Three-minute read
The recent executions of two political prisoners, Behrouz Ehsani, 70, and Mehdi Hassani, 49, have triggered an immediate and unified wave of international condemnation. The two men, both members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), were executed on July 27, 2025, in what lawmakers and human rights organizations are calling a grave escalation in the regime’s war on dissent. The response from world capitals suggests a growing consensus that these executions are not isolated events but a chilling prelude to a wider campaign of political extermination.
A Chorus of Condemnation from World Parliaments
In a striking display of international solidarity, parliamentarians from Europe to South America have forcefully denounced the killings. The European Parliament’s Friends of a Free Iran group expressed shock in a statement addressed to the EU’s foreign policy chief, pointing out that the parliament had passed a resolution in April 2025 specifically calling for a halt to their death sentences. The group noted that the regime’s current actions are reminiscent of “the darkest memories of the 1988 massacre” and highlighted a July 7 Fars News article that openly questioned, “Why should the 1988 executions be repeated?”
Across the channel, the British Committee for Iran Freedom, comprised of MPs and Lords, called for immediate international intervention to prevent another massacre. They directly linked the timing of the executions to the anniversary of the 1988 mass killing of 30,000 political prisoners, the majority of whom were PMOI members.
On July 27, 2025 my Co-Chair and I wrote to the Minister of Foreign Affairs about Iran’s executions of political prisoners. The executions of Mehdi Hassani and Behrouz Ehsani is a grave violation of human rights and justice. We must strongly condemn this bruatlity. pic.twitter.com/DI08BR6adu
— Judy Sgro (@honjudysgro) August 7, 2025
The condemnation stretched across the Atlantic, with 13 members of Argentina’s Parliament issuing a statement to decry the executions. They highlighted the violent raid by armed guards on political prisoners in Ghezel Hesar prison just one day before the executions and the subsequent forced exile of veteran political prisoner Saeed Masouri to a prison in Zahedan.
A group of parliamentarians from the Nordic countries escalated their response from condemnation to a direct appeal for action. In a letter to their foreign ministers, they demanded their governments summon Iranian ambassadors, suspend all diplomatic normalization processes, and impose targeted sanctions on officials responsible for gross human rights violations.
Human Rights Experts Expose a System Built on Torture and Injustice
Parallel to the political outcry, international human rights organizations have provided damning accounts of the judicial malpractice and systemic cruelty that led to the executions. The International Commission Against the Death Penalty (ICDP), led by former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, revealed that Ehsani and Hassani were executed secretly while their appeal process was still ongoing, and their families were denied a final visit.
🔴 In a joint statement, 13 senior members of Argentina’s parliament condemned the execution of Mehdi Hassani & Behrouz Ehsani in Iran for supporting the MEK.
They urged global action to stop further executions of political prisoners.#StopExecutionsInIran pic.twitter.com/Gn9dqrlbpg
— SIMAY AZADI TV (@en_simayazadi) August 6, 2025
The ICDP’s report detailed how both men were subjected to torture, held in prolonged solitary confinement, and denied legal counsel for approximately two years. They were ultimately sentenced in a summary trial on vague, politically motivated charges of “baghi” (armed rebellion) and “moharebeh” (enmity against God) for their affiliation with the PMOI. The commission also highlighted the prisoners’ remarkable defiance, noting that for 18 months, Ehsani and Hassani had participated in the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign by holding a weekly hunger strike from within prison.
An Urgent Call to Prevent a Repeat of History
The wave of condemnation is set against a stark backdrop. At least 1,459 executions have been recorded during the first year of Masoud Pezeshkian’s presidency, which began in August 2024. With at least 14 other political prisoners affiliated with the PMOI currently on death row, the fears of an impending massacre are palpable.
Vows of uprising echo across Iran as Resistance Units mark seventh day of PMOI martyrs’ execution https://t.co/L5eWLbDzbc
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) August 3, 2025
The unified international response shows a clear shift from routine condemnation to urgent demands for tangible consequences, including targeted sanctions and diplomatic isolation. As lawmakers and human rights experts have made clear, international inaction at this critical juncture risks enabling a regime that has demonstrated its readiness to repeat the darkest chapters of its history.