Iran’s ‘No to Executions Tuesdays’ campaign expands to 56 prisons as regime executes over 350 in a single month

2026-02-24 - 21:04

On Tuesday, February 24, 2026, the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign entered its 109th consecutive week, with prisoners across 56 facilities nationwide joining a hunger strike. This expansion of the strike comes amidst a dramatic surge in capital punishment, as the Iranian regime attempts to quell ongoing dissent following the uprisings in January. In their weekly statement, the participating prisoners revealed alarming statistics regarding the judiciary’s recent activities. According to the campaign, the regime executed more than 350 people during the Persian calendar month of Bahman (January 21 to February 19). This figure represents a five-fold increase compared to the same period last year. The killing spree has continued unabated into the current month of Esfand (starting on February 20), with 33 prisoners sent to the gallows in just the first few days of the month. The striking prisoners highlighted specific cases of detainees facing imminent execution following “hasty courts” and “fabricated cases.” The statement identified 19-year-old Mohammad Amin Biglari and 55-year-old Mohammad Abbasi, both of whom were sentenced to death by the notorious Judge Abolghassem Salavati at Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on charges of “Moharebeh” (waging war against God), a vaguely defined crime that the regime uses to sentence dissidents to death. The campaign noted that these detainees are deprived of chosen legal counsel and subjected to torture beyond human endurance. Furthermore, the prisoners reported the suspicious death of Abdullah Paraki in the detention center of the Intelligence Department in Mehrestan, and confirmed that the death sentence of Mehrab Abdollahzadeh, a detainee from the 2022 uprising, has been upheld in Urmia Prison. The 109th week of the strike coincides with the 40th-day memorials for the victims of the January 2026 uprising. The prisoners described these gatherings as a “symbol of the continuity of the uprising,” noting that the memorials have evolved into anti-regime protests featuring slogans against the dictatorship. “These gatherings showed that the memory and name of the victims of repression have become an inspiring force for the realization of overthrow and the establishment of justice, freedom, and equality,” the statement read. Expressing solidarity with the younger generation, the striking prisoners sent greetings to university students at Sharif, Tehran, Amirkabir, Art, National, and Mashhad universities. They praised the students for standing against repression and called on the public to protect the university as a “bastion of resistance against dictatorship and fundamentalism.” The prisoners participating in the hunger strike this week are incarcerated in the following facilities: Evin Prison (women’s and men’s wards), Ghezel Hesar Prison (units 2, 3, and 4), Karaj Central Prison, Fardis Prison in Karaj, Greater Tehran Prison, Qarchak Prison, Khorin Prison in Varamin, Chobindar Prison in Qazvin, Ahar, Arak, Langerud in Qom, Khorramabad, Borujerd, Yasuj, Asadabad in Isfahan, Dastgerd in Isfahan, Sheiban in Ahvaz, Sepidar in Ahvaz (women’s and men’s wards), Nezam in Shiraz, Adelabad in Shiraz (women’s and men’s wards), Firuzabad in Fars, Dehdasht, Zahedan (women’s and men’s wards), Borazjan, Ramhormoz, Behbahan, Bam, Yazd (women’s and men’s wards), Kahnuj, Tabas, Birjand Central, Vakilabad in Mashhad, Gorgan, Sabzevar, Gonbad-e Kavus, Qaemshahr, Rasht (men’s and women’s wards), Rudsar, Havigh in Talesh, Azbaram in Lahijan, Dizel Abad in Kermanshah, Ardabil, Tabriz, Urmia, Salmas, Khoy, Naqadeh, Miandoab, Mahabad, Bukan, Saqqez, Baneh, Marivan, Sanandaj, Kamyaran, and Ilam.