As the one-year mark of the widespread protests across Iran in September 2022 looms, the Mullahs’ regime has intensified its repressive measures. The authorities are seeking to keep a lid on societal discontent, which could lead to renewed civil unrest.
On July 19, Mohammad Javad Vafa’i Thani, a political prisoner associated with the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK), had his death sentence affirmed by a judge at Vakil Abad Prison, Mashhad. Aged 27 and recognized among Mashhad’s boxing champions, Mr. Vafa’i Thani was initially arrested in March 2020 for participating in the November 2019 nationwide protests.
Simultaneously, the regime is ratcheting up pressure on other political prisoners. On July 17, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) voiced concern over the health of 70-year-old political prisoner Ali Moezi. The authorities have denied medical care to Moezi, who is in recovery from recent surgery. Arrested without specified charges in October 2022, Moezi has been imprisoned thrice before, for supporting the MEK, resulting in approximately 12 years of incarceration.
The authorities are also set to prolong the sentence of political prisoner Maryam Akbari Monfared, 48, who has been imprisoned for almost 14 years. Akbari Monfared was transferred to the Evin Prison Court on July 1, slapped with five new charges, and sent back to Semnan prison. Her current 15-year sentence is due to her support for the PMOI.
Javad Vafa’i.Despite enduring long-term torture to extract confessions, the charges laid against him were “corruption on Earth”an intentionally nebulous term often used by the regime against its critics.
On July 11, political prisoner Hashem Khastar, 71, was sentenced to an additional two and a half years in prison for allegedly sending his memoirs out of prison, insulting Khamenei, and propagandizing against the regime. Khastar, a vocal critic of the regime’s human rights abuses, has been previously arrested and imprisoned multiple times for advocating for Iranian teachers’ rights.
In a brutal demonstration of its tightening grip, the regime executed a dozen prisoners between July 13 and 18 alone, with a total of at least 400 executions since the beginning of 2023.
Yet, these escalating repressive measures have not staved off nationwide dissent. Protests persist across Iran, fuelled by citizens’ frustrations with systemic corruption, economic mismanagement, and freedom suppression. With unresolved societal issues, the regime recognizes it’s only a matter of time before another nationwide uprising erupts. The authorities’ heightened anxiety is evident as they warn of an imminent explosion of social anger.
MEK Iran (follow us on Twitter and Facebook), Maryam Rajavi’s on her site, Twitter & Facebook, NCRI (Twitter & Facebook), and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTu