Families of Iranian political prisoners executed in the 1980s have been barred from entering Khavaran Cemetery in Tehran for more than 11 months, they said in an open letter to Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The site, known for containing mass graves of thousands of political prisoners executed in the summer of 1988, has been closed to the families since early 2024, the families said.
“For 11 months, Khavaran’s gates have been closed to us,” the letter read. “Despite our numerous attempts to resolve this legally, we have been met with silence or insulting behavior by officials,” they said.
In the letter, the families accused authorities of obstructing their basic right to mourn. They detailed repeated appeals to various government bodies but said they have received no meaningful response.
They said their petitions have been referred between agencies, with intelligence officials refusing to address their concerns.
The families also condemned the burial of unrelated individuals at the cemetery, calling it disrespectful and a renewal of their grief. They demanded the removal of barriers to the cemetery, the reopening of its gates and the cessation of additional burials at the site.
A total of 93 families signed the letter, which also criticized the behavior of cemetery staff. They said the individual overseeing the site, identified as Masoud Momeni, has harassed families, limited their visitation times and demanded national ID cards to grant access to graves, further compounding their suffering.
The letter was also sent to senior officials, including the judiciary, interior ministry and Tehran's local authorities, as part of their ongoing fight for justice and accountability.
The Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation, a US-based rights group, reported that on Friday, the families once again faced locked gates at the cemetery and protested the ban by scattering flowers at its entrance.
