IRANIAN REGIME’S SUPPORT FOR DEATH COMMISSIONER’S RUN FOR PRESIDENCY

April 11, 2017

The Iranian regime has just announced the candidacy of Ebrahim Raeesi in the upcoming elections in the country. The candidacy is controversial because Raeesi was a member of the so-called death committee during the 1988 massacre in which tens of thousands of Mujahedin members were executed.

The state media has been mentioning Raeesi’s candidacy which it is supporting, saying that despite the large number of negative media reports about him, he has not been “destroyed”. The Fars news agency said: “Following Ebrahim Raeesi’s candidacy in the presidential election of Iran, a media wave has been raised to destroy him in pretext of his alleged role in the execution of Mujahedin in 1988. They intend to destroy the regime and the officials by bringing up the files regarding the past performance of the regime. In fact, the anti-regime forces endeavor to consider the discrepancies between the people and the regime in order to destroy the face of elites in public.”

Another news outlet – IRGC News – claimed that the victims of the 1988 massacre deserved the torture they endured, saying their severe punishment is “logical and reasonable”.

The Fars news agency said: “Those who intend to attack the regime today on the pretext of the execution of MEK members have ignored the fact that the fate of our regime will be similar to Syria as long as they neglect the measures imposed by the MEK. In other words, concerning the current situation in the region, we can realize the importance of accurate and calculated measures taken against the MEK by the Iran regime.”

The IRGC, in reference to the crimes Raeesi committed, said that instead of being punished or condemned for his crimes, he should be praised: “Those like Raeesi that have revolutionary backgrounds, must not be blamed and instead, they could be encouraged due to having the same backgrounds (i.e. the massacre of political prisoners).”

Another IRGC article talks about the consequences of those calling for justice for the tens of thousands of political prisoners killed during the massacre: “It’s been a while that the large number of local and international advertising networks count on marginal issues such as the executions of the 90s in order to destroy Ebrahim Raeesi. The audio file released by Ayatollah Montazeri has become another issue since this cleric was the supporter of MEK at that time.”

In the statement announcing his candidacy, Raeesi criticised Rouhani’s government and his performance during the past 4 years.