Prisoners in Iran continue one of the bravest acts of resistance inside the country by holding hunger strikes every Tuesday against executions.
This protest, now known as “No to Executions Tuesdays,” began in January 2024 in Ghezel Hesar Prison. It started when prisoners sentenced to death saw their cellmates being taken away to be hanged. Instead of silently waiting for their own turn, they chose to resist. Their action began as a cry from death row, but it has now become a nationwide prison movement.
As of Tuesday, 30 June 2026, the campaign has reached its 127th week and has spread to 57 prisons across Iran. The latest prison to join the action was Kerman Prison. This means that prisoners across the country — from Evin and Ghezel Hesar to Ahvaz, Zahedan, Tabriz, Sanandaj, Kermanshah, Shiraz, Rasht and many other prisons — are raising one common demand: Stop the executions.
This campaign deserves far wider support. Many people outside Iran, and even many Iranians abroad, are still unaware of it. Yet these prisoners are risking punishment, isolation, deprivation of basic rights and even death in order to defend the most fundamental human right: the right to life.
The Islamic Republic has always used execution as a weapon of fear. This is not a system of “justice.” It is a system of punishment and intimidation. It is used against political prisoners, protesters, oppressed national minorities, women, workers, the poor, religious minorities and many others who are denied the right to a fair trial and basic legal protections. Forced confessions, torture, secret trials and vague charges such as “enmity against God,” “corruption on earth,” “espionage,” or “collaboration with the enemy” are used to prepare the ground for state killings.
The figures are shocking. In 2025, human rights observers recorded at least 1,639 executions in Iran, a huge increase compared with 975 cases in 2024. Amnesty International’s global report, meanwhile, states that there were at least 2,159 executions in Iran in 2025. Whatever the exact number, the conclusion is the same: the Islamic Republic has turned the gallows into one of the main instruments of its rule.
The situation has become even more dangerous during the recent war with the United States and Israel. While the people of Iran suffer from bombs, sanctions, fear, economic hardship and insecurity, the Islamic Republic has used the war as an excuse to intensify repression inside the country. Thousands of people have been arrested. Political cases have been accelerated. Accusations of “collaboration,” “espionage” and “acting on behalf of the enemy” are being used to silence opposition. Human rights organisations have reported dozens of politically motivated executions during this period.
Let Us Defend the Prisoners’ Resistance in Iran
In the prisoners’ statement for the 127th week, it was stated that in the Iranian calendar month of Khordad alone — 22 May to 21 June 2026 — at least 134 executions took place. This reality means that even while the regime speaks of war, negotiations and national security, it continues to operate its death machine against the people.
The truth must be stated clearly: the people of Iran are trapped between imperialist aggression from outside and reactionary repression from within. The United States and Israel are not bringing freedom to Iran. Their attacks only create more suffering and provide the Islamic Republic with yet another excuse to increase repression against the people. Therefore, the Islamic Republic is not defending the people. On the contrary, through prisons, executions, censorship, poverty and fear, it is defending its own rule.
Against these two forces, the prisoners’ campaign points to another path: the path of people’s resistance, solidarity and the defense of human dignity.
Every Tuesday, prisoners who have very little control over their own bodies use the only weapon left to them: collective refusal. A one-day protest hunger strike says that the victims of repression will not remain silent. It says that those sentenced to death are not merely numbers. They are human beings with names, families, histories and rights. It says that the gallows must not be normalised.
The prisoners of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign must be supported. We support the families who wait outside prisons, often without any information, frequently under threat, and who are sometimes even denied the bodies of their loved ones after execution. We support everyone in Iran who opposes the death penalty, whether the prisoner is political or non-political. The right to life must not depend on the charge written by the regime’s courts.
We call on progressive, democratic, anti-imperialist and human rights forces everywhere to raise the voice of this campaign. The names of those sentenced to death must be made public. Families must not be left alone. Trade unions, student groups, women’s organisations, writers, artists, lawyers and political organisations must take up this cause.
Silence serves the executioner. Publicising these cases can save lives.
The demand is simple and urgent:
End all executions in Iran.
Cancel all death sentences.
Free political prisoners.
End torture and forced confessions.
Defend the right to life.
Every Tuesday must become a day of solidarity with prisoners in Iran. Every execution must be met with protest. Every name must be remembered. Every prison wall must hear that those inside are not alone.
The prisoners have kept this campaign alive for 127 weeks. It must now become our duty to carry their voice beyond the prison walls.
Support the prisoners of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign!
UPOTUDAK- International Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoner
