Fearing more antigovernment demonstrations and protests, the mullahs' regime has imposed a de facto martial law on Tehran. In downtown districts of the city, five or six members of the paramilitary Bassij forces with a vehicle are stationed every 50 meters to terrorize the people. From Imam Hossein Square in east Tehran to Revolution Square in the west, successive checkpoints examine the identity papers of passengers and pedestrians. A large number of Revolutionary Guards and Intelligence Ministry agents in civilian outfit roam the streets. Since Wednesday, the regime's repressive forces have been arresting young people standing in groups of three or more in the areas near Tehran University.
The ruling mullahs are making public statements these days that reflect the regime's intention to begin a new campaign of mass executions. Three senior clerics in the past two days have stated: "We must cut off the hands and tongues of those opposed to the velayat-e faqih (clerical rule)," "the hands and legs of agitators must be amputated," and "those arrested [in the demonstrations] will be punished as enemies of God." In a shocking acknowledgment of the mullahs' intention to conduct mass executions, the official Jomhuri Islami daily wrote on Thursday: "The authorities in the Judiciary have stated that the agitators and perpetrators of the recent riots in Tehran are waging war with God and spread corruption on earth and the punishment they receive will be execution."
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
July 16, 1999
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