Following the 12-day war (in June) with Israel and a series of repeated military and intelligence defeats, the Iranian regime’s authority has crumbled.
Mistrust and paranoia now permeate its power structure like a fast-spreading virus.
Former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif recently acknowledged that the issue is no longer just "infiltration," but an entire “system of infiltration.”
With the prospect of the regime’s collapse more visible than ever, various factions have begun proposing different solutions to avert its downfall.
On one side, Fars News Agency — affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) — published an editorial, "Why Should the 1988 Executions Be Repeated?"
It praised the mass executions of political prisoners in the summer of 1988 as "one of the Islamic Republic’s most brilliant achievements," and concluded, "It seems that now is the time to repeat that successful historical experience."
That summer, over 30,000 political prisoners — 90% of them members of the main opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) — were executed in just two months, under a heavy cloak of global silence.
On the other side, former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi, whose fall from grace after the 2009 uprising caused by the distorted election of his rival Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president, has issued a statement calling for a national referendum and constitutional reform.
The statement has been signed by more than 800 intellectuals and activists — many of them part of the regime’s own inner circle.
Other voices are also proposing a "middle way" between repression and reform.
Evidently, the regime’s response to this legitimacy crisis is not reform — it's repression.
Once again, it seems to be turning to the familiar tool of mass killings.
Since its inception, the Iranian regime has followed a grim tradition: every major failure is met with large-scale violence.
During the Iran-Iraq War — which, according to Akbar Hashemi Bahramani Rafsanjani, caused one trillion dollarss in damage and wiped out a century’s worth of oil revenue — Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini, fearing the Iranian Resistance would capture Tehran, was forced to accept a ceasefire.
He famously said he had "drunk the poison chalice."
To reassert control and intimidate society, the regime executed 30,000 political prisoners — many of whom had already completed their sentences — in the summer of 1988.
Is Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei now preparing to abandon uranium enrichment — and planning another massacre to preserve his regime?
On Wednesday, July 16, Khamenei — who had recently retreated to an underground bunker fearing further airstrikes — reemerged for a second time to meet with judiciary officials.
Surprisingly, he did not appear with the IRGC and intelligence commanders who had suffered major losses. Instead, in his speech, he lumped MEK Resistance Units together with monarchists, mercenaries, and "thugs," observing:
"Their calculation was that after attacks on sensitive centers and the loss of some key figures, the regime would be weakened. At that moment, the dormant cells of the hypocrites [a derogatory term for the MEK], monarchists, mercenaries, and thugs would rise up and bring the regime down."
That same morning, political prisoner Saeed Massouri — founder of the "No to Execution" campaign, both inside and outside of prison — was violently dragged from his ward and transferred to an unknown location.
Massouri has been incarcerated for 25 years without a single day of furlough.
In a message smuggled from prison, he warned:
"This kidnapping disguised as a transfer isn’t just about me. It’s part of a broader plan of repression — a prelude to more executions, exactly like in 1988."
Ten UN Special Rapporteurs, alarmed by the possibility of another mass killing, issued a joint statement warning:
"Iran must not allow history to repeat itself by reverting to the same dark patterns of repression that devastated its society after the Iran-Iraq war."
Earlier this month, political prisoners who were violently transferred from Evin Prison released a statement following Massouri’s disappearance. Referring to him as a symbol of resistance, they wrote:
"The regime is taking revenge for its military and political defeats by targeting the people of Iran — and first and foremost, its political prisoners."
In another joint letter, female political prisoners added:
"Since the war, the regime’s henchmen have escalated their pressure on both prisoners and civilians to block the path to a new uprising."
It was in an effort to preempt the next uprising that Khamenei helped ignite the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and war.
Yet the MEK Resistance Units — now spread throughout Iran and inspired by a vision of a secular republic based on gender equality — have reached a level of organization that allows them to steer any protest movement toward the regime’s collapse.
Over the past year alone, these Resistance Units have carried out more than 3,000 anti-repression operations nationwide. The widespread checkpoints across Iranian cities are attempts to track them down.
Resistance is growing — inside prisons and across the society. And though the regime tries to suppress it at any cost, the movement cannot be silenced. Supporting this resistance could bring peace to the region and freedom to Iran.
There is no longer any need for war or airstrikes — because this time, the solution is coming from within.
Hamid Enayat is based in Paris and is a noted expert on Iran. He has written extensively on issues pertinent to Iran and the Mideast region. Read Dr. Hamid Enyat's Reports — More Here.
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