1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners
| Part of the Iran–Iraq War | |
Ebrahim Raisi (right) and Mostafa Pourmohammadi (left), two members of "Judges of Death" committee, in 2013 | |
| Date | July–December 1988 (some sources say July–September) |
|---|---|
| Location | Iran |
| Type | Mass execution, summary execution, genocide |
| Target | Iranian left-wing political opposition groups, most notably the MEK, OIPFM and the Tudeh Party of Iran, atheists, non-Shia Muslims |
| Deaths | 2,800 to 5,000, according to international human rights organizations and other experts; up to 30,000, according to various other sources |
| Accused | 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), Hamid Nouri (then the assistant to the deputy prosecutor) |
| Convicted | Hamid Nouri |
In July 1988, the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ruhollah Khomeini, ordered the execution of thousands of political prisoners. These executions took place in at least 32 cities across Iran and lasted about five months. Trials were not concerned with establishing guilt or innocence, and the executions were carried out without any legal authority. Many prisoners were also tortured. Great care was taken to conceal the executions.
Estimates, including those found in reports by human rights organizations Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, indicate that between 2,800 and 5,000 men, women and children were killed. Other sources, including the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MeK), whose members and supporters featured prominently in the killings, says that 30,000 political prisoners were massacred.
Reportedly, most of those killed were supporters of the MeK. Members of other leftist factions, such as the Fedaian and the Tudeh Party of Iran (Communist Party), were also killed. Various motives have been offered for the executions. One possible motive was that the killings were revenge for the MeK's Operation Mersad, which took place in 1988 on Iran's western borders. However, people from other leftist groups, who had nothing to do with the MeK's attack, were also killed. According to Iran's then-Deputy Supreme Leader Ayatollah Montazeri, officials had been planning the executions for years, using the MeK operation as an excuse to carry them out.
Survivors of the executions have repeatedly called for the killers to face prosecution. Some have described them as "Iran's greatest crime against humanity". They were condemned by Montazeri, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, and several countries. In 2024, Javaid Rehman, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran (2018–2024), arrived at the preliminary conclusion that the 1988 and 1981 killings were carried out with the genocidal intent of exterminating political opponents and religious minorities.