Iran: Pezeshkian’s Presidency Begins With An Uptick In Executions – OpEd

While Iran’s regime has been selling its new president as a moderate and reformist, the human rights situation in Iran has not changed and has remained on the path of decline. The regime has ramped up executions and is mounting pressure on political prisoners.

On August 6, the regime executedReza Rasaei, a political prisoner who was arrested during the 2022 protests. Rasaei was tortured and forced into making incriminating confessions about killing a regime security agent. Rasaei was the ninth person to be executed in relation to the 2022 protests. Many others have been sentenced to death.

At the same time, the regime is increasing executions across the country with dozens of executions in the past week. On August 7, at least 20 prisoners were hanged in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj. They had been transferred to solitary confinement a few days prior in preparation for their execution. On August 4, the regime hanged two prisoners named in Tehran and Bushehr. On August 3, four prisoners were hanged in Tabriz and Khorramabad.

On August 1, two other prisoners were executed in Khorramabad. On July 31, five prisoners were executed in Mashhad and Yasuj. On July 29 and 30, two Baluchi prisoners were hanged in Minab. On July 28, one prisoner was executed in Baft, and on July 27, four prisoners, including a woman, were hanged in the Central Prison of Khorramabad.

Growing pressure on political prisoners

At the same time, the regime continues to mount pressure on political prisoners by denying them their most basic rights.

In an inhumane act, regime authorities in Sheiban Prison of Ahvaz are denying medical care to political prisoner Mehran Gharebaghi, who suffers from heart disease and eye pain and has recently contracted an intestinal infection due to contaminated water and food in the prison. Moreover, the authorities also prevent his family from providing means for his medical care outside the prison. Mehran, 32, has been in prison since 2019 and is sentenced to 11 years imprisonment.

Political prisoner Fatemeh Ziaei Azad, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis (MS), endures severe pain and is also denied access to doctors and essential medications in prison. Fatemeh’s two daughters are members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI). She has been imprisoned on several occasions on political charges since the 1980s and has spent more than 10 years in the prisons and torture chambers of the regime. In September 2022, the regime sentenced her to six and half years in prison.

Another urgent case is that of 70-year-old Mir Youssef Younesi, a political prisoner in Evin Prison, who needs surgery due to illness and pain in the abdomen and ears. But prison guards prevent his transfer to the hospital. Even after his family reserved a hospital bed and specialist doctor for him, prison guards obstructed his transfer.

At Lakan Prison in Rasht, political prisoners Manouchehr Fallah and Hafez Forouhi have been on a hunger strike since July 22, 2024, protesting their undetermined status. Hafez Forouhi was arrested during the 2022 nationwide uprising and has been kept in a state of limbo for 19 months. Manouchehr Fallah, 34 years old, was arrested in June 2023, and although bail has been set for him, authorities prevent his release on bail. Despite their deteriorating conditions Fallah and Forouhi have declared that they will continue their hunger strike until they achieve results.

This level of cruelty and brutality at the beginning of Masoud Pezeshkian’s presidency shows that human rights abuses is a key pillar of this regime’s survival strategy, and without killings and executions, the regime cannot survive a year.