The Iranian regime has drastically escalated its use of capital punishment, sending a chilling message of terror across a nation simmering with discontent. In recent weeks, a surge in state-sanctioned killings has been documented, a brutal tactic aimed at crushing the spirit of a populace increasingly vocal in its opposition to the clerical dictatorship. Yet, even as the gallows work overtime, a courageous and organized resistance movement is growing within the very walls of Iran’s notorious prisons.
A grim tally: Late May sees a horrifying spike in executions
The final weeks of May 2025 have been particularly bloody. On Wednesday, May 28, the regime announced the execution of Pedram Madani, 41, in Ghezel Hesar Prison. Madani, arrested in 2020, was hanged on charges of “espionage” and “illicit gain” in connection with Israel, with the regime’s Mizan News Agency noting his prior travel to Germany. On the same day, five other prisoners met their deaths: four in Ghezel Hesar Prison, and one in Khash Prison.
This came just two days after the regime carried out 11 executions from May 24 to May 26, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
The regime also executed Setareh Taherloo, a female prisoner hanged in Damghan Prison on Monday, May 19.
These figures build upon an already horrifying trend. During the Iranian month of Ordibehesht (April 21 – May 21, 2025), the prisoners’ “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign reported that “the oppressive apparatus of the mullahs’ regime sent over 170 imprisoned compatriots to the gallows; an unprecedented and horrifying statistic showing that two prisoners were executed in Iran every nine hours.”
Regime’s terror tactic: Executions to silence a nation
The NCRI has stated that this intensified wave of executions is a direct response by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to widespread public discontent. As various sectors of Iranian society, from bakers and truck drivers to educators and retirees, have taken to the streets in protest, the regime fears a popular uprising. Executions, particularly of young people, are wielded as a tool to instill terror and delay the inevitable downfall of the notorious mullahs’ regime.
This analysis is echoed by the prisoners themselves. In their statement for the 70th week of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign, they assert: “It is completely clear that every death sentence in Iran has a political aspect and is not merely the punishment of an accused; because every accused is a victim of the corrupt and inefficient ruling structure.” They further note the absence of a “fair trial process in the judicial and security apparatus of the government,” concluding that “the main goal of these executions is to create fear and terror in society and to prevent popular uprisings; because with the intensification of crises in the country, repression and executions have also found an upward trend.”
In their 70th-week statement, the prisoners lamented that “the taking of prisoners’ lives in the prisons of the ruling tyranny has not only not stopped, but the statistics of this ‘government-sanctioned murder of imprisoned citizens’ continue to rise.” Prisoners engage in various forms of protest, most notably hunger strikes. In a poignant act of creative resistance, “women prisoners, members of this campaign in Evin Prison, gather every Tuesday concurrently with the families’ gatherings and chant the slogan ‘No to Executions.’”
Targeting minorities and the urgent call for international action
The regime’s execution machine often targets vulnerable minority groups. The “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign noted that during the month of Ordibehesht (April 21 – May 21), approximately 19% of those executed were “oppressed Baluch compatriots, who face double oppression and discrimination.”
In light of this unrestrained wave of executions, the NCRI has repeatedly called on the United Nations, its relevant bodies, the European Union, and member states to condemn these atrocities. The NCRI urges immediate action to save the lives of prisoners on death row. Crucially, it demands that “the case of human rights violations in Iran must be referred to the United Nations Security Council, and the regime’s leaders must be brought to justice for executions and massacres.”
The escalating executions are a stark indicator of the Iranian regime’s desperation. However, the growing and organized defiance from within its prisons signals that the spirit of resistance remains unbroken. The international community must heed the calls for action before more innocent lives are lost to this brutal campaign of state terror.