France limits diplomat travel to Iran

French and European flags flying half-mast at the Quai d'Orsay in Paris, France

By PMOI/MEK

August 28, 2018 - France is ordering its diplomats and foreign ministry officials to indefinitely postpone all non-dire travel to Iran, citing a thwarted bomb plot targeting the Iranian opposition NCRI annual event in Paris back in June and a toughening of the mullahs’ attitude towards Paris, according to an internal memo seen by international media outlets.

“The memo cites a foiled plot to bomb a rally held by an exiled Iranian opposition group near Paris that was attended by Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani as a sign of Tehran’s more aggressive stance towards France,” according to Reuters.

The Iranian regime maintains it had nothing to do with the terror plot targeting the NCRI rally on June 30. Germany has apprehended a Vienna-based Iranian diplomat who stands accused of actually providing the explosives to a Belgian-Iranian couple missioned to carry out the attack. Belgium, where the plot was uncovered, is seeking the diplomat’s extradition.

“The behavior of the Iranian authorities suggests a hardening of their position vis-a-vis our country, as well as some of our allies,” Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, the ministry’s secretary general wrote in the Aug. 20 notice.

“Given the known security risks ... all departmental officers, whether from headquarters or (overseas) posts, are required to defer until further notice, except for urgent work, any travel plans in Iran,” Gourdault-Montagne added.

This hardening of relations comes from France, a country the Iranian regime desperately needs to maintain close relations with in its desperate effort to salvage the highly flawed 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

French oil/gas giant Total, carmakers PSA and Renault have all exited Iran after U.S. President Donald Trump departed his country from the Iran deal. This launched an exodus by European companies from Iran, all fearing the impact of Washington’s sanctions.

Reports indicate if the Iranian regime’s involvement with the Paris plot were proven, it would render quite a difficult task for France not to react strongly.

MARYAM RAJAVI URGES UN SECURITY COUNCIL TO TAKE ACTION ON JUSTICE FOR 1988 MASSACRE

Add caption

Maryam Rajavi, Auvers-sur-Oise, France 25/08/2018 - The 30th anniversary of'the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran'by Khomeini's fatwa, was held calling for justice for the victims of the 1988 massacre in Auvers-sur-Oise.'Maryam Rajavi urged UN Security Council to prosecute perpetrators of 1988 Massacre and those in charge of four decades in Iran.

#FreeIran #FreeIran2018 #Iraniangathering #IranRegimeChange #MEK Activists of the Iranian Resistance supporters in Cologne, Hamburg and B...

#Iran #FreeIran2018 #1988Massacre رسالة الدكتور عمر عبد الستار محمود بمناسبة الذكرى مجزرة السجناء السياسيي...

IRAN: REGIME LEADERS MEET WITH OVERSEAS DIPLOMATS

IRAN: REGIME LEADERS MEET WITH OVERSEAS DIPLOMATS

By INU Staff

INU- The Security and Anti-Terrorism Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has issued a statement regarding the Iranian regime’s annual gathering of ambassadors and representatives that are posted in foreign countries. The gathering was held in Tehran at the end of last month.

The NCRI explained that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani, Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif usually attend to meet the representatives and ambassadors. This year, the list of officials included Minister of Intelligence Mahmoud Alavi, Defense Minister Amir Hatami, Speaker of the Majlis Ali Larijani, head of the judiciary Sadeq Larijani, head of the Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi, adviser to the Supreme Leader Ali Akbar Velayati, commander of the Qods Force Qassem Soleimani, Interior Minister Rahmani Fazli, chairman of the Organization of Islamic Culture and Communication Abuzar Ebrahimi Turkman, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Abbas Salehi, and other regime leaders and officials.

A large part of the meeting, according to the opposition, was a briefing about the Iranian terrorist diplomat that was arrested in Germany last month. Furthermore, there were extensive discussions about confronting the Iranian Resistance.

Faced with the news of the arrest in Germany, the regime officials obviously saw it necessary to encourage the diplomats and provide reassurance to ensure that morale does not drop.

Some of the diplomats that are posted abroad voiced their concern about the repercussions of the foiled terrorist plot last month. They pointed out that foreign governments and media outlets have pointed to the role of Iranian diplomats in the incident. It has been widely reported in foreign media that the involvement of diplomats in such incidences is a “flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention”. The foiled attack has also been described as a “serious terrorist act”.

The diplomats were instructed on how to deal with the incident. The NCRI said: “Alavi and Zarif briefed them on how to ‘deal with Assadi's case’ and emphasized that with ‘psychological warfare and the pumping of false information,’ previous and future measures against the hypocrites (PMO/MEK) must be made digestible. In this regard, the regime's representatives were ordered to activate their relations with the intelligence and security organs of the host countries.”

In an internal report compiled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), it was recorded that a priority of the regime is to deliver a blow to the PMOI(MEK). It said that targeting the group is on the agenda.

The NCRI also spoke about the coordination between the IRGC and the Qods Force and the Foreign Ministry and foreign representative offices with regards to terrorist interventions and conflicts in the Middle East, in particular in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. The overseas representatives were instructed on how to justify measures to their local politicians, government, press, and so on.

As it loses more and more control, it is clear that the Iranian regime is panicking and trying to ensure that its story is straight with its overseas diplomats. The arrest of the diplomat in Germany on charges of orchestrating a terrorist attack has clearly shaken it.

#1988Massacre #FreeIran2018 #Iran Beheshte Zahra massacreds' graves

Iranians charged with spying on Jews in U.S. raise specter of assassination plots here

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a joint news conference as part of a meeting with Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz at the federal chancellery in Vienna, Austria, Wednesday, July 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak) **FILE** more >

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times - Tuesday, August 21, 2018

The Justice Department has charged two Iranians with spying on Jewish and opposition groups in the U.S., and the court documents suggest Tehran’s hard-line Islamic regime is hunting for bombing and assassination targets.

Ahmadreza Doostdar and Majid Ghorbani were indicted on charges of being illegal agents of a foreign power — Iran.

On a wiretap, Mr. Ghorbani, a California resident, is heard singling out an opposing figure for assassination. “M––F needs one, one shot,” he said.

The charges were filed as President Trump embarked on a get-tough policy toward Iran, which the State Department has designated as the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. Mr. Trump this spring pulled out of the 2015 international nuclear deal with Tehran negotiated by the Obama administration and has embarked on a campaign to get other countries to join the U.S. in reapplying economic sanctions against Tehran.

The Justice Department charging documents say the two men specifically targeted Jewish centers in Chicago as well as an anti-regime opposition rally in New York last year and a convention in Washington this year.

The New York protest was organized by Mojahedin-e Khalq, an exiled Iranian dissident group known as the MEK. The MEK is the main component of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the umbrella group calling for the overthrow of Iran’s ruling mullahs. Iran has been the scene of anti-regime street protests for months.

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“The government of Iran considered the MEK to be a primary opponent of the current regime and has sought to eradicate the MEK,” said an FBI affidavit.

The affidavit said the Iranians created a “target package” that “could enable a neutralization plan, which may include apprehension, recruitment, cyber exploitation, or capture/kill operations.”

Iran has targeted foes in Europe for eradication, but pursuing such plans on U.S. soil would represent an escalation in the clash with the West. European police broke up a suspected Iranian plot to ignite a bomb at an MEK rally outside Paris this summer.

The Iranian regime denounces the MEK as a terrorist organization, noting its presence on the U.S. terrorist organization list from 1993 to 2012. Gholamali Khoshroo, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council demanding that the U.S. drop its support of the organization and complaining of the links between the group and top advisers to President Trump such as National Security Adviser John R. Bolton and presidential attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani.

Easy access

Documents show how easily Iranian saboteurs can move in and out of the U.S., even with Iran now on the list of seven countries named in the Trump administration’s travel ban.

Mr. Doostdar, who has dual citizenship, was born in Long Beach, California, but has spent most of his life in Canada and Iran.

Mr. Ghorbani was raised in Iran. In 2015, he became a U.S. legal permanent resident and lives in Costa Mesa, California.

An FBI search of Mr. Doostdar’s electronic devices showed he canvassed a number of targets. In July 2017, he traveled from Tehran to Chicago.

The FBI placed him under physical surveillance and followed him to the Oriental Institute Museum at the University of Chicago.

“Doostdar moved through the museum in an unusual fashion and was alone in a small room with an unidentified female for a short time,” the affidavit said.

He then left the museum, walked a few blocks and began photographing several Jewish centers, such as the Hillel Center and Rohr Chabad Center.

Later, he traveled to Costa Mesa and met with Mr. Ghorbani for the first time.

