Depraved Sadism of U.S.-Shah’s SAVAK and Henchman

Under “Statement of Facts,” the lawsuit’s visceral and sickening descriptions of Sabeti and the SAVAK include (#34) “SAVAK functioned both as an intelligence agency and security force, with functionally unlimited power to censor the media, screen applicants for government jobs, and use all means necessary to hunt down and persecute dissidents. SAVAK played the role of police, prosecutor, and magistrate in Iran, as recognized by the U.S. Department of State.”

The “Facts” section of the lawsuit states that SAVAK carried out “…mass arrests and torture of thousands of perceived political opponents, including lawyers, writers, theater directors, university teachers, members of ethnic minorities groups, intellectuals, students, activists, artists and political rivals…without judicial oversight, and detainees were not informed of charges against them…” (#36)

The SAVAK also hunted down Iranian students and other dissidents abroad including in the U.S. It was popularly known among activists and academics that the SAVAK was trained and managed by the U.S. CIA and Israel secret police Mossad.^[2]

The gruesome list of SAVAK torture techniques listed in this “Facts” section includes: beating bloody the bottom of detainee’s feet, “…sleep deprivation; extensive solitary confinement; glaring searchlights; standing in one place for hours on end; nail extractions; snakes (favored for use with women); electrical shocks with cattle prods, often into the rectum; cigarette burns; sitting on hot grills; acid dripped into nostrils; near-drownings; mock executions; and an electric chair with a large metal mask to muffle screams while amplifying them for the victim. This latter contraption was dubbed the Apollo—an allusion to the American space capsules. Prisoners were also humiliated by being raped, urinated on, and forced to stand naked… Mehdi Rezai, a political prisoner, recounted his torture by SAVAK in open court and accused Sabeti of having urinated in his mouth.” (#40)

Publicizing confessions coerced under torture was one of the SAVAK’s specialties inherited by the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). This is the supposed benevolent regime of the Shah (and his SAVAK) who was warmly welcomed and hosted by the late U.S. president Jimmy Carter in 1979 at the White House.

SAVAK of the Shah Is SAVAMA of the IRI

Under the section “Absence of Available Remedies in Iran” there is searing exposure of the transformation of the Shah’s SAVAK into the Mullahs’ SAVAMA, and the ongoing active relations between Sabeti and the current IRI regime. It asserts, “Upon the removal of the Shah from power in 1979, the newly formed Islamic Republic of Iran … apprehended some members of the former regime, including some high-ranking officials associated with SAVAK. However, … rather than eliminating SAVAK, the Islamic Republic effectively rebranded it as a new security entity…(‘SAVAMA’). …SAVAMA was to serve essentially the same purpose as SAVAK—to stop the proliferation of opposition organizations in Iran and acquire intelligence on Iraq by employing the experienced ex-intelligence officers of SAVAK and the military. …SAVAMA contained many of the same staff members and senior leaders as SAVAK, thereby functionally continuing SAVAK's reign of terror. The appointment of General Hossein Fardust, a former Deputy Director for SAVAK, as the head of SAVAMA exemplifies the collaboration between former SAVAK personnel and the Islamic Republic. …Members of SAVAK were also integrated into Iran's intelligence system” (#116-#119).

The facts marshalled in this lawsuit not only serve to inform the mostly younger activists in Iran and in the Iranian diaspora who did not experience the horrors of the Shah’s regime, they also objectively indict the U.S. imperialists who were the Shah’s chief backers. The lawsuit also directly denounces^[3] the efforts of some imperialist forces to use the former Shah’s son, “Prince” Reza Pahlavi (PRP), as a vehicle for an imperialist-backed regime change which would more effectively repress the people’s movement from below. The “Prince” brags of having close connections with and support from military and paramilitary forces in the IRI. ^[4] Sabeti’s ongoing connections are probably one key to this.

Too many otherwise informed activists in the Iranian Diaspora have focused their efforts on lobbying to get the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp) labeled as a “foreign terrorist organization” (FTO) by the Western imperialists like the U.S.—which the U.S. did do in April 2019. The facts exposed in this lawsuit demonstrate the foolishness and irony of these efforts, which objectively let the U.S./CIA (or Mossad) off the hook and show (willful) ignorance of history and reality. As the IEC keeps repeating, our Emergency Appeal insists that:

The governments of the U.S. and Iran act from their national interests. And, in this instance, we the people of the U.S. and Iran, along with the people of the world, have OUR shared interests, as part of getting to a better world: to unite to defend the political prisoners of Iran. In the U.S., we have a special responsibility to unite very broadly against this vile repression by the IRI, and to actively oppose any war moves by the U.S. government that would bring even more unbearable suffering to the people of Iran. We demand of the Islamic Republic of Iran: FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS NOW! We say to the U.S. government: NO THREATS OR WAR MOVES AGAINST IRAN, LIFT U.S. SANCTIONS!

