On Saturday, December 6, 2025, the Iranian regime transferred the 30-year-old political prisoner and boxing champion Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani to solitary confinement in Mashhad’s Vakilabad Prison. With all communication lines to the prison severed, this move is a clear and final prelude to his state-sanctioned murder. Vafaei’s imminent execution is not merely an act of judicial cruelty; it is a calculated message of terror from a cornered regime, desperately trying to extinguish the defiant spirit of a generation it can no longer control.
A trial of terror: the corruption of ‘justice’ in Iran
Vafaei’s case is a textbook example of how the regime’s judiciary has become a weapon of political repression. Arrested in January 2020 for his support of the PMOI following the nationwide protests, he was subjected to 65 days of intense physical and psychological torture to extract forced confessions. The trial that followed was a flagrant violation of due process.
The legal case against him was so riddled with flaws that the regime’s own Supreme Court was forced to overturn his death sentence on two separate occasions, first in late 2022 and again in mid-2024. However, in a move that exposes the complete subservience of the judiciary to the security apparatus, the court has now upheld the sentence. Vafaei’s lawyer has publicly pointed to the “interference of third parties” in the legal proceedings—a clear reference to the intelligence services railroading the case to secure a political execution.
The execution spree: a systematic campaign, not an isolated case
Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani is not an isolated victim. He is the latest face of a systematic campaign of terror aimed at intimidating a nation on the verge of change. He is one of at least 18 political prisoners currently on death row for their support of the PMOI. This list includes his own cousin, Mehdi Vafaei, who is now facing fabricated capital charges.
In July, the regime executed two PMOI members Mehdi Hassani and Behrouz Ehsani. And it is preparing for a much larger-scale crackdown on dissent and political prisoners.
This machinery of repression is a chilling echo of the regime’s past crimes, with officials openly hinting at repeating the “successful experience” of the 1988 massacre, where over 30,000 political prisoners, mostly PMOI members, were executed.
A confession of fear: why the regime is terrified of its youth
This brutal escalation is not a demonstration of strength but a confession of profound weakness. The regime’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, is terrified of the growing appeal of the organized Resistance, particularly among Iran’s youth. The proof lies not in the propaganda, but in the panicked admissions of its own officials.
In a stunningly candid statement on October 31, a senior advisor to President Masoud Pezeshkian confessed on social media: “Generation Z is against us. This is a reality that the President has spoken of honestly and with frankness… let’s think of a solution.” This admission from the highest levels of government reveals the regime views an entire generation as an enemy force. This fear was echoed by Khamenei’s prayer leaders, who declared the regime’s “decisive battle” is now being fought “at the school-level” over the hearts and minds of the youth. Their solution is clear: crush the dissent they directly link to the PMOI through terror and execution.
The world must act before the gallows fall
The Iranian Resistance urgently calls on the United Nations, the European Union, and all international human rights defenders to take immediate and concrete action to save the life of Mohammad Javad Vafaei. The world must hold the leaders of this regime accountable for their crimes against humanity. Condemnation is not enough. The international community must recognize the inalienable right of the Iranian people to resist this tyranny and establish a free and democratic republic. Action must be taken now, before another champion of the people is silenced forever.