Protests broke out in Dehdasht, a city in southwestern Iran with a population of less than 60,000, on the night of February 10. Protesters first rose up in one neighborhood and then set up barricades at the city’s main roads to hinder movement of police and security vehicles, forcing them to withdraw. Internet access was shut down for at least four days as protests continued sporadically.
Media reports indicate that the protests initially broke out over economic issues such as electricity shortages and food price hikes, but quickly took an explicitly political turn with chants of “Down with the Dictator!” Protesters held placards and a banner bearing the names of Pedram Azarnoush and Mehrdad Behnam Asl, two young local men killed by the regime in the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom uprising. Pedram died defending a protesting woman, while Mehrdad was shot directly in the street. According to social media posts, the youth of Dehdasht urged other regions to join them, saying “silence in the face of oppression is betrayal.”
In response, a protest broke out in Jayezan-e in a neighboring province, which was shared with the hashtag #Dehdasht_not_alone; graffiti in support of Dehdasht appeared in the major city of Mashhad, over 900 miles away in a different region of Iran.
At least six activists in Dehdasht have been arrested in connection with the protests. According to a video on social media, at least one protester was shot to death on the street by police forces. This situation is still unfolding and the internet remains blocked in the region.
Inside/Outside the Evin Prison Walls
February 11 also marked the 55th consecutive week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” prisoner hunger strike, now spread to 35 prisons across Iran.
In a bold and unusual action, activists stood in front of hated Evin Prison in Tehran alongside family members of several political prisoners sentenced to be executed. Among those present were renowned filmmaker Jafar Panahi, Arash Sadeghi, Kambiz Nowrouzi Zadeh, Hossein Razagh, Shaqayeq Moradi, Ariya Sheikhi, Hasti Amiri, and 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi (without the mandatory hijab).
The participation of dissident, courageous artist Jafar Panahi is notable. He is among the world’s most acclaimed independent filmmakers. He had been a political prisoner himself for his many outstanding, award-winning movies (e.g., Taxi, No Bears, etc.) He was jailed in 2022 when he went to the gates of Evin to inquire about the imprisonment of his colleagues.
A post by Narges Mohammadi, currently on medical leave from Evin, brought alive the importance of protests inside and outside prison walls:
There were days when, behind the walls of the disgraceful Evin Prison, we shouted against the death penalty. We gathered in the prison yard, chanting: "The women's ward of Evin, united and determined until the death sentence is abolished. We will stand till the end." We held the hands of fellow inmates who are sentenced to execution — Pakhshan Azizi and Varisheh Moradi….
Nighttime Chanting
Cellphone videos showed that during the February 11 fireworks for state anniversary celebrations, people in major cities of Tehran, Karaj, Arak, Mashhad and Kermanshah, among other cities, chanted from their windows "Down with [Ayatollah] Khamenei the Murderer," "Down with the Islamic Republic" and "Down with the Dictator," “Death to the Execution Republic.” These nighttime chants then continued on subsequent nights, responding to the call from Dehdasht youth. In Tehran, the cries were heard in diverse neighborhoods ranging from middle class to poor districts.
Regime Renews Death Penalty for Two Kurdish Women Activists
This past week, the IRI’s cruel theocratic (in)justice system reissued death sentences for two activist women whose cases have received widespread international attention. Their executions could be ordered at any time.
Sharifeh Mohammadi, a labor rights activist from northern Iran, has once again been sentenced to death. Her initial death sentence had previously been overturned by Iran’s Supreme Court, and the case was referred to a parallel court for retrial, which upheld the verdict and sentence. Her trial in mid-2024 had revolved around charges of propaganda against the regime, actions against national security, and “baghi” (armed rebellion) through her alleged affiliation with the Kurdish party Komala. A source close to her family said “Sharifeh was a member of the Association of Labor Organizations until 2013, which has no ties to the Komala group. The charge of baghi is based on her alleged membership in this group, which is not true.”
On February 6, the Supreme Court denied retrial for Pakhshan Azizi, a Kurdish activist, who was also accused of “baghi” based only on her alleged membership in a Kurdish party with an armed wing. Pakhshan Azizi wrote that her crime is being Kurdish and being a woman. Read more on her case and an excerpt of a powerful letter she wrote from Evin.
Pakhshan is a social worker who devoted more than ten years of her life to voluntary work serving refugee camps in Kurdish areas of Iraq and then Syria, where people suffered horrific attacks from both ISIS on one side and the Turkish government on the other. International organizations working in the area, like the Red Crescent, have sent letters verifying that her activity was voluntary social work, not militancy of any kind.
Besides these two women, the number of political and religious prisoners who are currently sentenced to death has risen to 58. At least 99 prisoners have been executed in the first 40 days of 2025. In this context, the Center for Human Rights in Iran reports an alarming rise in bogus charges against human rights lawyers, with 16 arrested in Mashhad and 20 in Yazd since January 27.
Continue to Broaden Grassroots Solidarity
These repressive escalations are happening during the IRI’s anniversary month, when every year, it pardons some prisoners to celebrate the regime’s supposed “humanitarian” ideals. This year, although the regime released a small number of political prisoners, it mainly “drew a line in the sand” making explicitly clear that it would exact revenge even on activists like Pakhshan and Sharifeh, whose campaigns had garnered significant support worldwide from major trade unions and official bodies. In the face of the weakening of Iran’s regional position, the regime may find that it cannot afford to appear weak and must double down on enforcing the compulsory hijab as a key pillar of its theocratic rule, and exacting a brutal price on the women who have risen up and those who dared to stand with women.
What this means for justice-loving people is that we should draw our own line in the sand. In order for us to exact a political price which is capable of deterring the execution of these heroic prisoners, we cannot rely on the international bodies, like various governments and official agencies, that may champion one or the other individual, then just as quickly forget the prisoners, the tortured and the disappeared when it is convenient to their interests. This should not surprise or demoralize. Rather, to see the need to rely on mobilizing ever more broadly and powerfully, supporting those in Iran who continue to stand up and taking this struggle to the people of the world.