“Doostdar employed intelligence tradecraft and ran surveillance detection routes before, during and after his meetings with Ghorbani,” the FBI said.

It was Mr. Ghorbani who surveilled the MEK at a New York rally and photographed individual anti-regime protesters.

Mr. Doostdar entered the U.S. again in December. Immigration officials discovered $6,000 in cash, which he claimed was money to repay a brother. He denied meeting with anyone on his previous U.S. visit.

He traveled again to Costa Mesa. A wiretap captured a phone call to Mr. Ghorbani during which Mr. Doostdaridentified himself as “Uncle Sohrab.”

The FBI listened to their car ride as Mr. Ghorbani delivered a briefing on his New York trip.

“I took some pictures and collected some information of them and some senators that they worked with,” he said.

Mr. Doostdar instructed him on how to mix his photos with family pictures in a flash drive to avoid arousing suspicions of customs agents at airports. “I notice they don’t search these at all. I put it right in front of them. They didn’t even open it,” he said.

He said he would take the photos back to Iran.

“I will give it to the guys to do their research,” he said.

When Mr. Doostdar left the U.S. in December, authorities inspected his checked luggage and found the rally photographs. The FBI affidavit said he ultimately provided the drive to the Iranian government.

Mr. Ghorbani left the U.S. for Iran in March and returned a month later. A luggage search showed he had instructions on future MEK spying.

By then, Mr. Ghorbani had infiltrated MEK associates as a supposed ally. He was invited to attend a convention in Washington in May. FBI surveillance showed Mr. Ghorbani constantly taking photographs of attendees.

Mr. Doostdar returned to the U.S. in July, this time with $16,000 in cash.

“The policy of appeasement has so emboldened the clerical regime that it has directly targeted the U.S. soil with its Iranian agents, something unprecedented in the past 40 years,” said Ali Safavi, an opposition official based in Washington. “For this reason, all of Tehran’s known and undercover agents and mercenaries who pursue the regime’s plots in the U.S. must be identified and prosecuted.”

Mr. Safavi attended the New York rally. His name is mentioned by Mr. Ghorbani as an assassination target.

Said Assistant Attorney General John Demers, “Doostdar and Ghorbani are alleged to have acted on behalf of Iran, including by conducting surveillance of political opponents and engaging in other activities that could put Americans at risk. With their arrest and these charges, we are seeking to hold the defendants accountable.”

Two more Iranian regime spies arrested in the United States

Two Iranian spys linked to the Iranian regime have been arrested in the US

By PMOI/MEK

August 21, 2018 - On Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice declared that two Iranian men were arrested on charges of spying for the Iranian regime. The suspects, Ahmadreza Mohammadi-Doostdar, 38, and Majid Ghorbani, 59, were allegedly involved in conducting surveillance on organizations and individuals that the Iranian regime considers as enemies, most prominent among them the PMOI/MEK.

According to a DOJ press release, in September 2017, Ghorbani, a resident of California, attended an MEK rally in New York and photographed participants, who had gathered to protest against the Iranian regime. Ghorbani later contacted Doostdar and delivered 28 photographs of dissidents to him, for which he received $2,000 in cash. Ghorbani’s photos also contained hand-written annotations identifying the individuals who appeared in them.

Ghorbani later traveled to Iran for an “in-person briefing” with Iranian officials, according to the DOJ investigations.

Ghorbani later attended the 2018 Iran Freedom Convention for Human Rights in Washington, D.C., also organized by the supporters of the MEK and NCRI, where he photographed speakers and attendees, which included Iranian dissidents from communities across the United States. Doostdar called Ghorbani 10 days later to discuss how to get the information gathered at the event back to Iran, according to the indictment.

Ghorbani will appear for a detention hearing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on August 21.

The revelation comes against the backdrop of an uptick in the Iranian regime’s terrorist and espionage activities abroad. In July, Belgian authorities arrested two Iranians who planned to bomb the Free Iran Gathering in Paris, where tens of thousands of Iranians had gathered to support nationwide protests in Iran. The terrorist plot involved an Iranian diplomat, Assadollah Assadi, who was also arrested. Assadi served as the chief of intelligence operations in the Iranian regime’s embassy in Vienna, Austria.

In March, Albanian authorities foiled a terror plot aimed at PMOI/MEK members. Thousands of MEK members were relocated from Iraq to Albania in 2016. Since then, the Iranian regime has escalated its espionage activities in the country through its embassy.

