On January 29, up to 20 people grouped in front of the Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco (UUSF) during busy morning traffic to stand with the Iran’s prisoners’ strike. It was called by the IEC together with the UUSF Human Rights Working Group. There was a uniquely internationalist tone to the gathering with banners that said “Iran: Stop the Executions! US: No War Moves on Iran!,” a flag and sign for Palestine, a handwritten “We Stand with the Women and People of Iran!” and a poster copied from those seen on the streets of Colombia last year. Participants listened with interest to the reading of a letter from striking prisoners (excerpted below), and passed out flyers to outstretched hands of commuters, passersby, and truckers (with some honking their horns in support).

At the University of Washington in Seattle, some supporters of IEC postered and passed out flyers near the campus with materials they had downloaded from freeiranspoliticalprisonersnow.org/resources-share-print. More than half of the students took flyers and some stopped to learn more.

On January 25, the Burn The Cage/Free the Birds movement in Europe participated in an action in Cologne, Germany. It also shared a call for an action in Toronto, Canada on January 28, which persevered in spite of a freezing snowstorm.

Other solidarity actions to note during the week included:

In London’s famous Trafalgar Square, protesters held a week-long sit-in, culminating in the hunger strike anniversary January 28. Also on that day, a march was held in Frankfurt, Germany, where protests continue weekly solidarity strikes every Tuesday. In Washington, DC, protesters also gathered on that day, continuing their weekly solidarity Tuesday actions. Actions are also planned for February 1 in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Narges Mohammadi: “The ropes of the gallows will be torn by the powerful hands of each and every one of us”

On January 28, during an online forum (Clubhouse) on the prison hunger strike anniversary, Narges Mohammadi offered some inspiring words. Narges is the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who is on a temporary medical furlough from Tehran’s Evin Prison, during which she has made many public interviews and statements. The transcript of her full speech is here.

Today, dozens of prisons have joined, and hundreds of prisoners go on hunger strikes every Tuesday to keep the issue of executions in the spotlight. Political and ideological prisoners from diverse backgrounds are actively participating in this campaign…. Many death row inmates are victims of unjust economic, social, and cultural policies. We oppose their executions in principle, and this stance can help build a broader consensus both in society and within prisons…. Finally, we must remember: the ropes of the gallows will be torn by the powerful hands of each and every one of us. I hope for the day when execution chambers and gallows serve only as reminders of tyranny’s cruelty and as lessons for our pursuit of humanity, freedom, and equality. Until that day, I thank you all.

Market Strike in Kurdistan

Inside Iran, as crackdowns on any open resistance to the fascist theocratic regime continue, many merchants in the Kurdistan region boldly shuttered their shops on Wednesday, January 22, in protest of the death sentences against two Kurdish activist women, Pakhshan Azizi and Verisheh Moradi. Social media accounts and regional news recorded block after block of shuttered shops and closed bazaars. The strike, called by a broad array of six Kurdish political parties, was especially widespread in the cities of Sanandaj, Mahabad, Saqqez, and Divandareh, and also took place in nine other cities. In the major cities, authorities spray-painted each of the closed roll-down gates in order to identify and threaten the striking storekeepers. Since then, at least 16 people have been arrested in connection with the strike, and merchants report being threatened.

Significantly, 35 leftist women prisoners in Evin Prison in Tehran supported the above strike in Kurdistan by carrying over their weekly Tuesday hunger strike.

On the same day, the Iranian Supreme Court granted a temporary stay of the death sentence of Pakhshan Azizi while a request for retrial is in process. While many on social media greeted this postponement with relief, they also recalled that last year, 22-year-old protester Mohammad Ghobadloo was executed suddenly while an appeal and retrial was in process, and that only Azizi’s full and unconditional release is acceptable.

Iran: Stop executions, free all political prisoners in Iran!

US: No war moves or threats against Iran!

ENDNOTE: For context, executions by the Islamic Republic regime, according to human rights groups, numbered at least 900 in 2024, and 854 in 2023. According to the group Iran Human Rights, it was at least 84 in the month of January 2025 alone (or nearly 3 per day). Iran's total population is around 90 million.

Letter by Striking Prisoners in Iran, January 28, 2025

Below is an excerpt of a letter published by striking prisoners. The whole letter is posted in Farsi on Burn The Cage.

As we, political and non-political prisoners in chains at 34 prisons across the four corners of Iran enter the second year of the “No to Execution” Campaign… we will hold our 53rd Tuesday hunger strike with energy and enthusiasm. May our voices from behind the thick walls of the prisons be linked to the voices of Iranian women, men, and youth, and play a part in defending human rights and dismantling the gallows….

This protest movement, which has now engulfed most of the country's prisons, has crossed prison walls and crossed geographical boundaries, thanks to the efforts of our compatriots inside and outside the country…In the past weeks, we have seen support through the country, including from students, teachers, workers, and women. The general strike in Kurdistan was a turning point that deserves to be appreciated and should be extended to the whole of Iran…

[U]nder the rule of the theocratic dictatorship, the death penalty has reached unprecedented proportions and has become a tool for intimidating the people, and the public has been held hostage. In Iran, the death penalty has become not a legal punishment but a political tool for repression and revenge against the Iranian people. This fact redoubles our responsibility to confront repression, torture, and execution. We hope to fulfill this duty.

Participating Prisons in Iran included:

Evin (Women's Ward, Wards 4 and 8), Ghezel Hesar (Units 2 and 4), Karaj Central, Greater Tehran, Khorin Varamin (Qarchak), Arak, Khorramabad, Asadabad Isfahan, Dastgerd Isfahan, Shayban Ahvaz, Nezam Shiraz, Adelabad Shiraz (Men and Women Wards), Borazjan Bushehr, Bam, Kahnooj, Tabas, Joveyn, Mashhad, Qaemshahr, Lakan Rasht Men and Women Wards, Rudsar, Haviq Talesh, Ardabil, Tabriz, Urmia, Salmas, Khoy, Naqadeh, Saqqez, Baneh, Marivan, Kamyaran.