At least in part as a response to the invasion, Iran executed several thousand political prisoners across the country for treason, mainly members of the MEK, but even also some members of the Tudeh Party (Communist Party) and other opposition groups.[6] The estimates for number of executions vary from as little as 1,400[7] to as high as 12,000. The most likely number was given by dissident Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri, as being between 3,800-4,500.[8] The death toll may have been higher for those MEK executed by frontline court-martials or dying in prison. The remnants of the MEK, with Iraqi support continued to carry out sabotage and attacks on Iran after the war. They also assassinated General Sayyad Shirazi in 1999, in revenge for the destruction of their army during Operation Mersad eleven years earlier.