The Iranian regime blames the PMOI/MEK for coordinating and guiding the nationwide protests that have been ongoing in the cities of Iran since December. Iran’s regime has vowed to take revenge against the PMOI/MEK members.

The NCRI and MEK have called on all European countries to shut down the Iranian regime’s diplomatic missions in their countries to stop terrorist activities.

The NCRI also issued Two statements on August 16 regarding the Iranian regime's spying activities against the PMOI/MEK.

NCRI – Security And Anti-Terrorism Committee Unveil Iran Regime’s Terrorism Plot

NCRI – Security and Anti-terrorism Committee unveil Iran regime’s Terrorism plot

August 6, Hassan Rouhani, the President of the regime: “There is nothing wrong with the people’s protests … but it shouldn’t be like some people respond to a group let (’s requests).”

The nonstop demonstrations in cities across Iran and the key role of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and their resistance units have caused in increasing concerns for the Iranian regime’s authorities and the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). Given the regime’s increasing internal crisis following the U.S. withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and popular protests against aggressive foreign policies of the clerical regime, which have become the main source of concerns,  the regime finds no ways out of crises, but to confront its main democratic alternative, the NCRI, by terror measures.

Subsequently, the regime’s Supreme Security Council, in an instruction to the Ministry of Intelligence, the terrorist Quds Force, the Revolutionary Guards Intelligence and other agencies involved in export of terrorism and fundamentalism, ordered them to take further measures to spy on the PMOI and the Iranian Resistance and to set the stage for terrorist acts.

1. The Ministry of Intelligence stations in various European countries were ordered to collect more information from movements and activities and to use more resources.
2. The Ministry of Intelligence and the Quds Force should examine the human, political and technical capabilities and potentials for terrorist acts in European countries, in particular Albania.
3. To justify the already disclosed terrorist plots and scandals in Albania and France (April and July 2018), it is imperative to add to the dimensions of the psychological warfare and the demonization campaign accompanied by the massive influx of false information and the production of fake documentaries.
4. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Intelligence, and the Quds Force have been ordered to press upon European governments, especially Albania, to curtail the activities of the Iranian Resistance.
5. The regime’s mercenaries and agents should be dispatched to Albania and used under the pretext of PMOI family members.

#FreeIran2018 #IranRegimeChange #Iran #MEK #Iran #IranProtests #IStandWithMaryamRajavi International solidarity with the Iranian people’s Resistance- June 30, ...

STRUAN STEVENSON: MARYAM RAJAVI AND MEK LEADING PROTESTS IN IRAN

STRUAN STEVENSON: MARYAM RAJAVI AND MEK LEADING PROTESTS IN IRAN

By INU Staff

INU - During the recent Free Iran gathering, organised by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), former MEP Struan Stevenson gave a stirring speech about the Iranian people and their opposition, comparing the ongoing uprisings in Iran to a volcanic eruption, noting that things in Iran will soon change forever.

He said: “I’ve been transfixed watching television over the last month about the volcano in Hawaii. Looking at the constant tremors, the earthquakes, the explosions. And it occurred to me before coming here that that geophysical phenomenon has a lot in common, a lot in parallel with the political situation in Iran… there is going to be an eruption of volcanic proportions which sweep away this evil regime.”

That uprising began in late December, spreading quickly across 142 cities in 31 provinces with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets. The Regime responded with violence, sending in their brutal security forces to kill at least 50 people, arrest 8,000, and torture 14 to death in prison.

Stevenson said that the people of Iran have had enough of the mullah’s malign behaviour, including stealing money from the Iranian people, propping up the Bashar Assad dictatorship in Syria and financing terrorist proxies (i.e. Hezbollah) across the Middle East. That is why the Iranian people are chanting “Death to [Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei” and “Death to [President Hassan] Rouhani”, exposing the notion of Regime moderates as false, and siding with the MEK and its leader Maryam Rajavi.

Stevenson also advises that the Regime can recognise the warning signs, which is why the mullahs have started to point the finger at the MEK and Maryam Rajavi as the organisers of this protest. This is strange, as the Regime constantly portrays the MEK as an insignificant group that was not popular in Iran. Even the mullahs now admit, that where Maryam Rajavi leads, the Iranian people will follow.

He said: “They fear [Maryam] Rajavi, and the reason they fear [Maryam] Rajavi is because they fear democracy, they fear justice, they fear freedom.

