Tears fill my eyes every time I recall a memory my father once told me.
It was 1988. I was six years old, sitting on his shoulders beneath the night sky. I looked up and said, “The brightest of the three stars is Mother.” He asked why, trying to get me to talk, but I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to, he understood. Silence became my way of surviving the loss of my mother, who had been killed
To this day, my earliest memory begins in 1988—the year the clerical regime carried out one of the worst crimes against humanity since World War II: the massacre of over 30,000 political prisoners, most of them members or supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
My mother was among them. While studying electrical engineering at Isfahan University, she joined the resistance against the religious dictatorship. She was passionately fearless for any injustice she faced and full of love for the victims. It costed her life.
I was too young to truly remember her. I carry no images, no voice—only the stories, and the weight of her absence. But I carry her legacy in everything I do. And hers was not the only life we lost. Since 1979, my father went through the same ordeal when both my uncle and my father’s cousin were executed.
For over two decades, every time I’ve shared these stories—of my family or the countless others—I haven’t been able to hold back tears. They still come, because the wound never healed. And how could it, when the killing of our people never stopped?
That same system of repression is alive today. Under Pezeshkian’s presidency alone, over 1,344 people have been executed in just 11 months. The pace is accelerating. Already in 2025, the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, Dr. Mai Sato, has warned of a sharp, deliberate increase in executions—particularly following the regime’s exploitation of the recent conflict with Israel to escalate internal crackdowns.
Political prisoners are being isolated, transferred, and executed at an alarming rate. At Iran Human Rights Monitor, we track countless cases—some especially disturbing for their cruelty. We expose it to the world and call for action. From young protesters to long-imprisoned women, the pattern is clear: executions are not a response to crime or bringing justice —they are a tool of control.
And now, the regime is not just repeating its crimes; it is openly celebrating them.
On July 7, 2025, Fars News Agency affiliated with the IRGC, published an editorial praising the 1988 massacre as a “brilliant chapter” in the regime’s history. It went further: “Today is the time to repeat this successful historical experience.”
This is an incitement to mass murder that we cannot look away nor stay silent.
The Iranian regime is using executions as its primary weapon of survival. It fears the truth. It fears justice. And most of all, it fears the people—because it knows that, when the time comes, the unbreakable will of those who have suffered the most will bring it down.
We are closer to that moment than ever—because the regime is at its weakest. But it won’t collapse on its own. The people of Iran, from every city and province, are rising up—through protests, strikes, coordinated actions, and the growing force of a people’s army. This is a nationwide uprising from within, determined to bring down this brutal regime.
As the anniversary of the 1988 massacre approaches, we have a responsibility to hold the perpetrators accountable—before another massacre begins.
No one has ever been held accountable for the 1988 massacre. There has been no tribunal, no international investigation. Decades of silence from the global community have only emboldened the regime to continue its crimes.
Human rights organizations must intensify their focus on the regime’s use of executions as a method of political repression. Governments must suspend diplomatic normalization with Iran until executions and torture cease. No legitimacy should be granted to a regime that executes minors, women, and peaceful dissenters. Iranian officials responsible for mass murder must face prosecution—whether through the International Criminal Court or under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
And the Iranian democratic opposition, represented by Maryam Rajavi and the NCRI, must be recognized as a credible alternative. Their platform for a secular, democratic republic is rooted in justice, equality, and the protection of human rights. It is the first ever political movement in the Middle East to call for the abolition of the death penalty.
In 1988, I saw one star in the sky. Today, I see a sky full of stars—our fallen for freedom. But I want the next generation of Iranian children to grow up under a truly free sky—free from fear, free from loss, and free in a democratic Iran.
Maryam Fakhar has over two decades of experience in international policy, women’s empowerment, and documenting human rights abuses in Iran.
