The Iranian regime, cornered by escalating domestic and international crises, has unleashed a new wave of savagery against its own people. Under the direct order of regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the clerical dictatorship is accelerating its killing machine in a desperate attempt to terrorize the public and stifle dissent. The recent surge in executions is not merely a continuation of its brutal policies but a horrifying echo of the regime’s darkest chapter—the 1988 massacre—and a clear signal that it is preparing for another slaughter of political prisoners.
In a horrifying display of state-sanctioned murder, the regime’s executioners hanged at least 29 prisoners between August 3 and August 6 alone. This killing spree is part of a broader, nationwide crackdown, with the regime’s security forces announcing the arrest of over 2,100 individuals under the flimsy pretext of targeting “thugs and dangerous elements.” As the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, stated, “The more the regime’s overthrow crises intensify, the more Khamenei accelerates the cycle of killings and executions to prolong the life of the clerical dictatorship.”
The “moderate” facade crumbles under a mountain of bodies
The international community was told that the presidency of Masoud Pezeshkian might usher in an era of moderation. One year later, that illusion has been shattered by an unprecedented spike in executions. Since Pezeshkian took office in August 2024, the regime has executed nearly 1,500 people. This horrific figure, highlighted in recent statements by Members of the European Parliament, confirms that all factions of the regime are united in their brutal repression of the Iranian people. The killing is so rampant that a UN special rapporteur has warned that Iran is on track to surpass its grim 2024 execution record, a number that already approached 1,000.
The 1988 playbook is open again
This wave of executions is chillingly familiar. The regime is openly telegraphing its intent to repeat the 1988 massacre, during which 30,000 political prisoners, the vast majority of them members and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), were systematically executed. In July, the IRGC-controlled Fars News Agency published a shocking editorial titled, “Why the 1988 executions should be repeated,” calling the genocide a “successful historical experience.”
This is not just rhetoric. As former international war crimes prosecutor Stephen J. Rapp wrote in the Washington Post on July 24, “the next Iranian massacre is unfolding in plain sight.” He warns that the current pattern of abuses “evokes the darkest chapters of that country’s history.” The regime is once again using the vague charge of “moharebeh” (enmity against God)—the same legal justification used in the 1988 fatwa—to sentence political dissidents to death.
A call to conscience: the world must not be silent again
In 1988, the world was largely silent as the regime carried out its genocide. Today, there can be no excuse for inaction. International voices are rising in alarm. Members of the European Parliament have written to EU leaders, shocked by the recent executions of political prisoners and demanding firm action. Furthermore, 300 distinguished international jurists, former UN officials, and Nobel laureates signed a statement warning that the regime is on the verge of repeating the 1988 massacre and that the world must not make the same mistake of staying silent.
These experts have urged the UN to address the 1988 massacre in its upcoming resolution on Iran, emphasizing that “the world will repeat its failure in allowing it to happen” if it does not act now.
The time for strongly worded condemnations has passed. The international community, led by the United Nations, must take urgent and concrete action. Mrs. Rajavi has repeatedly called on the UN to intervene to save the lives of prisoners on death row and to finally hold the perpetrators of these atrocities accountable. Khamenei and the other leaders of the regime must be brought to justice for four decades of crimes against humanity and genocide. The world failed to prevent one massacre in 1988; it must not stand by and allow another.