Stevenson then went onto explain how Europe should get tough on Iran by withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposing sanctions, as the US had done as this will help bring the downfall of the Regime.

He said: “I have a message for all those European companies who seem to have forgotten the words human rights when they try to sign these rich commercial deals with the Iranians. For every dollar that they make in Iran they’re going to lose a thousand dollars in America. The reality is they cannot continue to do business with this evil Iranian regime.”

Stevenson went onto explain that Maryam Rajavi, as the leader of the MEK and NCRI, deserved an invite to the UK, as she has already visited many other capitals in Europe
He concluded: “We are facing very quickly the volcanic eruption that I spoke about. We are facing the end of this regime and it is our job to see that [the MEK], and [Maryam] Rajavi are in [a] position to take power, to restore democracy, restore freedom, and restore justice to the people of Iran. They are praying for that day.”

Terror Plot on Iran Resistance Rally Shows That West Should Expel Iranian Diplomats

Iran Focus

London, 6 August - On June 30, the Iranian Opposition held a Free Iran rally in Paris, which was widely attended by diplomats, distinguished guests, and the Iranian diaspora from around the world, who oppose Iran and support a secular, democratic, and free Iran.

The event, which was organised by the National Council of Resistance (NCRI) and the Organization of Iranian American Communities (OIAC) among other dissident groups, showed clearly how the Iranian Resistance has made progress in Iran in the form of a mass uprising by the people against the Regime. This was encouraged in March by NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi who called for “a year full of uprisings”.

But the event was being targeted by Iran who planned to bomb the gathering. The terrorist plot was thankfully foiled by the European authorities before the three terrorists and their Iranian diplomat handler could carry out their evil plan.

Of course, Iran has denied involvement, but the fact remains that their diplomat to Vienna helped orchestrate the attack by giving the explosives to the would-be bombers.

The People’s Mojahedin’s (MEK) intelligence network even discovered evidence to suggest that the decision to bomb the Free Iran gathering had been made months ago by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani.

It is obvious that Iran tried to bomb the event because they are scared of the support that the Resistance, in particular the MEK, has both at home and abroad; something evident in the ongoing uprising.

Dr. Cyrus Samet, president of the Iranian American Community of Maryland and a member of the OIAC, who attended the rally, wrote: “I and other supporters of the NCRI are more than willing to put our lives on the line for the sake of Iranian democracy. Our families and friends inside Iran do so every day. But we also emphasize that the benefit of operating in the West is, or should be, that we can advocate for freedom and democracy without threat of terrorism. It behoves the nations of Europe to consider what they are going to do to prevent future terror plots from harming both us, and their own citizens.”

While the Iranian Resistance has never called for foreign intervention, as change must come from within, the West does have a role to play in making the Iranian dissidents (and by extension West citizens) in their countries safe. They should start by expelling Iranian diplomats as they pose a clear and present danger to the Iranian dissents and all other citizens.

Karaj, Iran: Repressive forces kill a young man; arrest a number of protesters

 
Protests in Gohardasht of Karaj

ran Uprising –No. 201

On Friday, August 3, a young man from Karaj, Reza Otadi, was shot dead by repressive forces during the demonstrations in the city, and a large number of protesters were arrested.

On Saturday night, August 4, the Revolutionary Guards Fars News Agency said: “During last night riots in Karaj, one person was shot dead by unknown individuals, and 20 others were arrested. According to field observations of Fars news reporters, leaders of the riot were mostly selected from women this time.”

In order to deceive the public opinion, the IRGC wrote, "The assailant fired from inside the car 206 with a non-military weapon. Earlier and in the riots of December 28, several gunmen who had group affiliations were arrested by the security forces.” This way, the IRGC tried to portray the protesters and the PMOI as those who killed Reza Otadi; a lie that does not deceive anyone. Such lies do not work anymore and the regime must be held accountable for all its killings over the past four decades.

Such lies by a regime that, in spite of the Belgian and German prosecutor's and police statements and the arrest of its terrorist diplomat, attributes the terrorist plot against the Iranians gathering in Paris on June 30^th to the PMOI, is quite expectable.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran

August 5, 2018

30th anniversary of 1988 massacre in Iran

Thirty years ago in the summer of 1988 Iranian regime under Khomeini committed a crime unprecedented since Second World War. In a few months 30000 political prisoners were executed in Iran. The prisoners were severing their sentences. The order was to exterminate all prisoners still believing in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The majority of prisoners were members and supporters of the MEK. The regime saw the MEK as its main rival and enemy.

