Introduction

On one side, fascist Trump rants that if the U.S.-Iran “ceasefire” ends, we’ll find “one big glow coming out of Iran”—this after U.S. and Israeli bombs have already shattered the lives of millions of Iranians. On the other side, the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), under cover of the world’s longest internet blackout, executes and arrests activists and terrorizes society to maintain tight control of the home front. In this horrific context, it is vital to continue highlighting what can be verified about the dire situation facing the people in Iran, in particular for the righteous political prisoners, to rally outcry and solidarity from all justice loving people worldwide. 

Nightmare View on the Ground 

On April 30, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) posted their Key Findings: A Systematic Campaign of Political Executions:

• At least 22 political prisoners were executed between March 17 and April 27, 2026.
• Ten of these executed prisoners were protesters arrested during the January 2026 nationwide protests.
• Most of these executions were carried out in secret and without prior notice to the families or lawyers.
• The executions followed fast-tracked and grossly unfair trials that lacked due process and relied on forced “confessions” extracted under torture.
• Dozens more arrested during the January protests have been sentenced to death following torture, forced “confessions,” and sham trials without independent lawyers....
• Hundreds more may be facing charges that can result in a death sentence.
• The continuation of mass arrests across the country—at least 4000 just since the war began on February 28—and the blocking of lawyers from taking cases, ensures that more death sentences will follow. 

On May 3, @burnthecage reposted an alert from Amnesty Iran: “People in Iran are waking up to news of hangings of protesters and dissidents almost daily.” As of May 15, the lawyers’ group Dadban2021 posted that “682 executions were carried out in Iran during the first four months of 2026” and “32 individuals have been executed in recent months on political charges.” As we write (May 16), the mass arrest and execution numbers continue to rise. Imagine Iran’s 90+ million people living under constant anguish and terror of more U.S.-Israeli bombs as well as more regime repression escalating suddenly.

Head of Iran’s Judiciary Calls for “War Posture” to Ramp up Repression 

According to Iranian official state media on April 5, the head of Iran’s judiciary declared that the judiciary has taken on a “jihadist and war posture” and that dealing with “enemy collaborators” will no longer be “subject to the usual conventions and rules governing normal conditions.” He demanded “utmost decisiveness and acceleration” in issuing and carrying out sentences, particularly concerning laws like the “intensification of punishment for espionage.” He is calling for an extraordinarily broad, rapid and opaque railroad of prisoners, especially those accused of the vague and catch all charge of “collaboration with foreign agents” (like having Starlink internet components or sharing photos of war damage) and “waging war against God” (any open criticism/activity deemed being against the regime). 

Prisoner Resistance Continues

On May 12, the IG account of prisoner Ahmadreza Haeri posted that the “No to Execution Tuesdays” hunger strike campaign continued, even under severe repression and hardships. Their May 5 statement condemned the hanging of at least seven political prisoners, while executions of other prisoners also increased. It concluded:

In the continuation of resistance against medieval death sentences, a number of activists of the No to Execution Tuesdays campaign in the women’s ward of Evin Prison, who chanted ‘No to Execution’ and ‘Death to the Dictator’ last Tuesday, have been denied visits and contact. It is clear to everyone that the policy of repression, imprisonment, and execution cannot prevent the people from rising up against the government because [that] will not cure the pain of a government that has lost its legitimacy among the people. 

Also in Evin, as reported by Free_Reza_Khandan, male political prisoners applauded a live performance of calligraphy painting in honor of women fighters of Iran. Morteza Parvin, an artist in visual and performing arts, wrote in beautiful Farsi calligraphy on three foot by six foot fabric: “Ah! Freedom, how uncertain it is”, from a song by rapper Ali Sorena. Morteza dedicated the work to Nasrin Sotoudeh, renowned defense lawyer who was detained in an unknown location at the time of the performance. She has since been released on bail, after demands by 30 international lawyers’ organizations.

Narges in Hospital—Must be Permanently Released!

Last week, 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi was granted bail and transferred to the care of her specialist medical team in a Tehran hospital, suffering life-threatening medical conditions.¹

A statement by the Nobel Women’s Initiative on May 12, signed by 113 Nobel laureates, sums up what led to this temporary release and the urgent demand for it to become permanent.

We, the undersigned feminist organizations, civil society groups, and human rights defenders, call for the immediate and unconditional release of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Narges Mohammadi and all women human rights defenders imprisoned in Iran for their peaceful activism.

Narges Mohammadi remains in critical condition and under intensive cardiac care after years of imprisonment, solitary confinement, repeated arrests, physical assault, and systematic medical neglect by Iranian authorities. 

Her recent transfer … was secured only after sustained international pressure. While necessary, this transfer is not justice....

At a time of escalating war, militarization, oppression and violence in the region, civilians, human rights defenders, and feminist movements continue to face grave risks. We condemn attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, as well as state repression and violence targeting those who defend human rights, in violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

“We Write Even If Our Freedom Is Shackled” 

PEN America presented its 2026 "Freedom to Write" award in absentia to two Iranian writers: Golrokh Iraee², imprisoned in Evin, and Ali Asadollahi, recently released on bail. Golrokh posted on X a letter to PEN America's May 14 award ceremony. Her letter, translated and posted on this IEC webpage, said in part:

The “pen”… connects the bitter reality of today to the bright horizon of tomorrow, and shatters the silence imposed upon us through the relentless repression of more than a century of domination by “cleric and king”, with social awareness, political awareness, and class consciousness that can liberate the impoverished and the oppressed masses… And you, my dear friends, whose hearts beat to reveal the truth, whose concern is the unimpeded writing of reality—you who honor the “pen” and the struggle for equality and emancipation—your conscious and responsible efforts on behalf of oppressed people fighting for justice amplify the voices of the voiceless… For the establishment of justice and equality—until humanity is emancipated from oppression and subjugation by rulers. 
—Golrokh Iraee, Women’s Ward, Evin Prison

Global Outcry Needed Against War ON Iran and Repression in Iran

Standing with the political prisoners and the ordinary people of Iran at this critical point in time is all the more needed in the face of the scandalous charge that anyone who opposes the U.S.-Israeli war is supporting the repressive regime in Iran. Those who voice opposition to the U.S.-Israeli war and/or opposition to both regimes have been viciously threatened and attacked online and on the ground by the psycho-fascist-monarchist minions of Reza Pahlavi, son of the former U.S. puppet Shah of Iran³. Emboldened by Trump and Netanyahu’s support, they brazenly displayed T-shirts and flags with the logo of the hated SAVAK (the Shah’s secret police/torturers) at recent marches in Germany and Canada. Opposing the theocratic regime is in NO WAY equal to supporting the pro-U.S.-Israeli warmongers. Siding with one or the other of these two oppressors helps to strengthen both—directly against the people of Iran as well as overall against a liberating future for humanity.

We can and must oppose the big U.S. and Israeli gangster (fascist-Zionist genocidal) regimes AND the lesser gangster regime of (Sharia law based) Islamic Republic. Our side in Iran is the masses of people who are victimized by both, especially Iran’s political prisoners who persist in resistance to the regime. What kind of simplistic thinking limits people to picking between non-liberatory “choices,” as opposed to answering the real questions of what kind of world we want to live in and what kind of future we need for our planet? All who care about positive answers to these questions—not only Iranians—should rally to the defense of the Iranian people, especially the brave political prisoners who are NOT just victims but heroes calling on us to join them in standing up to oppression and repression, against the odds.

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!