800002567 |s2cid=162676627 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231808237 |access-date=1 February 2021))</ref> Ervand Abrahamian believes the "regime's internal dynamics" were responsible—the need for "a glue" to hold "together his disparate followers" and a "bloodbath" to "purge" moderates like Montazeri and prevent any future "détente with the West" from destroying his legacy.<ref>Abrahamian,  ''Tortured Confessions'', (1999), p. 219.</ref> In particular the killings destroyed any ties, or possibility of ties, between populists in the Khomeini movement on the one hand, and non-Khomeiniist Islamist and secular leftists on the other. Khomeini had been concerned that "some of his followers had toyed with the dangerous notion of working with the [[Tudeh Party]] to incorporate more radical clauses into the Labor Law as well as into the Land Reform Law" earlier.<ref name=Abrahamian1999 />((rp|182))

=== Iran Tribunal ===
In 2012, the families of the victims, along with the survivors of the mass executions initiated an international Commission, the [[Iran Tribunal]], in order to investigate the mass killing of Iran's political prisoners. "Iran Tribunal" is aiming to hold Iran's government accountable on charges of crimes against humanity.<ref name="Iran Tribunal">((Cite web |url=http://www.irantribunal.com/Eng/EnHome.html |title=– ''"May this Tribunal prevent the crime of silence"...?'' |access-date=7 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104235006/http://www.irantribunal.com/Eng/EnHome.html |archive-date=4 November 2012 |url-status=dead ))</ref> The first session of court hearing was organized in London and the second one at The Hague Peace Palace.<ref name="Persian Dutch Network">((Cite web |url=http://persiandutch.com/2012/10/27/photo-gallery-court-hearing-in-the-hague-for-1980s-massacre-in-persia/ |title=- ''"Court Hearing in The Hague for 1980s Massacre in Persia"...?'' |date=27 October 2012 |access-date=7 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101023337/http://persiandutch.com/2012/10/27/photo-gallery-court-hearing-in-the-hague-for-1980s-massacre-in-persia/ |archive-date=1 November 2012 |url-status=live ))</ref>

== See also ==
((Portal|Iran|Politics|Law))
*[[Khavaran cemetery]]
*[[Mothers of Khavaran]]
*[[Freedom of speech in Iran]]
*[[History of the Islamic Republic of Iran]]
*[[Human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran]]
*[[Chain murders of Iran]]
*[[StopExecutionsinIran]]
*[[Trial of Hamid Nouri]]
*[[Iranian Green Movement]]
*[[2009 Iranian presidential election protests]]
*[[2017–2018 Iranian protests]]
*[[2021–2022 Iranian protests]]
*[[Mahsa Amini protests]]
*[[Politics of Iran]]

== References ==
((Reflist))

== Further reading ==
* Afshari Reza. ''Human Rights in Iran. The Abuse of Cultural Relativism.'' 2001. ((ISBN|0-8122-3605-X))
* [http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/hrj/iss20/shahrooz.pdf  Shahrooz, Kaveh ''With Revolutionary Rage and Rancor: A Preliminary Report on the 1988 Massacre of Iran's Political Pr Human Rights Journal'', Volume 20]
* ''[http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/Documents?OpenFrameset  Final Report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Special Representative of the Commission on Human Rights]''  Mr. Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, pursuant to Commission resolution 1992/67 of 4 March 1992. Document number E/CN.4/1993/41
* Cooper, Roger. ''Death Plus Ten Years'' (Paperback). Harpercollins; New Ed edition (May 1995) ((ISBN|0-00-638103-0))
* [[Darius Rejali|Rejali, Darius]]. ''Torture and Modernity: Self, society and state in modern Iran.'' Westview Press 1994. ((ISBN|0-691-11422-6))

== External links ==
((commons category|1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners))
* [http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/hrj/iss20/shahrooz.pdf "With Revolutionary Rage and Rancor: A Preliminary Report on the 1988 Massacre of Iran's Political Prisoners"]. ''Harvard Human Rights Journal,'' Volume 20
* ''[http://www.thesecretfatwa.org The Secret Fatwa: The untold story of the 1988 massacre in Iran]'' (documentary film)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061025115756/http://www.iricrimes.org/alblist.asp Marked for death  Some of Assassinations 1979–96]
*[http://www.mehr.org/Mokhtar_Testimony.htm Hossein Mokhtar's Testimony]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041115145259/http://www.wfafi.org/wfafistatement7.htm The 16th Anniversary of the Massacre of Political Prisoners in Iran]
*[http://www.siahkal.com/statements/english-statements/1988%20Massacre.htm It must not happen again!] ((Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070514002149/http://www.siahkal.com/statements/english-statements/1988%20Massacre.htm |date=14 May 2007 )) September 2003
*[http://www.iranian.com/Opinion/2002/January/Watch/index.html Watching the watcher by Ramin Ahmadi] ((Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202203/http://www.iranian.com/Opinion/2002/January/Watch/index.html |date=3 March 2016 )) (Iranian.com)
*[http://www.iranian.com/Features/2002/January/Interogation/index.html Admit it]
* Association of Iranian Political Prisoners (in exile) has a home page in English, Swedish and Persian at [http://www.kanoon-zendanian.org/ کانون زندانیان سیاسی ایران - در تبعید] . Under the title "Documents" there are many references to the 1988 massacre.
*[http://persiandutch.com/2012/10/27/photo-gallery-court-hearing-in-the-hague-for-1980s-massacre-in-persia/ Photo Gallery: Court Hearing in The Hague for 1980s Massacre in Persia] (Persian Dutch Network,Oct. 2012)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190525191135/https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/editorial/16518 Ex-Khamenei advisor confirms 33,000 executed during 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran, May 2014)]
*[http://www.bbc.com/persian/iran/2016/08/160828_l26_pormohammadi_iran_executions_67_mojahedin_mko پورمحمدی درباره اعدام‌های ۶۷: افتخار می‌کنیم حکم خدا را اجرا کردیم]
((1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners))
((DEFAULTSORT:Iranian Political Prisoners))
[[Category:Fatwas]]
[[Category:Islamic courts and tribunals]]
[[Category:History of the Islamic Republic of Iran]]
[[Category:20th-century mass murder in Iran]]
[[Category:Massacres in 1988]]
[[Category:1988 in Iran|Executions]]
[[Category:Massacres committed by Iran]]
[[Category:People executed by Iran]]
[[Category:Political and cultural purges]]
[[Category:Massacres in Iran]]
[[Category:Political repression in Iran]]
[[Category:People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran]]
[[Category:Iran–Iraq War crimes]]
[[Category:Political imprisonment in Iran]]
[[Category:Police brutality in Iran]]
[[Category:Crime in Iran]]
[[Category:Persecution of intellectuals]]
[[Category:Anti-communism in Iran]]
[[Category:Anti-communist terrorism]]
[[Category:Extrajudicial killings in Iran]]

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Module:Namespace detect/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Ns has subpages (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/disambiguation (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/rfd (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Pagetype/setindex (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/softredirect (view source) (protected)
Module:Plain text (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Portal (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Portal/images/i (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Portal/images/l (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Portal/images/p (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Portal/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Redirect (view source) (protected)
Module:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Module:Side box (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Side box/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:String (view source) (protected)
Module:String2 (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Unsubst (view source) (protected)
Module:Webarchive (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Webarchive/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:WikidataIB (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:WikidataIB/nolinks (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:WikidataIB/titleformats (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Wikitext Parsing (view source) (protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

Return to 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_executions_of_Iranian_political_prisoners"