Information on a political organization called Shahin Enghelab run by Ayatollah Khalkhali; What is the status of the group today, what were its objectives, who are the followers, and how are they treated in Iran today? [IRN2531]

Information on a political organization by the name of Shahin Enghelab is not available to the IRBDC. In the first years of the revolution, Ayatollah Sadeq Khalkhali was referred to as the "hanging judge" or the "roving executioner". [ Ervand Abrahamian, Radical Islam: The Iranian Mojahedin, (London: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 1989), pp. 59, 67.] On 20 June 1981, in response to demonstrations against the regime, he declared that "the courts had the sacred duty to shoot at least 50 troublemakers a day". [ Abrahamian, p. 67.] Khalkhali had earlier promised death to every member of the Shah's family, and, according to Dilip Hiro, had been responsible for helping to revive the Fedaiyan-e Islam. [ Dilip Hiro, Iran Under the Ayatollahs, (New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1987), p. 113.] Hiro asserts that the members of the Fedaiyan-e Islam were to carry out the assassinations of the Shah's family. [ Ibid. This is not, however, corroborated by other sources.]
Hiro further asserts that the "Fedaiyan-e Islam, one of the oldest militant organisations, has been affected minimally by the onset of the Islamic revolution. It continues to exist as a shadowy organisation." [ Hiro, p. 243.]

In 1980, Ayatollah Khalkhali was given responsibility for solving the drug problem in Iran, and he awarded capital punishment to drug dealers, ordering the execution of approximately 200 drug traffickers between 21 May and 18 July 1980. [ Hiro, p. 256.] Khalkhali retained his seat on the Qom (religious body) in 1984 Majlis elections. [ Ibid.]

Information linking the Fedaiyan-e Islam to an organization called Shahin Enghelab is not available to the IRBDC at this time. Enghelab means "revolution" in Persian, and Shahin is a proper name. Fedaiyan-e Islam can be translated as "self sanctifiers of Islam". [ Hiro, p. 32.]