The rigged election of Masoud Pezeshkian as Iran’s supposedly ‘reformist’ president in late June was quickly undermined by an unprecedented tsunami of executions. No less than 191 executions have been reported since Pezeshkian took office, including 29 in a single day. Thirteen were hanged on September 24, the very day Pezeshkian addressed the UN General Assembly in New York. Many of those hanged were sentenced to death for “waging war against God,” a catchall clause in the mullahs’ constitution that targets any political opponents of the theocratic regime. Three supporters of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), the main democratic opposition movement, including a boxing champion, have been sentenced to death.

Western political leaders, convinced that Pezeshkian could herald a new era of peaceful co-existence with the Iranian regime, were rapidly disconcerted by the ‘judicial’ killings, calling on the new president to intervene to stop the executions and to reform the judiciary. There is little likelihood of either taking place.

Desperate to reclaim his leadership role, Pezeshkian, who has admitted that his sole policy for Iran is to obey the diktats of the fanatical Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stumbled through a disastrous press conference in September, when he displayed his lack of political skill or judgement, even at one point referring to Russia as the Soviet Union! His clumsy attempts to avoid making statements or answering questions led to him telling puny jokes and making vague assertions, leading to almost immediate criticism from the Iranian Raja News website, which described his performance as “weak, divisive, and cartoonish.” Nevertheless,........

© Townhall