The Iranian dissident and writer Mehdi Mahmoudian on the outbreak of war in Iran, his experience inside the country’s prison system, and his fears for the future.
His words resonate today, as Israel and the United States bombard Iranian cities.
Mahmoudian was one of thousands of prisoners languishing in Iran’s prisons. He was arrested in January for signing a public letter that blamed the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for the murders of thousands of protesters, who were cut down by security forces after taking to the streets. By Mahmoudian’s count, he has spent about nine of the past sixteen years in prison for his activism.
His response to the news of Khamenei’s death
I have to say honestly that I wasn’t happy. I believe people should be held accountable, and that accountability must take place in a fair court of law so that such actions are not repeated. All those who were harmed should have the opportunity to seek justice.
Seeking justice is not about revenge. It is about insuring that the individual is punished through due process, and more important, that those actions are formally recorded in history as crimes. That way, future rulers cannot repeat them. I believe death was not enough for Mr. Khamenei. He should have stood trial in a public court, before the people, and faced judgment openly and with full accountability.
The main problem with the prisons right now is that, given the collapse of some judiciary buildings and prosecutors’ offices in Iran—especially the security court that handled political and security prisoners’ cases—many case files have gone missing. If the Islamic Republic remains in power, it may take months before even basic legal review becomes possible again, and many prisoners could be left in a state of legal limbo.
I hope the Islamic Republic reaches its end, otherwise even harsher days could lie ahead for prisoners. There is a real concern that what remains of the system may seek revenge for these events, targeting prisoners and political activists who are still outside prison, detaining them, and subjecting them to executions or severe punishments.
Is Iran entering into a darker moment than before?
Based on what I’m seeing, I don’t have much hope that these attacks will lead to the complete fall of the Islamic Republic. If that doesn’t happen, we could be heading into an even more repressive and difficult era, and the conditions from now on may become significantly harsher.
I truly hope my prediction is wrong, that my analysis proves to be mistaken and that the people of Iran will at least see some measure of freedom, that our generation will be able to experience even a part of it.
But the signs indicate that once the United States and Israel resolve their foreign-policy conflict with the Islamic Republic and secure their own strategic interests, they may leave—abandoning both the regime and the Iranian people to face the aftermath alone.
Parts of an interview with Cora Engelbrecht, published by "The New Yorker".
I got it by email, and resending it through our blog, not to justify in any way the unlawful and futile war being conducted now against Iran, but to show how futile and with no responsible aim is the entire exercise conducted by the two powers against a third entity, whereby nothing will change afterwards, on the contrary it will worsen the reigning situation over the entire region and the entire world, maybe and only maybe, the only beneficiaries will be personally for the two leaders conducting this masquerade and futile show.
As always, my many thanks to all.
