The music video “Khamooshi (Silence)” by Iranian singer-songwriter Mehdi Yarrahi¹ powerfully rips through the anguish many feel as people in Iran commemorate the two-year anniversaries of those murdered by the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) theocratic regime during the Woman, Life, Freedom (WLF) uprising. It coincides with the fifth anniversary of “Bloody November,” in which 1,500 protesters were murdered in just days in November 2019. In the U.S., the lyrics feel oddly pointed as people are reeling with a mix of grief and outrage after the election of fascist Donald Trump amid the U.S.-backed Israel’s sickening genocide in the Middle East and wider war threats. Yarrahi’s call to not “sit safely on the shore” is right on time.

This past week, several courageous actions by political (and other) prisoners in Iran have put into practice the “cry [that] might shatter the chains” by shattering the silence enforced by prison walls.

Listen to the sound of women in Evin Prison’s yard chanting, singing and banging to protest the death sentence of Varisheh Moradi issued on November 10. She is an activist of the Kurdish oppressed nationality who was convicted, after months of torture and isolation and without legal representation, of “armed rebellion” solely based on her alleged affiliation with a Kurdish opposition party. Moradi was one of seven Evin women prisoners who signed a recent letter protesting the death sentence of Pakhshan Azizi (see IEC November 11 update)

Some of the chants are: "Varisheh Moradi must be freed,” “Pakhshan Azizi must be freed,” "Down With The Execution Regime," "Kurdistan, Grave of Fascism" and “Woman, Life, Freedom.” This was followed on November 16 by a letter from the “Women’s Ward of Evin Prison”² (notably, not limited to the political prisoners’ ward), which concluded:

We, the women imprisoned in Evin, strongly condemn the hostile, shameless, and extrajudicial practices of the judiciary aimed at suppressing political, civil, and ideological activists. We oppose the death penalty and demand the abolition of all death sentences issued against prisoners across the country.

We call on all people of Iran—legal experts, political and civil activists, labor and women’s rights advocates, students, professors, and others—to actively respond and prevent any of the condemned prisoners, including Pakhshan Azizi and Varisheh Moradi, from falling victim to the Islamic Republic’s vendetta against the freedom and equality-seeking movement of the Iranian people.

On Friday, November 15, male political prisoners in Ghezel Hesar Prison held a special ceremony to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the powerful November, or “Aban” uprising in 2019. Their chants were also recorded on cell phone (the interruptions from a mechanical female voice announce that the call is coming from Ghezel Hesar Prison) and posted on the Bidarzani Telegram channel, and reposted on Instagram by @Mansoureh.Behkish of Mothers of Khavaran. She reported, “They chanted against the rule of the Islamic Republic and what they called ‘dictatorship of Velayat Faqih [the absolute (Islamic) judge]’… and “Aban continues, even if bullets rain on us day and night!”

The weekly “No to Execution Tuesdays” hunger strike of prisoners entered its 42^nd week, now in 25 prisons across Iran. The collective determination shown by the prisoners in the face of dire conditions is a clarion call to a very dangerous world to stand with them, to stand up with dignity for justice, and to follow their example in righteously fighting for a better world. 

“Ekbatan Boys” Sentenced to Death to Punish a Whole Rebellious Neighborhood

On March 8, 2023, International Women’s Day, six hijabless teenage girls in the Ekbatan neighborhood of Tehran, Iran’s capital, danced to a song by Nigerian artist Rema. Their TikTok of this fun, defiant act went viral and they were detained by Iran’s draconian “Morality Police” and forced to issue a public apology. Ekbatan has a reputation for such rebel youth who dwell in this massive housing complex.

On November 13, 2024, six young men known as the Ekbatan Boys were sentenced to death in a blatantly unjust process aimed at extracting revenge against the WLF uprising. They were convicted in the death of paramilitary agent Arman Aliverdi for spying during a protest although no concrete evidence points to their guilt.

Their lawyer, Babak Paknia, noted that all of the accused were tortured, and they insisted that any forced confessions were false, while he himself was barred from the courtroom in a legal process outrageously tainted even by the low-bar standards of the Islamic Republic. The original judge in the case had refused to deliver a death sentence, so he was summarily replaced by two other judges with no knowledge of the case, who quickly issued the death sentence the regime required to take revenge on these young men for the protests.

During the height of the WLF uprising, marches broke out practically every night in Ekbatan, and shouting of slogans from the high-rise windows was a constant. The regime’s Basij paramilitary agents continuously beat and arrested the protesters, shot into windows and trashed buildings. On the night of October 28, 2022, five Basijis were sent in to identify leaders and were beaten by unarmed protesters. One agent, after being beaten, fled the scene and was later stabbed by unknown assailants. Fifty residents were arrested in a dragnet and 14 indicted. None of the convicted were proven to be involved in the stabbing, only to have been present in the vicinity of the protest.³

“Bravery is contagious”

This was a sentiment shouted by crowds on the streets during the monthslong WLF uprising of 2022-2023. Throngs of women also chanted “Bring on the fight, we are all Mahsa” referring to Mahsa Jina Amini who was murdered by Iran’s theocrats for “improper hijab” in September 2022. This powerful uprising against women’s oppression is captured in the Frontline documentary “Inside the Iranian Uprising” that was screened on Friday, November 15 by the Sensible Cinema of the Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco with IEC participation. We encourage others to continue circulating this film along with “Coup 53” that documents the treacherous role of the U.S. and its CIA in the history of Iran that laid the groundwork for the rise of the capitalist theocracy that is the Islamic “Execution Republic” of today. Films, books and other important resources to understand this history and background to the long struggle of political prisoners, and of women, in Iran can be found on our website’s resources page.

Let the bravery of all Iran’s political prisoners, especially the fierce women resisters of Evin Prison, be heard around the world. Let their bravery be a contagion that spreads around our world with the requisite urgency. 

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!