Following the massive nationwide uprisings of December 2025 to January 2026 that brought the Iranian regime to its knees, the ruling religious fascism is attempting to maintain its grip on power through a severe campaign of repression.
Terrified of the eruption of the people’s anger, the regime is intensifying executions, issuing heavy prison sentences, and harassing political prisoners to create an atmosphere of fear and terror. The latest of the regime’s actions is upholding the death sentence of 38-year-old poet and PMOI supporter Amin (Peyman) Farahavar, whose life is now in grave danger.
Mr. Farahavar’s death sentence was recently upheld once again by the regime’s Supreme Court on charges of ‘Baghi’ (armed rebellion) and ‘Moharebeh’ (enmity against God). In early May 2026, his lawyer’s request for a retrial was officially rejected, placing him in immediate danger.
Mr. Farahavar was initially sentenced to death on May 1, 2025, by criminal judge Ahmad Darvish-Goftar at the Revolutionary Court in Rasht, in a session held without the presence of a lawyer. Currently held in Lakan Prison in Rasht, he is systematically deprived of vital medical treatment. During his interrogations, he suffered internal bleeding, and he continues to endure intense pain from complications related to gallbladder surgery.
A broader pattern of death sentences and executions
Farahavar’s case is not an isolated incident but part of a systematic use of the death penalty to instill fear. In early May 2026, the same judge in Rasht, executioner Ahmad Darvish-Goftar, upheld the death sentence of 36-year-old political prisoner Manouchehr Fallah on charges of membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). Fallah has been held in the Mithaq Ward of Lakan Prison since June 2023.
This follows the recent executions of eight PMOI members since March 30, 2026: Mohammad Taghavi, Ali Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvarkar, Pouya Ghobadi, Babak Alipour, Vahid Bani Amerian, Abolhassan Montazer, Hamed Validi and Mohammad (Nima) Massoum Shahi.
Draconian prison sentences and physical abuse
Beyond the gallows, the judiciary is handing down massive prison terms and subjecting detainees to extreme physical abuse. Political prisoner Bijan Kazemi, 45, was sentenced to a staggering 37 years and 6 months in prison by executioner judge Abolqasem Salavati at Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. Kazemi endured 16 months of torture and uncertainty in secret detention centers and Evin Prison’s Ward 209 after his arrest in January 2025. Interrogators falsely claimed he provided weapons to assailants of two senior regime judges.
The regime is also punishing free expression. Thirty-year-old Forough Taghipour, who is already serving a 15-year sentence, was handed an additional year in prison by judge Sharifi-Nasab simply for publishing a message for Student Day in 2025. Meanwhile, 40-year-old Roozbeh Alipour—brother of the executed Babak Alipour—was violently arrested in January 2026. He suffered severe fractures to his hands and legs, alongside serious head and face injuries under torture. Currently in Ghezel Hesar Prison, he is continuously beaten with pipes and sticks and denied family visits and basic medical care.
Psychological warfare and harassment of families
The regime is also employing psychological warfare against political prisoners and their families. In a deeply inhumane act, 58-year-old political prisoner Mojtaba Taghavi was transferred from prison to the Aminabad psychiatric hospital. Arrested in March 2024 solely for being in contact with his brother Mohammad, Mojtaba was sentenced to 6 years and 7 months in prison after months of torture. Following his brother’s execution, prison authorities vindictively harassed Mojtaba by disrupting the delivery of his essential medications before transferring him to the psychiatric facility, intentionally intensifying the pressure on him and his family.
The Iranian Resistance continues to call on relevant United Nations bodies and international human rights organizations to strongly condemn these ongoing crimes. There is an urgent need for immediate action to save the lives of political prisoners facing death sentences, particularly Amin Farahavar, and to secure their unconditional release. Furthermore, the international community must establish an independent fact-finding mission to visit Iran’s prisons and meet directly with political prisoners before more lives are lost to the regime’s machinery of death.