A four members “Death Commission,” as it is famous among Iranian political prisoners oversaw the massacre of 30000 political prisoners in 1988.

Ebrahim Raisi and Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi — Justice Minister in Hassan Rouhani’s first cabinet — were two of the four members of the Death Commission who were tasked by then Supreme Leader Khomeini to immediately execute political prisoners.  Raisi was a low level cleric at the time and in return for his services was elevated in the rank and files of the mullahs’ hierarchy. Raisi is a close confidant of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Currently Raisi is the custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, the wealthiest charity foundation in charge of Iran’s holiest shrine in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, with close ties to Khamenei’s powerhouse. He ran for presidential office last year and lost to Rouhani.

Khomeini’s fatwa

Khomeini hand wrote a fatwa, a religious decree, authorizing the Commission’s task. In the summer of 1988, the Commission handed down 30,000 death sentences. The kangaroo courts hardly lasted more than three minutes on average. Some of the political prisoners who miraculously survived the slaughter have written or spoken of their ordeals. A simple question was asked by the judges: Do you still believe in Mojahedin? And depending on the answer, one could end up before a hangman. The gruesome accounts of survivors, especially female prisoners, often leave the listeners in shock.

Moving evidence

An audio tape was leaked out by Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri’s son in August 2016. Montazeri, the handpicked successor of Khomeini, was sacked for his public objections to mass executions in 1988. He spent the rest of his life under house arrest and died in 2009.

In the moving tape, Montazeri can be heard telling a meeting of the “Death Commission” in 1988 that they are responsible for a crime against humanity. He said: “The greatest crime committed during the reign of the Islamic Republic, for which history will condemn us, has been committed by you. Your names will in the future be etched in the annals of history as criminals.” Pour-Mohammadi has since admitted his role in the “Death Commission” and boasted that he was proud to “carry out God’s will and he has not lost sleep over what he did.”

In another part of the tape, Montazeri says that exterminating MEK members had become an obsession of Ahmad Khomeini’s long before the 1988 massacre. Montazeri in his tap quotes Ahmad as saying “All of them must be killed even a distant sympathizer who just reads their paper.” Considering Ahmad’s position as Khomeini’s right had man wiping out MEK members had been a strategic plan for the regime.

Rouhani’s new Justice Minister is also a member of the Death Commission

Alireza Avaie was appointed Justice Minister in Rouhai’s second cabinet. He is as guilty as his predecessor. Avaie’s personal record in participating in human rights violations goes a long way back when he was partner in crime with the likes of Raisi. He was also a member of Death Commission in southwestern Iran.

The National Council of Resistance (NCRI) set into motion a galvanized campaign to call for justice for 1988 massacre in 2016. Tahar Boumedra a former UN Human Rights official and legal expert took the lead on behalf of families of 1988 political massacre.

A psychological torture

The Iranian regime’s cruelty goes far beyond the victims and it hits immediate family members and even distant relatives.

Iranian regime for years tried unsuccessfully to put a lid on its heinous crime. Families of the victims are still in dark as to what really happen to their children on that fateful summer. Some are searching for signs of their loved ones and often traveled in far corners of the country hopping for a single clue.

Getting rid of any evidence that might implicate the perpetrators of the crime has been a strict policy of the regime. The bodies of the executed prisoners were not allowed to be buried in public cemeteries. They were buried in mass graves usually far from the cities hoping that the families would not find them. Razing the unmarked mass graves according to the Amnesty International is tantamount to psychological torture for the families of the victims. One can image a mother, wife or sister that gotten use to weekly visits of an unmarked grave site which she is not even sure that it is his son, husband or brother and one day finds out a highway soon will be built on top of it. In the case of grave site in Ahwaz that is what happed.

On September 26th 2017, The former UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran Asma Jahangir ,refers to widespread executions inside the Iranian regime prisons in 1988, reminding, “The family of those who were executed have the right to know and be informed on what happened in 1988”.

In the meantime, Jahangir urged “the regime to establish an independent truth finding committee to investigate the 1988 massacre of prisoners who were doing their terms behind bars.”

The Iranian regime and its leaders should not be allowed to escape the consequences of their crimes against humanity. Bringing them to justice will set an example that the world is watching. An independent international commission investigating the crimes of 1988 in Iran is the first positive step.