Ali Fallahian, Iran’s intelligence minister during the tenure of
Rafsanjani’s presidency back in the early 90s, is a name most notoriously known
for his role in a series of chain murders across the country that saw the
elimination of many dissidents.
Fallahian
has recently been heard making shocking revelations in reference to mass
executions, especially targeting members and supporter of the Iranian
opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
A German court raised charges against Fallahian for his direct
involvement in the September 1992 assassination of Iranian Kurdish dissidents
in Berlin. In 2007, Interpol placed Fallahian on its most wanted list for his
role in the 1994 bombing the AMIA in Buenos Aires Jewish center that left 85
killed.
The 1988 massacre of
over 30,000 political prisoners, mostly MEK members and supporters, has in the
past year inside Iran become a major issue for the general public, especially
the younger generation who are beginning to demand answers.
Fallhian’s
remarks, aired in a recent interview, have caused quite a stir in social media
inside Iran and amongst Iranian communities living abroad. In this interview,
Fallahian sheds light on his role in the Iranian regime’s die-hard enmity
against the MEK as the only opposition truly threatening their rule.
Q: “Can we blame only the MEK for taking
up arms, or did we also make mistakes… for example, attack their gatherings,
pressure their members and supporters...?”
Fallahian: “They
had such an analysis. [Iranian opposition leader Massoud] Rajavi had maybe
written 36 articles against armed conflicts.” (Khazar website – July 18) This
is Fallahian acknowledging the fact that the MEK had sought to continue their
peaceful political activities. The mullahs’ regime, however, dispatched their
forces to attack, arrest, torture and kill MEK members. Fallahian moves on to
discuss the 1988 mass executions across Iran.
Q: “Did
the Intelligence Ministry suggest the 1988 executions to [Iranian regime
founder Ruhollah] Khomeini?”
Fallahian: “Khomeini
himself ordered it… saying the ruling for all moharebs [term used for MEKmembers, meaning enemies of God] is execution. There were discussions in this
regard back then. Mr. Mousavi Tabrizi believed there was no need for
prosecution, arguing prosecuting those who are at war with us has no meaning.
Others believed those arrested should be prosecuted… however, [Khomeini]
constantly emphasized to beware they don’t slip out of your hands… [Khomeini]
would always say be careful in this regard… how? For example, if there was a
confusion about someone being a murderer or not, execution would not be the
first option of punishment. However, about the MEK [Khomeini] would say an
opposite approach is needed. I know them, he would say, they must not slip away
and their rulings are execution. This was his constant ruling, before and after
the 1988 issue…
“… there are discussions and some are asking why were those
sentenced to prison terms again condemned to death? First of all, keep in mind
their rulings are execution, even if a judge hadn’t ruled for an execution, he
had violated the law… If an armed mohareb was arrested, his/her ruling would be
execution, even if he/she hadn’t killed anyone… the ruling for a hypocrite
(another term used for MEK members) and mohareb is execution. This was
[Khomeini’s] fatwa. There was no discussion in this regard. In 1988… the
discussion reached the point that all of them must be executed, even those not
sentenced to death. [Khomeini] would ask why have you still kept them alive.”
It is
worth noting that the Iranian opposition has for the past year launched a
justice movement shedding light on the 1988 massacre both inside Iran and
across the globe. These efforts went into full gear weeks prior to Iran’s May
19th presidential election, forcing Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei to sack his plans of engineering election results
as he desired.
Conservative
cleric Ebrahim Raisi, known to be Khamenei’s preferred
candidate to replace the incumbent Hassan Rouhani as
president, suffered a major defeat due to revelations of his role in the 1988
massacre. Raisi was a member of the notorious four-man “Death Commission”
appointed by Khomeini himself to facilitate and hasten the execution process.
Q: “Raisi
was in the commission. Who were the other members?”
Fallahian, however, refrains from naming other Death Commission members and
begins discussing the process which political prisoners were executed and the
summer 1988 massacre. He placed all the blame on Khomeini, emphasizing he had
issued the execution and massacre ruling long before.”
Fallhian: “Yes, the
poor guy [referring to Raisi] insisted he hadn’t issued the ruling, the ruling
was issued in advance… but no one would listen, and they would also think the
executed were innocent… if we hadn’t killed them there would be no country
today. These are not my words, they are the words of [Khomeini]…”
The reporter seeks to make a reference to a groundbreaking sound
file unveiled last September of Khomeini’s then successor, the late Hossein Ali
Montazeri, in which he sheds light on unknown aspects of the 1988 massacre.
Fallahian: “He came in disagreement with [Khomeini]… [He]
believed history would judge these executions against us and Islam. He would
say it would be better to refrain, as when the enemy begins to write, they
won’t cite us harshly. However, [Khomeini] ordered to carry out your religious
duty and don’t wait for history’s judgement.”
Q: “Were all those executed arrested while armed?”
Fallahian: “No, not all of them were involved in the armed revolt.
However, many of them were living in team houses. We would go there and find
only one or two weapons, or arrest them on the street without any arms.”
Q: “So how were they linked to the armed revolt?”
Fallahian: “Well, they were part of the organization.”
Q: “Wasn’t it necessary for each individual to have taken up
arms to be convicted of being a mohareb?”
Fallahian: “No, when someone is a member of an armed current, the
individual being armed or not, their ruling is mohareb.”
Q: “Even if they are arrested with a newspaper?”
Here the interviewer is referring to the fact that many MEK members and
supporters were arrested, and eventually executed, for the mere fact of having
a pro-MEK newspaper at their possession.
Fallahian: “Yes. They were part of that organization and were
operational. Now, its possible someone would merely buy bread for those living
in ‘team houses’, another would, for example, procure other necessary items.
They were all involved.”
On a side note, Fallahian referred to the extensive MOIS role in dispatching
its spies abroad under various pretexts.
Revelations and shocking remarks about the
1988 massacre are made by numerous senior Iranian officials recently. What has
made these figures acknowledge the nature of the mullahs’ regime of carrying
out such massacres and mass murders?
This has been the true, yet unfortunately
cloaked, nature of the mullahs ruling Iran. Nearly three decades after that
horrific summer of 1988, the efforts placed by the Iranian opposition through
its vast network of brave activists inside the country and abroad have forced
the mullahs to literally confess to their role in these killings.
It is now high time for the international
community to demand a fact-finding mission, and bring to justice all
perpetrators of the 1988 massacre and all the atrocious human rights violations
throughout the past 38 years.
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