In an unprecedented show of international solidarity, over 520 political dignitaries, lawmakers, former ministers, mayors, jurists, and human rights advocates from across the globe have issued a joint statement condemning the alarming escalation of executions in Iran since August 2024. The signatories denounce the systematic use of the death penalty under President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration and call for an immediate halt to all executions, particularly those targeting political prisoners. They also demand accountability for past atrocities, including the 1988 massacre of thousands of political prisoners—a crime that remains unpunished to this day.
This statement forms part of an ongoing global campaign to end executions in Iran and to challenge the entrenched culture of impunity that enables such crimes. We invite all individuals, organizations, and governments to join this urgent call: No to executions. No to impunity.
No to executions. No to impunity for the perpetrators of the 1988 massacre.
International community’s silence and inaction pave the way for another massacre in Iran
We, the undersigned, call on the international community to urgently act against the accelerating wave of executions in Iran.
Since Pezeshkian, president of the religious dictatorship took office in August 2024, over 2,000 executions have been carried out. In September 2025 alone, 50 people were executed in just one week, that is, one execution every 3.5 hours. On one single day of that week, 22 people, including two women, were hanged. The systematic execution of women, with at least 42 cases since the beginning of 2025, is unprecedented worldwide.
Currently, more than 50 political prisoners, including 3 women, are on death row. In July 2025, the regime executed Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani on charges of membership in the MEK, and vague charges such as “Moharebeh” (waging war against God). Seventeen others face execution on the same charges.
On July 8, 2025, the state-run Fars News Agency, in an editorial, praised the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners as a “successful historical experience” and called for its repetition. Decades of entrenched impunity have paved the way for such crimes.
Javaid Rehman, the then-UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran, described this massacre in his final report in 2024 as a crime against humanity and genocide. Meanwhile, the systematic destruction of mass graves of those executed is part of an effort to erase the traces of these crimes.
Amnesty International, on September 3, 2025, warned of a repeat of the 1988 massacre. Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, also stated on July 28 that there are at least 48 people currently on death row – 12 of whom are believed to be at imminent risk of execution.”
We demand:
- An immediate halt to all executions in Iran, especially the executions of political prisoners facing imminent risk.
- Prosecution of those responsible for past and present crimes, including the 1988 massacre.
- Sanctions on those responsible for human rights abuses, including prison authorities, judges, and executioners.
- Urgent action by the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran and UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and all international human rights bodies to prevent another massacre in Iran.
