On July 22, 2026, the Iranian regime executed 26-year-old law graduate and member of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), Mehdi Khanaki. Arrested in February 2026 during massive nationwide protests, Khanaki was subjected to severe torture and sentenced to death in a sham trial on charges of PMOI membership and active participation in the uprising.
His execution is part of a brutal, escalating wave of state violence. Exploiting the fog of war and regional conflicts, Tehran has launched a sweeping campaign of mass arrests and political executions, desperately attempting to mask its own weakness and prevent another uprising.
Iran’s criminal regime hanged PMOI member Mehdi Khanaki, a 25-year-old law student, at dawn on Wednesday, July 22.
The regime’s executioners arrested this courageous PMOI member in Karaj on February 10, 2026, and subjected him to brutal torture.
Mizan, the news agency of the… pic.twitter.com/xqTvCYfXEn
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) July 22, 2026
A recently emerged letter written by Khanaki in September 2024 highlights exactly why the clerical regime is so terrified of the Iranian youth. The letter demonstrates his unshakeable determination to continue the path of the PMOI and his conscious decision to sacrifice his life for a free Iran.
Instead of instilling fear, the regime’s brutality, torture, and executions only serve to harden the resolve of PMOI members and Resistance Units in their struggle to overthrow the religious dictatorship. Khanaki’s words reflect the PMOI’s proud 60-year history of unyielding struggle against two dictatorships—the Shah and the mullahs. It proves that a movement built on such conscious sacrifice is an indestructible force that the regime can never annihilate.
In his moving letter, Khanaki reflects on the “45 years” of suffering the Iranian people have endured since Ruhollah Khomeini took power, drawing parallels between the regime and historical tyrants. “In legends, we read that Zahhak killed the youth, or the Pharaoh killed infants… Today, we witness these historical and mythological stories playing out in this demonic regime,” he wrote.
He fiercely condemns the regime’s misogyny and recognizes the transformative power of Iranian women, noting that Ali Khamenei “kills the daughters of this land under the pretext of a strand of hair because he knows very well that he will be destroyed by these very women and girls, and Iran will be freed by these lionesses.”
🚨 Simay Azadi Exclusive | PMOI member Mehdi Khanaki's final pledge
On July 2, 2024, PMOI political prisoner Mehdi Khanaki declared:
"God is my witness that today I have no hope or desire other than to tear down the walls of Ghezel Hesar as soon as possible, and to destroy… https://t.co/qQF7QOrHo2 pic.twitter.com/1alNh72f9j— SIMAY AZADI TV (@en_simayazadi) July 22, 2026
Recalling the brutal 1980s massacres, he highlights the historical continuity of the regime’s crimes, remembering the women who were executed while pregnant. Turning this pain into resolve, he affirmed: “Even a small fraction of these atrocities… is enough to make my conscience ache and for me to decide never to back down from fighting dictatorship until the last moment of my life.”
Khanaki explicitly connects the crimes of the previous monarchy to the current clerical regime, vowing to “destroy forever all the prisons that the cursed Shah built and left as an inheritance for his successor, Khomeini.”
The letter concludes with a powerful, binding oath: “I swear to always remain a Mojahed with steadfastness and a fighting spirit on this path, to die a Mojahed, and to fight with all my being.”
Full text of Mehdi Khanaki’s letter
Letter by PMOI martyr Mehdi Khanaki – September 2024
In the name of God and in the name of the heroic people of Iran,
For 45 years, this land has seen nothing but suffering and torment. Happiness has packed its bags, and mourning and sorrow have taken its place.
From the day the anti-human Khomeini set his ominous foot in this homeland, it has seen nothing but the spilling of the blood of the innocent.
From the massacre of the people of Kurdistan to the terrifying and dark decade of the 1980s, up to today when the regime is besieged by a series of uprisings by the Iranian people, killing, torture, rape, and blinding eyes… this is the work of this savage and bloodthirsty mob.
In legends, we read that Zahhak killed the youth, or the Pharaoh killed infants to eliminate Moses, peace be upon him. Today, we witness these historical and mythological stories playing out in this demonic regime.
The bastard Khamenei kills the daughters of this land under the pretext of a strand of hair to preserve his satanic rule because he knows very well that he will be destroyed by these very women and girls, and Iran will be freed by these lionesses.
As much as the enemy is dishonorable, cowardly, and vile, Iranian women are brave, steadfast, resolute, and pure.
Thinking even for a second about the atrocities of this vile, demonic regime instantly turns one’s hair white, bends a straight back, and ages a youth in an instant.
From the tortures, rapes, and executions in the 1980s to the present day, from the oppression inflicted upon our resilient prisoners.
How many of my sisters in the 1980s were executed and faced firing squads with their unborn children. How many of my sisters lost their fetuses under the savage torture of these demons.
How many brothers had young children when they went to the execution fields, firing squads, and battlefields, and today their brave children continue their path with steadfastness and resolve.
How many children were forced to grow up far from their fathers and mothers, hearing the news of the martyrdom and loss of their parents during their childhood and adolescence.
These injustices are only a small part of what I have heard, and God knows how much more of it I do not know, and how much more has never even been recounted.
God is my witness that today I have no hope or desire other than to tear down the walls of Ghezel Hesar as soon as possible and destroy forever all the prisons that the cursed Shah built and left as an inheritance for his successor, Khomeini, so that no human being is ever held captive in them again. And every day this is delayed, I am ashamed and sorrowful.
Even a small fraction of these atrocities, just a fraction, makes the conscience of any human being ache, and it is enough for me to decide never to back down from fighting dictatorship until the last moment of my life.
Therefore, I make a pledge and swear, I swear by the blood of our martyrs and the suffering of our captives, I swear by every moment of the choked-back sobs and tears that children shed upon losing their martyred mothers and fathers, to always remain a Mojahed with steadfastness and a fighting spirit on this path, to die a Mojahed, and to fight with all my being alongside Massoud and Maryam Rajavi.