Long before the executions began in the summer of 1988, Iran’s prison system underwent systematic preparations that reveal the massacre was a carefully organized campaign—not a spontaneous wartime decision. For nearly four decades, the 1988 massacre of political prisoners has remained one of the darkest chapters in Iran’s modern history. Political prisoners who had already spent years behind bars found themselves summoned for fresh interrogations. Political prisoners from cities across Iran were transferred to central detention facilities before executions began, while intelligence teams coordinated operations nationwide. The passage of time has not diminished the significance of the 1988 massacre.