A wave of international condemnation has erupted following the decision by the Iranian regime’s Supreme Court to uphold the death sentence for political prisoner and boxing champion Mohammad Javad Vafaei-Sani. Human rights organizations, lawmakers, and activists are urgently calling for international intervention to halt what they describe as a politically motivated execution designed to terrorize a restive society and crush organized opposition.
Shocking and outrageous: Iran's Supreme Court has just upheld the death sentence for 30-year-old boxing champion Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, solely for his support of the democratic opposition @Mojahedineng and participation in protests. This brutal decision by Branch 9… pic.twitter.com/atLprg16wT
— James Joseph (@James_JosephTDL) October 5, 2025
Urgent calls for concrete international action
In a statement, the British Committee for Iran Freedom (BCFIF) has warned that the regime’s targeted killings and political executions suggest the regime may be “preparing another series of mass executions reminiscent of the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners.”
This alarming escalation is occurring under the presidency of Masoud Pezeshkian, with a record number of over 1,800 executions carried out since he took office in August 2024. The regime is increasingly using the death penalty as a political tool to terrorize the public and suppress the growing pro-democracy resistance movement.
Free Iran. https://t.co/Y8tpxcstLG
— Janie Johnson – America is Exceptional (@jjauthor) October 5, 2025
As the threat of execution looms, international voices are demanding that condemnation be translated into concrete action. Activists and political figures are calling on the UN and the international community to intervene immediately to save Vafaei-Sani’s life. The BCFIF has urged the UK government and its allies to impose targeted human rights sanctions on the judges and officials responsible for these death sentences, including the regime’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. They insist that any engagement with Tehran must be conditioned on a complete moratorium on executions and the release of all political prisoners.
A champion targeted for his beliefs
Mohammad Javad Vafaei-Sani, 30, is a celebrated boxing champion from Mashhad. He was arrested in March 2020 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the aftermath of the November 2019 nationwide protests. He was subjected to 65 days of intense physical and psychological torture. His sole “crime” was his affiliation with the main democratic opposition, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), and his participation in popular protests against the regime.
Respect voor de Iraanse oppositie die alles op het spel zet voor een democratisch seculier Iran. Helaas ook nu weer zal er een slachtoffer vallen. Deze keer de 30-jarige bokskampioen Mohammed Javad Vafaei Sani. Bid voor hem. @BuZaTweedekamer https://t.co/o6lgAfoz9l
— Dorien Rookmaker (@RookmakerDorien) October 5, 2025
The judicial process in Vafaei-Sani’s case has been a flagrant violation of due process, exposing the regime’s judiciary as a tool of political repression. Initially sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court in Mashhad on the charge of “corruption on Earth,” his case was so riddled with legal flaws that the Supreme Court overturned the verdict on two separate occasions, in November/December 2022 and again in May/June 2024.
Despite these repeated nullifications, Branch 9 of the Supreme Court has now upheld the death sentence, a move that legal experts and human rights activists believe is the result of immense pressure from the regime’s security apparatus. Vafaei-Sani’s lawyer, Babak Paknia, has publicly stated that the verdict was upheld despite “numerous flaws” and has written to the head of the judiciary about the “interference of third parties” in the legal proceedings, a clear reference to the intelligence services railroading the case. The trial was marred by a lack of access to a lawyer during interrogations and the use of forced confessions obtained under torture.
So saddened & disappointed to see this. A fellow sports person standing up for democracy & free speech. In Iran neither exists https://t.co/D8C2rHWVPV
— Sharron Davies MBE (@sharrond62) October 6, 2025
Vafaei-Sani’s case is not an isolated incident but part of a systematic killing spree by a regime desperate to quell dissent. His death sentence follows the recent executions of two PMOI members, Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani. BCFIF warned that at least 17 other political prisoners are currently on death row under similar charges, all facing imminent execution after trials marred by torture and a complete lack of fairness.
And the regime has recently been hinting repeating the “successful experience” of the 1988 massacre of more than 30,000 political prisoners, most of whom were members and supporters of the PMOI.
Seyed Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani
is among at least 15 PMOI/MEK supporters on death row and at imminent risk in Iran:
– Seyed Abolhassan Montazer
– Vahid Bani Amarian
– Seyed Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani
– Seyed Mohammad Taghavi Sang Dehi
– Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvar
– Babak Alipour… https://t.co/VUZ2fobSj0 pic.twitter.com/7eCo7xTMrB— Ehsan Eghbal Eslami (@Ehsaneghbale) October 4, 2025
The world must act now to stop another state-sanctioned murder by the clerical regime and hold its leaders accountable for their ongoing crimes against humanity.