The British Committee for Iran Freedom (BCFIF) is alarmed over the increasing threat of mass executions of political prisoners, human rights activists and political dissidents in Iran, as the regime uses the conflict as a pretext to further criminalise dissent and crush organised opposition.

Last week, Iran's judiciary sentenced three political prisoners, Farshad Etemadi-Far, Masoud Jamei, and Alireza Mardasi (Hamidavi), each to not one but two death sentences. They were charged with “enmity against God (moharebeh),” “gathering and collusion against national security,” “membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK),” and “propaganda against the regime.”

On 16 July, authorities and IRGC forces at Ghezelhesar Prison attempted to violently abduct and transfer politicla prisoner, Saeed Masouri, to an unknown location. Mr Masouri is a former medical student in Germany and one of Iran’s longest-held political prisoner for 25 years. In his letter “A Crime is in Progress”, he courageously warns that authorities are preparing another mass execution in the country’s prisons to eliminate dissidents, mirroring the horrors of the 1988 massacre when the regime executed over 30,000 political prisoners.

The previous UN Special Rapporteur on Iran who investigated these atrocity crimes concluded that they “amounted to crimes against humanity” and that “there is considerable evidence that mass killings, torture and other inhumane acts against members of PMOI were conducted with genocidal intent.”

An editorial published on 7 July by Fars News Agency, affiliated with the IRGC, openly calls for a repeat of the 1988 massacre, describing it as a “successful historical experience” and “a commendable judicial act.”

Fearful of popular protests and future uprisings, especially from PMOI activists and resistance units, the regime is stepping up repression and preparing for widespread arbitrary arrests and mass executions. Today, silence only promotes impunity and risk worsening the human rights crisis unfolding in the country.

Earlier this month, UN experts warned about the official rhetoric in Iran echoing that of the 1988 atrocities. They urged the international community to watch closely to see how Iranian authorities treat their own people.

International and UN intervention are now urgently required to stop possible massacre in Iran’s prisons and to save the lives of those on death row.

The British Committee for Iran Freedom (BCFIF) expects the UK Government to strongly and publicly condemn this intensified repression and the regime’s calculated targeting of dissidents, political prisoners as well as religious and ethnic minorities, in particular those affiliated with Iran’s main opposition, the PMOI. The UK must also intensify efforts to hold the regime to account for the surge in executions and the use of the death penalty, as we stressed in our statement on 25 April.

As cross-party colleagues reiterated in the meeting in the Parliament on 16 July, we call on the UK Government to stand with the Iranian people, their organised resistance and condition any negotiation and diplomacy with Tehran with an immediate halt to executions, the release of all those detained and unhindered access for the UN Special Rapporteurs to visit the country in accordance to their mandate.

British Committee for Iran Freedom

18 July 2025