On September 22, 2026, prisoners across 64 facilities in Iran held the 139th consecutive week of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign, staging hunger strikes to protest the Iranian regime’s widespread use of the death penalty. The campaign, which has been ongoing for nearly three years, expanded this week with the joining of inmates from Bandar Abbas Prison and Ziabar Prison in Sowme’eh Sara.
Despite severe restrictions imposed by prison authorities, the coordinated action continues to grow. In their weekly statement, the participating prisoners noted that their strikes persist despite systemic repression.
“This ongoing protest continues in a situation where participating prisoners have faced security pressures, threats, restrictions on contact outside the prison, and punitive measures over the past weeks,” the prisoners wrote in their statement.
Exposing the regime’s targeting of protesters and vulnerable citizens
The campaign’s latest statement highlighted recent judicial actions taken against political detainees and vulnerable groups. Over the past week, the regime’s judiciary confirmed the death sentences of Mohammadreza Majidi Asl in Tehran and Omid Goudarzvand Chegini in Chobindar Prison in Qazvin. Both men were arrested during the nationwide protests of December 2025–January 2026 and are now at imminent risk of execution. Additionally, a death sentence was issued for 19-year-old student Omidreza Heydari from Izeh.
The statement also brought attention to the recent execution of Rezvan Asgharzadeh, a 45-year-old mother of six, who was hanged in Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan on drug-related charges.
Condemning this act, the prisoners wrote: “The execution of a mother once again brings the human and social consequences of the death penalty and the misogyny of this anti-human government to the center of attention.”
A staggering death toll and calls for international accountability
The expansion of the prison resistance coincides with a sharp increase in state-sanctioned killings. The striking prisoners emphasized the sheer volume of executions taking place in the current Iranian calendar year, noting that domestic defiance is happening in the shadow of relentless state violence.
“These strikes and protests by prisoners continue while, according to published statistics, the number of recorded executions in the year 1405 [2026–2027] has reached at least 448,” the statement read.
The statement also referenced growing international scrutiny regarding the regime’s human rights abuses, noting that Amnesty International recently named 87 Iranian officials for criminal investigations regarding their roles in crimes committed during the crackdown on the 2022 protests. Furthermore, the European Parliament has voiced deep concern over the ongoing suppression, the execution of protesters, and the dire conditions of prisoners, emphasizing the necessity of respecting the fundamental right to life.
The prisoners participating in the 139th week of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” hunger strike on September 22, 2026, are located in the 64 facilities, with Ziabar Prison in Sowme’eh Sara being added to the growing list of prisons taking part in the campaign.