On one side, many in the U.S. “left” refused to support this campaign with the refrain that the IEC was “helping the U.S.” by exposing the crimes of the IRI, while those on the opposite side of the same stupidity charged that we were aiding the IRI by our second demand to the U.S. government. In the “background” section of the “resources” tab of the IEC’s website, there is this all important analysis that frames what IEC initiators and organizers see as crucial:

Some of us working on the Campaign have been inspired by the groundbreaking analysis of the revolutionary leader Bob Avakian on the global clash between imperialism and Islamic fundamentalism. We find this analysis to be an accurate framework to understand the global dynamics and symbiotic relations between these two contending oppressive powers. We wanted to share this with IEC supporters and activists, and others fighting on behalf of Iran’s political prisoners even as it has bigger applicability in our current world (e.g., U.S. vs Afghanistan, Russia vs Chechnya, etc.)

In BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian (1:28), he writes,

What we see in contention here with Jihad on the one hand and McWorld/McCrusade [increasingly globalized western imperialism] on the other hand, are historically outmoded strata among colonized and oppressed humanity up against historically outmoded ruling strata of the imperialist system. These two reactionary poles reinforce each other, even while opposing each other. If you side with either of these "outmodeds," you end up strengthening both.

While this is a very important formulation and is crucial to understanding much of the dynamics driving things in the world in this period, at the same time we do have to be clear about which of these "historically outmodeds" has done the greater damage and poses the greater threat to humanity: It is the historically outmoded ruling strata of the imperialist system, and in particular the U.S. imperialists.

Political Prisoner Golrokh Iraee Writes from Evin

Golrokh Iraee is a long-time fighter for women’s rights who is in Evin Prison, sentenced to 6 years for "assembly and collusion against national security” and 1 year for “propaganda against the regime" for alleged plans to join the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in September 2022.^[5]

Her Instagram account recently posted two notable messages:

*On the lawsuit against Parvis Sabeti, it said, in part: “The end of this current dictatorship is possible by cutting off this Washington-based proxy group and the hidden arms of power. Until people’s courts are held in Iran and all murderers and torturers are tried and punished.” (2/25/2025) By “Washington-based proxy group,” she refers to the monarchists grouped around Reza Pahlavi, and rejects their strategy of relying on forces of the current IRI.

*The day before, her IG post called for a broad movement of the oppressed people “willing to pay the price” to stop executions, in contrast to waiting on some kind of “spontaneous” change by the IRI.

Appearing in front of prisons, which was recently carried out in connection with the “Tuesdays No to Execution” campaign, is a big step towards drawing public opinion to the horrific dimensions of the death penalty. Every year, dozens of people lose their precious lives on political charges and hundreds are killed for murder, drugs, robbery, etc. These dear souls, no matter what they are accused of, even if they deserve to be punished, must rise up against their death sentences and force the rulers to abolish this brutal punishment. The cycle of government killings will stop, but not spontaneously and not at the will of the rulers. This is possible only if we the oppressed people stand tall against it. Until the abolition of the death penalty and the overthrow of the foundation of oppression….

In order to bring about fundamental changes and break the laws that are the backbone of the system for domination, repression, and intimidation, we must pay a price. If the opposition to the abolition of the death penalty is public, tangible, and on the ground, the regime cannot take thousands of lives every year with brazenness and evil.

In the increase in the number of executions, the finger of blame is pointed, after the tyrannical rulers, at ourselves, who despite 46 years of murder and crime, have always been a bystander and have not been able to draw public opinion to the horror of what is happening. Unlike in the past, the Islamic Republic seeks to … obtain approval from public opinion in order to justify the issuance and execution of the death penalty. Therefore, in such circumstances, it is the responsibility of the progressive forces to make public opinion more aware of the horrific dimensions of the incident than ever before, and to prepare the ground for protest and turn the field into an arena of struggle until the abolition of the death penalty.

We think Golrokh’s comments have important relevance to this historic and tumultuous time in our world. We call on all justice loving people of the world to stand in solidarity with, and continue the struggle for, freeing ALL Iran’s political prisoners with due compassion, passion and urgency.