In a stark display of the Iranian regime’s brutality, security forces massacred prisoners in Dizel-Abad prison in Kermanshah on June 16 after the inmates pleaded for safety. The incident began after a nearby military site was struck by an Israeli airstrike, causing an explosion that shattered the prison’s windows and shook its walls. Fearing for their lives, inmates in wards 2, 3, and 8 began protesting, demanding to be moved to a secure location away from the immediate danger zone.
The regime’s response was not protection, but a hail of live ammunition. As one report from inside the prison starkly noted, “The prisoners insisted they be moved from areas where windows had shattered and where they feared further missile strikes. The regime’s answer was bullets.”
A calculated act of repression
Instead of de-escalating the situation, prison authorities deployed the regime’s anti-riot Special Units, who met the prisoners’ pleas for safety with beatings and gunfire. According to eyewitnesses, these forces deliberately targeted the prisoners. At least 10 inmates were killed and over 30 were wounded in the assault. A preliminary report described the attack as a “deliberate and cold-blooded act” against “unarmed, defenseless inmates who were merely trying to flee a danger zone.” In a cynical move to conceal its crime, regime authorities are already reportedly planning a cover-up, intending to falsely claim the prisoners were killed by shrapnel from the airstrike, not by the gunfire of their own forces.
The Dizel-Abad massacre is not an isolated incident but a chilling symptom of a regime gripped by panic. Facing mounting popular resistance, a deepening economic crisis, and growing international isolation, the clerical establishment is responding with brute force. This atrocity follows a disturbing and dramatic spike in the regime’s use of capital punishment, with at least 41 people executed in the last week alone. This turn toward heightened violence underscores the regime’s desperation as it senses its grip on power weakening.
An urgent call for international accountability
The international community cannot stand by as the Iranian regime murders prisoners who are pleading for their lives. The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) has issued an urgent call for justice and immediate international intervention. In a statement, the PMOI demanded, “We urge the UN and the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran to immediately investigate the Kermanshah prison massacre, identify the victims, and hold perpetrators accountable.” The Social Committee of the PMOI has also called on citizens in the Dizel-Abad area to help identify the victims and report details of the crime to ensure the truth is exposed to the world. This brutal massacre is yet another stain on the regime’s appalling human rights record and a clear signal that only decisive international action can begin to hold this unchecked tyranny to account.