The international community stands at a critical juncture. The Islamic Republic of Iran is once again invoking the darkest chapters of its history to justify a new wave of political executions. The echoes of the 1988 massacre – when over 30,000 political prisoners (mostly members and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran-PMOI/MEK) were summarily executed – are no longer distant memories but chilling warnings of what may come.
On 7 July 2025, the IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency published a brazen editorial titled ‘Why the 1988 Executions Should Be Repeated’. The piece glorified the 1988 massacre as a “successful historical experience” and advocated for its replication against today’s political detainees.
It framed dissent as terrorism and praised the mass killings as a “commendable judicial act”, even invoking religious justifications to normalise state-sponsored murder.
This is not mere rhetoric. It is a calculated campaign to desensitise the Iranian public and prepare the ground for mass atrocities.
1988 massacre: a crime against humanity revisited
In his final report dated 17 July 2024, UN Special Rapporteur Javaid Rehman explicitly referred to the 1988 massacre in Iran as both a crime against humanity and potentially a genocide. Rehman classified the 1988 mass executions as crimes against humanity, citing the systematic nature of the killings and the targeting of political prisoners, particularly members of the PMOI (MEK). He argued that the massacre could also constitute genocide, noting that the regime’s fatwa by Ayatollah Khomeini declared PMOI members as having “abandoned Islam,” effectively dehumanizing them and justifying their extermination under the regime’s interpretation of religious law. He called for international accountability, urging the global community to:
“… take concrete steps towards an investigative and accountability mechanism, which would preserve all of the evidence, the testimonies, and the submissions that I have accumulated, and judge on that basis as to what needs to be done in terms of accountability.”
In my view it is right to consider the inaction as the cause of emboldening the mullahs to so call for a repeat of the most heinous crime they have committed.
Executions on the rise
The regime’s actions are already aligning with its words. On 13 July 2025, three political prisoners – Farshad Etemadi-Far, Masoud Jamei, and Alireza Mardasi – were sentenced to double executions and a year in prison by Branch 1 of the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court. Their only ‘crime’ was alleged support for the opposition group PMOI (MEK), following two years of torture and solitary confinement.
Previously, in recent months, 12 other individuals were also sentenced to death on charges of membership in the PMOI/MEK, and the death sentences of seven of them have been upheld by the regime’s supreme court.
Meanwhile, the supreme court has rejected a fourth judicial review request for Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani, leaving them at imminent risk of execution. Dozens more political prisoners face similar fates.
Since President Masoud Pezeshkian took office, executions have surged past 1,400, with over 650 carried out in 2025 alone.
Inside Iran’s prisons: firsthand warnings of a looming atrocity
Political prisoner Saeed Masouri, held for over 25 years, recently smuggled a letter from Ghezel Hesar Prison warning that the regime is preparing for a new wave of executions. After a failed attempt to forcibly exile him, Masouri declared:
“This abduction under the pretext of transfer is not solely about me; it is fundamentally aimed at controlling, isolating, and silencing prisoners … for further repression and insistence on more killings and executions, exactly as happened in 1988.”
He added that he refused to comply with forced exile because he feels “a crime is in progress” and therefore it is necessary to prevent “another silent and unreported massacre like in 1988 … Let the world hear this time that a crime is happening, and of course, there is resistance against it.” His message is a stark reminder of 1988, when prisoners were quietly removed and executed en masse.
Masouri’s warning is corroborated by the July 2025 statement of ten UN special procedures (specially appointed experts), who expressed alarm over the regime’s crackdown since the 13 June conflict and ceasefire. They noted that state media rhetoric – calling for “surveillance” and “killings” – mirrors the language used in 1988.
The UN must not remain silent
The UN special rapporteur on Iran, Dr Mai Sato, has already raised concerns about the regime’s escalating repression and the condition of political prisoners. But more must be done. On behalf of the Iranian community in the UK, I urge:
- Sato, her colleagues in the special procedures, and the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran (FFMI) to publicly condemn these incitements and executions.
- UN High Commissioner Volker Türk to speak out unequivocally against Iran’s systematic human rights violations.
- We urge the UK government to lead an initiative to put pressure on Iran to force it to drop the death sentences on political prisoners, and free all political prisoners.
Never again must mean never again
The world failed to act in 1988. That silence enabled one of the worst crimes against humanity of the late 20th century. Today, the signs are unmistakable. The regime is not only repeating its crimes – it is celebrating them.
The responsibility to prevent another massacre lies with the United Nations, its member states, and all who believe in human dignity and justice.
We must not wait for the mass graves to speak again.
