Iran’s 1988 Massacre: The Unsettled Conscience of Society

Maryam Rajavi: The Victims of the Summer 1988 Massacre, the Unsettled Conscience of Iranian Society

Amidst the unrelenting wave of executions of political prisoners carried out on the orders of Khamenei’s tyrannical son, and on the 38th anniversary of the massacre of 30,000 Mojahedin prisoners and political dissidents, we pay tribute to each and every one of those martyrs.
They remain the unsettled conscience of Iranian society, the enduring spirit of our unquenchable uprisings, and the living pulse of resistance flowing through generations of Iranian youth rising for freedom.
In vain have the mullahs hidden the lists of their names; in vain have they concealed or desecrated their mass graves. They remain the most vibrant and present souls in the historic resistance of the Iranian people to overthrow religious despotism.

In that storm of blood and madness, countless heroes walked down the execution corridors, their final words a defiant salute to the Mojahedin and Massoud (Rajavi). And in Evin Prison, on the very threshold of the gallows, women of the Mojahedin sang the anthem foreshowing the downfall of tyrants.
They will never be forgotten. As the late Simin Behbahani wrote: “Of them, every star shall whisper night after night.”
Luminous beacons such as Commander Vahid Bani-Amirian and the Mojahedin sent to the gallows in recent months tread that very same path.
The remnants of the regime seek to intimidate a generation that has taken to the field to overthrow them. But as Massoud Rajavi said: “Pity these forces of darkness, pity these reactionaries! They fail to see who stands before them—a generation that has swept away both  the monarchy and the clergy, having emerged tested and unbroken from the massacre of its political prisoners.”

The Bloody Seeds of 1988

The bloody seeds sown across Iran by the executed Mojahedin of 1988 are now blossoming in successive uprisings. Through their selfless sacrifice, they laid foundations in Iranian society and history so deep that they have:
• Plunged the regime into chronic instability, leaving it with no escape from ultimate overthrow.
• Exposed the illusions of state-led reform, rejecting both a return to dynastic rule of monarchy and any new form of dictatorship.

Iranian society and history will never forget the masterminds, orchestrators, and perpetrators of this great atrocity, nor those who aided in its preparation, justification, or cover-up.
From the regime’s top officials to the Death Commissions, the Intelligence Ministry officials, Khamenei’s state-subsidized clerics, and the so-called reformists and politicians who led the campaign of denial or cynically attempted to blame the Mojahedin victims themselves—all will be held accountable.
In 2024, the comprehensive report by Javaid Rehman, then-UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, unequivocally declared:
“High-ranking state officials connived, conspired and actively engaged to plan, order and commit crimes against humanity and genocide against the nationals of their own state. Notwithstanding the availability of overwhelming available evidence – to this day – those with criminal responsibility for these grave and most serious violations of human rights and crimes under international law remain in power and control.”

Justice for the Victims of the Massacre

The campaign for justice began in the very first weeks following the onset of the executions, launched through urgent telegrams sent by Massoud Rajavi, the Leader of the Iranian Resistance, to the UN Secretary-General, exposing Khomeini’s anti-human decree for the mass execution of the Mojahedin. Between July 23, 1988, and March 1989, he dispatched 10 telegrams to the UN Secretary-General, exposing this major crime and appealing for immediate international intervention.
On August 25, 1988[1], he revealed Khomeini’s initial decree, followed by the disclosure of his second massacre decree in December.[2]

Since then, alongside hundreds of reports and exposures, the Iranian Resistance has published 24 volumes documenting the massacre to ensure that the evidence of these crimes against humanity is preserved with precision and authority. The documented list containing the names of over 5,000 massacred Mojahedin members forms one of these volumes.
This ongoing movement for justice remains an integral part of the Iranian people’s struggle to overthrow the regime and secure the victory of a democratic revolution.

Crimes Against Humanity

In large part due to these persistent efforts, the UN Special Rapporteur, in his 2024 landmark report, characterized these massacres as “crimes against humanity” and “genocide.”
Furthermore, UN member states formally recognized the 1988 extrajudicial and arbitrary executions for the first time in the General Assembly’s annual resolution on Iran. This marks a critical milestone in the pursuit of justice for the victims of the 1988 massacre.
The international community cannot remain indifferent to the Special Rapporteur’s report on the massacre or to what was stated regarding this issue in the General Assembly’s resolution.
Western governments must listen to the clear consensus of their own legislatures—including resolutions backed by the majority of the U.S. Congress and statements issued by parliaments across the globe.
Massacres and the systematic, ongoing violation of human rights in Iran are the reverse side of the coin to the regime’s threats against world peace. Decades of experience prove that silence in the face of such atrocities only emboldens this brutal regime.
This regime of executions and massacres has anchored its pillars in a sea of blood. For that very reason, it will not endure.

Khomeini’s Document of Defeat

In his 1988 decree authorizing mass atrocities, Khomeini wrote, “Those who remain steadfast in their stance of being a Mojahed are waging war on God and are sentenced to death.”
This decree stands as Khomeini’s explicit document of defeat—an admission that he and his executioners failed against a generation that remained steadfast to the end.
Imprisoned Mojahedin went to the gallows by the thousands, yet that steadfast generation emerged triumphant and unyielding; it multiplied and endured. Today, that very same generation, steadfast in its commitment, stands in the ranks of the Resistance Units, sworn to bring an end to the remnants of this regime.

An Ongoing Massacre

The 1988 massacre of political prisoners was carried out under Khomeini’s decree to eliminate the Mojahedin. Yet that atrocity did not end in 1988. To this day, the regime’s leaders continue to execute Khomeini’s mandate.
Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a member of the 1988 Death Commissions and a recent presidential candidate for the regime, underscored this continuity when he declared: “We are in the middle of a war with the Mojahedin,” adding, “We have not yet settled accounts with the Mojahedin.”[3]

The regime’s penal code and the verdicts of its revolutionary tribunals remain directly inspired by this decree. The relentless execution of Mojahedin members—reaching 11 cases over the past year alone—is the direct continuation of that very same directive.
The recent wave of executions has also swept up a large number of young people who participated in the uprisings.
Carried out in gross violation of international law and the right to a fair trial, these executions blatantly disregard fundamental human rights and humanitarian standards. Their primary driver is not the legal merits of the defendants’ cases, but the regime’s desperate need to execute.
I call upon the international community to exercise universal jurisdiction to prosecute the officials responsible for the massacre of political prisoners, all of whom hold regime posts and have been identified by the UN Fact-Finding Mission.
The time has come for the United Nations Security Council to establish an international tribunal to prosecute those responsible for human rights violations in Iran—from the 1988 genocide and crimes against humanity to the massacres of protesters during the uprisings of November 2019, Autumn 2022, and January 2026.
We call upon all governments to condition their diplomatic and commercial relations with the regime on an immediate halt to executions and the release of all political prisoners. They must ensure that any international agreement with this regime includes a binding, verifiable cessation of executions, forcing the regime to grant UN representatives unhindered access to political prisoners and to the hundreds of prisons and detention facilities across the country.

[1] Telegram to the UN Secretary-General

[2] Interview with the PMOI Radio Mojahed

[3] Iranian state media, July 25, 2019