The Iranian regime’s vicious crackdown on dissent has once again been thrust into the spotlight with the recent arbitrary arrests of members of the Akbari Monfared family and political activist Bijan Kazemi. Their plight, detailed in an urgent appeal by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), is not an isolated incident but rather a stark illustration of a decades-long, systematic campaign by the clerical regime to silence any opposition, particularly those affiliated with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) or families who dare to seek justice for past atrocities.
This relentless persecution utilizes a brutal playbook of arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, denial of life-saving medical care, sham trials, and the ever-present threat of execution, painting a grim picture of the human rights crisis unfolding within Iran’s prisons.
NCRI sounds alarm for Akbari Monfared and Kazemi
In a statement dated May 22, 2025, the NCRI called for an urgent intervention by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran to ascertain the well-being of Bijan Kazemi, Mohammad Akbari Monfared, Amirhossein Akbari Monfared, and the long-suffering political prisoner Maryam Akbari Monfared.
Bijan Kazemi, born in 1981 in Kuhdasht, was re-arrested without any pretext by Ministry of Intelligence agents on January 20, 2025. His mother has been denied any visits for 120 days, receiving only a single, brief two-minute phone call after persistent follow-ups. Kazemi had previously endured over two years in Khorramabad prison, arrested in April 2020, and was later released with an electronic ankle monitor attached for a year and a half. His case had previously been reported to the UN Special Rapporteur and Amnesty International.
The Akbari Monfared family has faced a renewed onslaught. On January 19, 2025, a day after the reported deaths of regime judges Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghiseh, a heavily armed contingent of intelligence agents, clad in bulletproof vests and brandishing machine guns, raided the Tehran home of 22-year-old Amirhossein Akbari Monfared.
He was dragged away, beaten, and has not been heard from since. Two days later, on January 21, 2025, agents returned to the home and arrested his father, Mohammad Akbari Monfared. Mr. Akbari Monfared is a former political prisoner from the 1980s who was also detained during the 2022 nationwide uprising. His current whereabouts are also unknown. Following these arrests, intelligence interrogators reportedly began threatening family members, probing for any connections to the PMOI.
Maryam Akbari Monfared, a symbol of unbroken resistance and regime cruelty
The ordeal of Mohammad and Amirhossein Akbari Monfared is tragically linked to their family’s long history of persecution, epitomized by Maryam Akbari Monfared. She has endured 16 years of unjust imprisonment, currently held in the notorious Qarchak Prison among common criminals, despite her deteriorating health. Her only “crime” is seeking justice for her sister and three brothers—members of the PMOI—who were executed by regime henchmen during the 1980s and in the 1988 massacre.
The regime’s cruelty towards Maryam Akbari Monfared extends to the deliberate denial of medical care, a tactic tantamount to torture. She suffers from a severe spinal cord injury and a herniated disc, conditions that place her under the imminent threat of paralysis. Yet, authorities persistently deny her access to treatment in a specialized hospital or even a day of medical leave. After completing her original 15-year prison term in October 2021, instead of being released, the regime fabricated a new case against her, charging her with “spreading falsehoods” and “propaganda against the state.” This resulted in an additional two-year sentence and her transfer to Qarchak Prison in October 2024.
The broader canvas of repression
The arbitrary nature of the arrests of the Akbari Monfareds and Kazemi mirrors the regime’s disregard for due process, a cornerstone of its judicial oppression. The case of PMOI supporter Mehdi Hassani is a horrifying testament. Facing imminent execution, his third request for a judicial review was rejected by the Supreme Court on May 20, 2025, without his lawyer even being allowed to review the case file. Hassani was tortured in Evin’s Ward 209 and sentenced to death by the notorious Judge Iman Afshari on charges including “Moharebeh” (waging war against God) and “membership in the PMOI.” Amnesty International condemned his trial as “extremely unfair.” This occurs against the backdrop of an alarming execution spree, with over 1,100 people executed since Masoud Pezeshkian assumed the presidency in July 2024.
An urgent call for international action
The suffering of the Akbari Monfared family, Bijan Kazemi, and countless other political prisoners in Iran is not a series of isolated abuses but the manifestation of a calculated state policy of terror. It reflects a regime terrified of its own people and the enduring appeal of organized resistance.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran has repeatedly called upon the UN Human Rights Council, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, and all international human rights bodies, as well as the European Union and its member states, to condemn these brutal practices. There is an urgent need for immediate international action to demand access to these prisoners, secure the release of all sick and arbitrarily detained individuals, and hold the Iranian regime accountable for its systematic crimes against humanity. Global vigilance and concrete, decisive interventions are critical