In Iran’s largest state prison, 1,500 prisoners sentenced to death have been on a hunger strike demanding an end to executions for 13 days, as of July 25. This strike in Ward 2 of Ghezel Hesar prison broke out on July 13 when prison authorities moved six of their wardmates to solitary confinement, often a precursor to execution. Ghezel Hesar in Karaj, about 25 miles west of the capital Tehran, holds between 16,000 and 21,000 inmates, thousands of them sentenced to death — a large percentage of them for alleged “drug-related” charges.¹ Ward 2, which houses about 1,500 of the prisoners sentenced to death, was the site of a similar hunger strike in October 2025; after seven days, prison officials promised a vague moratorium on executions and a review of “drug-related” cases. In fact, “drug-related” executions at this prison did slow, but have spiked again in 2026 with the regime’s heightened internal repression while under attack by the U.S. and Israel.

This time, prison authorities have so far refused to meet with the striking prisoners, instead deploying guards in common areas and attempting to jam phone communications. In response, some prisoners have dramatically sewn their lips shut with needle and thread in a dry hunger strike without any liquids or food intake. Numerous prisoners have collapsed from medical effects and conditions, as other prisoners help take care of each other. The danger to all these prisoners, from health effects to threats of repression, is very dire.

On July 19, the IEC issued an “Urgent Alert” as a call to spread the word and defend the lives of Ghezel Hesar hunger strikers. It noted, “Even as some prisoners were collapsing from medical conditions, the striking prisoners vowed to continue in their heroic unified protest, lining the hallways shoulder to shoulder holding handwritten signs and chanting ‘No to executions’ (video)….Is this the sound before the fury of those who are oppressed, threatened with death by U.S. bombings and Islamic Republic nooses, demanding to live on their feet instead of dying on their knees? Mustn’t we stand with and learn from their courage, dignity and humanity?”

Support for Hunger Strike Expands

The left-leaning Farsi news outlet Akhbar-Rooz published further information on July 24 about repression of the hunger strike and the expansion of public support, albeit still initial.

Prison guards and security forces have been deployed in the corridors of Ward 2 and have prevented prisoners from gathering in public spaces and recording and sending images. According to the Balochistan Human Rights Documentation Network, a number of prisoners have been returned to their rooms with violent treatment. There have also been reports of disruptions in calls and the internet around the prison and efforts by security forces to prevent the gathering of prisoners' families. 

In response to this situation, nine trade union and civil society organizations issued a joint statement calling on the public, workers, teachers, students, retirees, nurses, and the women's movement to be the voices of the Ghezel Hesar prisoners and their families. The signatories emphasized: "Execution for anyone and under any pretext is state murder," and called for opposition to the death penalty to become one of the main demands of Iranian society.

Negar Jahantab, a filmmaker, theater actor, and a victim of the repression of the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising of 2022 in Iran, posted a video of herself bravely standing alone outside the Iranian Artists' House in which she called on the Iranian artistic community not to remain silent in the face of death sentences. “You all have platforms… why don’t you come and protest in front of the prison doors, all together. No one’s blood is redder in this path, we all need to shout our protest together in the street, not from behind the phone!”

70 Protesters Sentenced to Death in Isfahan, Hunger Strike Repressed

At the same time, at Dastgerd, also known as Isfahan Central Prison in central Isfahan province, swift and draconian “trials” have resulted in death sentences for at least 70 protesters from the January 2026 uprising. Two wards at the prison staged hunger strikes in protest against the planned executions but were forced to end it under intense threats from prison officials. Families are also facing continued threats to prevent them from publicizing their loved ones’ cases.² Protest rapper Hossein Afrasiab was violently arrested in March on unknown charges. He went on hunger strike at Dastgerd on July 18 to protest the executions, and has since disappeared, according to his extremely concerned family. 

In the last two weeks alone, at least 50 individuals nationwide connected to the January 2026 protests were executed, sentenced to death, had their death sentences upheld, or faced capital charges such as "enmity against God" and "corruption on earth."³

Two youth arrested in the January 2026 protests from the Alikhani Square case⁴ in Isfahan, Erfan Esfandiari and Gol Mohammad Mohammadi, were executed on July 18 in Dastgerd. It seems the “evidence” against 19-year-old Esfandiari was from CCTV of him opening the door of his apartment building to fleeing protesters and then trying to hold it shut against rampaging police. 

Meanwhile, the “No to Execution Tuesdays” has now passed its 130th week of continuous hunger strikes, spreading to now 59 prisons across Iran. 

Fascist Psycho Trump Exploits Iran’s Executions While Bombing Them

A TRULY sickening response to this terrible injustice came from none other than Donald Trump, as part of his escalating warmongering against Iran. On July 19, he reposted on his bullshit “Truth” Social a tweet by pro-U.S. operative and Iranian exile Masih Alinejad about the execution of Esfandiari (for which she cravenly thanked him). He then reposted a tweet about Esfandiari’s co-defendant Mohammadi, adding, “The latest of 52,000, plus, innocent protesters. Savages!!! When will the Dumocrats wake up???” 

Leaving aside the completely undocumented figure of 52K protesters killed, this post made clear the real motivation for Trump’s crocodile tears over executed protesters in Iran: blaming Democrats for even half-hearted attempts to apply the War Powers Act to require the president to justify to Congress his reasons for launching war against Iran.

Which Side Are You On?

There are fascists who shamelessly support the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. But more disturbing are those “leftists” and well intentioned people who are silently or openly supporting the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) in the regime’s crimes against the Iranian people such as against courageous prisoners, because the IRI claims to be the supposed “axis of resistance” to the U.S.'s monstrous crimes. 

Can one (rightfully) be against the U.S. war on Iran but yet stand for jailing, torturing and executing Iran’s political dissidents? Is it OK to ignore the repeated mass uprisings and brutal repression in Iran (2017, 2019, 2022-2023’s Woman, Life, Freedom uprising, or the January 2026 protest)? Can one be so dismissive and condescending (or cynical) as to consider all such protests and political dissent against a 47-year-old theocracy as mere workings or propaganda of the imperialists or Zionists? Does it matter that it is TRUE that the IRI is an oppressive regime, even if its crimes are dwarfed by the U.S. imperialists’?

It is said that one must support Iran because it is the only country which stands with the Palestinians or stands up to the U.S. and Israel. But, first of all, Iran’s stand has never been for the genuine liberation of the Palestinian (or other) people, but rather how to gain regional influence by using one or another group it can control — while Iran itself is objectively deeply tied into and dependent on the world imperialist market. And second, this logic ends up objectively pitting one group of oppressed people against another (e.g., to support Palestinians, we must ignore Iranian women, or vice versa). 

On the other hand, couldn’t it have a dynamic positive effect if there was massive opposition to U.S. war crimes which, at the same time, stands with the masses of people, including the political resisters in Iran?

As we repeatedly said and will again:

All of Iran's political prisoners must be unconditionally and immediately released.

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! STOP EXECUTIONS! We say to the U.S. government: STOP THREATS OR WAR MOVES AGAINST IRAN, LIFT U.S. SANCTIONS!