Over 300 global figures—including UN experts, Nobel laureates, former ambassadors, judges, and human rights leaders—have issued an urgent appeal for United Nations intervention to stop what they call a “campaign of politically motivated executions” in Iran.
The joint statement, signed by a wide range of international voices, condemned Tehran’s judicial handling of political prisoners and called on democratic governments and UN bodies to act swiftly.
The appeal centers on the cases of Behrouz Ehsani, 69, and Mehdi Hassani, 48, whose death sentences were recently upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court.
The statement described their prosecution as a sham: “Their kangaroo trial on 10 August 2024, lasting just five minutes, was a travesty of justice: they were denied legal counsel for nearly two years, tortured, and silenced during proceedings.”
The charges include “membership in the exiled opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization” and “propaganda,” framed as “enmity against God” and “corruption on earth” under Iran’s legal code.
“We demand an immediate halt to their execution,” the signatories wrote. “The international community must not remain silent.”
The group also warned of a broader execution drive under President Masoud Pezeshkian, who took office in August 2024. Since then, more than 1,000 executions have been carried out, disproportionately targeting women, juveniles, ethnic and religious minorities, and political dissenters. Several prisoners, including Abolhassan Montazer and Sharifeh Mohammadi, have already been moved to Ghezel Hesar Prison—described in the statement as “a notorious execution site.”
The appeal highlights findings by former UN Special Rapporteur Javaid Rehman, whose July 2024 report concluded that mass killings in Iran in 1981–82 and 1988 amounted to crimes against humanity and genocide. “The Iranian authorities’ systematic targeting of political prisoners is rooted in a culture of impunity,” the joint statement said.
They called on the UN and democratic governments to “identify and sanction Iranian officials responsible for human rights violations” and to tie future relations with Iran to the release of political prisoners and abolition of the death penalty.
Iran accounted for 64% of all known global executions in 2024, with at least 972 people executed, according to Amnesty International.
