Support Rally for Free Iran Held in Washington; Call for Legal Prosecution of Ibrahim Raisi

A support rally for Free Iran organized by Iranian-American communities was held in Washington on Monday, September 29, and speakers at the event called on the international community to pay attention to Ibrahim Raisi’s role in the 1988 massacre in Iran and to pursue legal action against Iran’s president.

Mike Pompeo, former U.S. Secretary of State, was one of the speakers at the event. In his remarks, Mr. Pompeo emphasized that his information about Raisi dates back to his tenure as head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and stated that Raisi should be immediately prosecuted.

The former U.S. Secretary of State added: “Make no mistake that Ibrahim Raisi is personally responsible for the massacre of thousands of political prisoners in 1988. The names of approximately five thousand of these victims have been published and the bodies of these brave men and women have been buried in unmarked graves.”

He stressed that since the Islamic Republic has not allowed investigation into this matter and perhaps never will, the exact number of victims may never be determined, but “certainly it is more than the five thousand names that we have.”

Mike Pompeo, emphasizing the necessity of holding Raisi accountable for crimes against humanity, recalled that Raisi “was not merely an advisor and a simple soldier, but was a monster.”

Ramesh Sepahrad of the Iranian-American Communities Organization, in an interview with the Voice of America’s Persian section, referring to Ibrahim Raisi’s role in “the massacre of more than 30,000 prisoners” in 1988, of which “90 percent of these prisoners were supporters and members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization,” stressed that the main goal of the conference is to “ask the international community that Ibrahim Raisi should be tried.”

Ibrahim Raisi, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is attending this year’s United Nations General Assembly virtually, with his pre-recorded message being released in video form.

The Farashgard Network had previously, in anticipation of the annual UN General Assembly meeting, sent a letter to 192 member states calling on them to “prevent Ibrahim Raisi’s presence in New York” and “to leave the session as a sign of protest if he or his representative delivers a virtual speech.”

Furthermore, more than 400 Iranian-American scholars, experts, university professors, and researchers sent a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden requesting him to address and refer to Ibrahim Raisi’s role in the 1988 executions in Iran and charges of crimes against humanity during his speech at the UN General Assembly.

Following the announcement of Ibrahim Raisi’s victory in Iran’s presidential election, the U.S. State Department, in response to a question from Gita Aryan, a reporter with the Voice of America’s Persian service, about these elections, stated that Iranians were deprived of their right to choose their leaders in a free and fair electoral process.

Jen Psaki, White House spokesperson, in response to a question about how the U.S. would interact with Raisi as Iran’s president—someone who played a role in the executions of political prisoners in the 1980s and is a sanctioned individual—said: “The new president must now be accountable for human rights violations during his presidency. We strongly call on the Iranian government and those in power to release political prisoners and improve the human rights situation and fundamental freedoms for all Iranians.”

Source: Voice of America