As the global conscience remains in shock at the scale of the massacre during the January 2026 uprising, recent statements by Ahmad Ghadiri (son of the regime’s former ambassador to Australia and a theorist close to security circles) reveal a horrific strategy. These words are far more than a political stance; they constitute a chilling testament to the criminal mindset hidden behind the walls of the Supreme Leader’s office and the IRGC command. These remarks are the literal definition of “Criminal Intent” (Mens Rea) in cases of crimes against humanity, rebuking the regime for “not killing more” on the streets.
The Executioner’s Logic: Street Massacres vs. Legal Files
With unprecedented audacity, Ahmad Ghadiri expresses regret that protesters were not “eradicated” and “crushed” on the spot in the streets. His logic is simple and diabolical: killing on the streets is “cheaper” because it avoids judicial files, lawyers, human rights intervention, and pressure from the European Parliament. He states explicitly: “If the death toll had reached 5,000, the cost to us would have been lower than having to execute them one by one today.”
These sentences are an admission to several legal realities:
- Systematic Killings: The massacre of protesters was not an accidental occurrence but a strategic choice to “wipe out” opponents.
- Terror of Accountability: The admission that each execution turns into a “human rights file” and “sanctions” demonstrates the effectiveness of international pressure and the regime’s dread of global awakening.
- Admission of Judicial Fear: References to “what happened to Razini” and the judges’ fear indicate that the foundations of the judiciary are trembling over the consequences of their crimes.
The IRGC: A Killing Machine That Must Be Stopped
These words illustrate exactly why designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization by the European Union was an existential necessity for the Iranian people. Ghadiri speaks the language that the IRGC implemented on the streets: the “iron fist” and “spot liquidation.” Now that the IRGC is recognized as a terrorist entity, the international community must understand that the current executions in prisons like Qezel Hesar are merely the continuation of the “incomplete eradication” on the streets. The Iranian regime is “purging” the survivors of the uprising to manage its political costs.
The Urgency of Immediate Action: From Terrorist Listing to Criminal Accountability
Ghadiri’s remarks prove the regime is in a “strategic deadlock”; they can neither release the prisoners nor execute them without cost. This is exactly where the world must apply maximum pressure:
- Criminal Accountability: These statements must be used as official evidence in international courts against regime leaders. This “call for further massacre” is an independent international crime.
- Saving 50,000 Prisoners: When the regime openly regrets not killing detainees on the street, it means the lives of these 50,000 individuals are in imminent, mortal danger. Silence in the face of executions is a license for the regime to complete the “eradication” Ghadiri wished for.
- End of Judicial Immunity: The judges and interrogators whom Ghadiri describes as fearful must know that not only will they have no sanctuary in the world, but the international community is adamant about holding them accountable.
Final Word: The Time to Act is Now
The words of this regime operative are a final ultimatum to all human rights defenders. The blood spilled in the January uprising brought the IRGC to the terrorist list; but to stop the execution machine that Ghadiri calls “costly,” we must seize these criminals. The world must not allow the regime to gain the “prestige benefit” Ghadiri mentioned through silent executions in prisons.
Below is the full transcript of Ahmad Ghadiri’s statements:
“…You know, if these people had been eliminated right there in the scene, the cost to the regime would have been much, much lower than what it is now—trying to execute them one by one. Each one of them becomes a separate pressure file against the Islamic Republic. No matter what logic or perspective you look at it from, you see that the right thing would have been to decisively wipe them out on the spot in one clear, forceful action—showing an iron fist. Right now, they say the total kill was a little over 3,000. If those 3,000-something had become 3,500, 3,800, 4,000, or even 5,000, the cost to us would still have been lower than having to execute one today, another tomorrow—then the European Parliament holds sessions about this ‘murderer’ and this ‘mohareb’ on the verge of execution, they make noise, read statements, do human rights work, bring in their families, take the families around, build cases. If you had finished them off in the scene, you would have achieved far better results and faced much less pressure. I’m not even talking about how many people got torn to pieces in the meantime because of this compromise, or how much damage we suffered—I’m setting that aside for now. I mentioned something about it in the previous part of the talk anyway. Let’s forget that entirely. Even if you just wanted to preserve your prestige, you should have eliminated them right there in the scene. When the situation was at its most intense, when the iron was hot—that’s when you should have struck them. But now you want to go and handle it individually through the judicial process. If they aren’t released, if they aren’t smuggled out, if we don’t let go of them—if each one doesn’t turn into a thousand human rights cases and sanction files—then what? You sit there executing them one by one while the judges face all this pressure: the phone calls, the calculations, the experiences they’ve built up over the years, what happened to Razini, all of that is in our judges’ minds now. With all of this, what exactly do you want to do now? How are you going to deal with them? Are you going to sit there and execute them one by one? Fine—your case file gets extremely heavy. Or release them—and then something even worse happens again. Why didn’t you just crush and eradicate them on the spot? Why didn’t you scatter and destroy them completely…?”
