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Iran News in Brief – April 25, 2026

Gothenburg, Sweden: NCRI supporters honored executed political prisoners and PMOI members Nima Shahi and Hamed Validi on April 21, 2026
Gothenburg, Sweden: NCRI supporters honored executed political prisoners and PMOI members Nima Shahi and Hamed Validi on April 21, 2026

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UPDATE: 07:00 AM CEST

The Legacy of Dr. Kazem Rajavi Still Lives On 36 Years After His Assassination

Iran: The decision to Close Dr. Kazem Rajavi’s assassination case justifies crime against humanity

On April 24, 2026, the Iranian Resistance marks 36 years since the tragic assassination of Dr. Kazem Rajavi near his home in Coppet, Switzerland. Dr. Rajavi was not merely a victim of the Iranian regime’s state-sponsored terrorism; he is remembered by the Iranian people as the “Great Martyr of Human Rights.” Agents of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) assassinated him in 1990, believing bullets could permanently silence his voice. Instead, his lifelong mission to expose the clerical regime’s brutality laid the unshakeable groundwork for today’s ongoing fight for justice in Iran.

Dr. Rajavi possessed an unmatched intellect and global standing. Holding six doctoral degrees in law and political science from universities in France and Switzerland, he authored over 120 books and dissertations and taught at various Swiss universities. Following the 1979 anti-monarchist revolution, his stellar reputation earned him the role of Iran’s first ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, and later ambassador to Senegal and head of the political delegation to seven West African countries.

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The Brutal Relocation of Political Prisoners to Ghezel Hesar’s Solitary Confinement

On April 13, 2026, the Iranian regime’s judiciary authorities orchestrated a sudden and violent transfer of political prisoners from Ward 7 of Evin Prison to solitary confinement in Unit 3 of the notoriously brutal Ghezel Hesar Prison. This violent relocation, characterized by severe physical abuse and absolute secrecy, exposes the regime’s deep-seated fear of prisoner solidarity and its systematic use of psychological and physical torture to break the will of dissidents, particularly those affiliated with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

The transfer of the prisoners was carried out with extreme brutality. On April 12 and 13, 2026, Evin’s guards moved the prisoners while they were handcuffed, shackled, and blindfolded. Before their departure from Evin, the guards forcibly shaved their heads and severely beat them with water hoses, inflicting serious injuries. The beatings left the political prisoners, including Mehdi Vafaei Sani and Mir Yousef Younesi, severely injured.

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Iran’s Regime Pressures Imprisoned Women to Halt Anti–Death Penalty Campaign

A view of Ghezel Hesar Prison in Iran

Reports from Evin Prison point to a sharp increase in pressure on political detainees, particularly imprisoned women held in the women’s ward.

According to these accounts, the prison’s director has issued a new directive banning any participation by female prisoners in the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign and has threatened punitive measures, including transfer to solitary confinement and the suspension of phone calls.

Following the implementation of this directive in the women’s ward, any form of protest, hunger strike, or even chanting by prisoners is expected to trigger a severe response. One of the central aims of these new restrictions appears to be halting the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign, an initiative led by political prisoners to protest death sentences and draw public attention to the issue.

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9-Year-Old Girl’s Murder Exposes Iran Regime’s Failure to Protect Children

The mutilated and charred body of 9-year-old girl, identified as Fatemeh Zahra Hosseinbar, was discovered four days after she was abducted in the city of Gasht, a district of Saravan, in southeastern Iran.

On Friday, April 17, 2026, the child was reportedly abducted by armed occupants of an unmarked Peugeot vehicle. Her body was later found among piles of garbage on the outskirts of the city, where it had been set on fire.

On Monday, April 20, residents discovered her remains. According to local sources, both child’s hands had been severed. Due to the severity of the burns, the body was not immediately identifiable. Her identity was confirmed only after her mother was brought to the scene and recognized her through the soles of her feet.

Fatemeh Zahra Hosseinbar was laid to rest on Tuesday, April 21, in the cemetery of Gasht, Saravan County, in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan Province. The funeral drew a large public turnout and was marked by a heavy atmosphere of grief. Streets and roads leading to the cemetery were filled with mourners expressing solidarity with the Hosseinbar family.

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Iran Regime Executions Spark Global Outcry, Expose Judiciary’s Escalating Repression

Executions in Iran

The Iran regime appeared to calculate that, amid the chaos of war and the distraction of missile strikes, it could quietly carry out the executions of two members of PMOI-linked “Resistance Units.” However, the executions of Hamed Validi and Mohammad Masoum-Shahi quickly broke beyond any intended silence, drawing significant international media attention and condemnation. Rather than remaining a domestic act of repression, the incident reverberated across major global capitals and leading international news outlets. The scale of coverage transformed what the regime may have intended as a routine act of intimidation into a highly visible episode, placing its judiciary under renewed scrutiny.

Major outlets—including Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Fox News, NBC News, The Washington Post, Italy’s AGI, and UK-based publications—collectively highlighted the executions, framing them within the broader pattern of the Iran regime’s use of capital punishment during periods of political unrest and conflict.

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When Classrooms Fall Silent: How the Iran Regime’s Crises Are Devouring a Generation’s Right to Education

Students at a school in Iran are taking an exam

The repeated closure of schools, compounded by the shadow of war imposed by the Iran regime, has drained the country’s education system of resilience. What is unfolding is not a temporary disruption but a systemic crisis—one that is eroding learning outcomes, particularly at the primary level, and inflicting long-term damage on an entire generation.

At the heart of this crisis lies a fundamental deprivation: students are being denied their most basic right—the right to consistent, structured education. With authorities openly acknowledging that there is currently no viable plan to resume in-person schooling, millions of children remain trapped in an educational limbo.

The regime has attempted to present alternatives—virtual classrooms, televised lessons, and pre-packaged educational materials—as functional substitutes. In practice, these measures have proven deeply inadequate. Chronic weakness in digital infrastructure has made access to online platforms unreliable at best. The widely promoted “Shad” system, intended as the backbone of remote education, suffers from server limitations and accessibility issues that render it ineffective for large segments of the population.

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Survival Is Not Victory: The Iran Regime’s Defensive Narrative in a Deepening Crisis

In political and military analysis, one of the most persistent analytical errors is reducing the concept of “victory” to mere physical survival. Today, the Iran regime appears to be leaning heavily on precisely this simplification—promoting the notion that because it has not been overthrown, it has therefore prevailed.

This is not an objective assessment of reality. It is a calculated psychological and political instrument designed to preserve internal cohesion—particularly among demoralized elements within the security apparatus, including the Revolutionary Guard and affiliated forces. In essence, it is an attempt to stabilize a shaken system by redefining the terms of success.

From an analytical standpoint, this approach fits within a broader framework that can be described as “crisis management through the redefinition of failure.” When a political system faces multiple, overlapping crises—as the Iran regime currently does—it often shifts the metrics by which outcomes are judged. Instead of measuring losses, degradation of capacity, and systemic erosion, mere continuation is reframed as an achievement.

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The German Government Will Not Receive the Son of Iran’s Last Shah

Following reports of Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, traveling to Germany to attend a session at the Bundestag (Germany’s federal parliament), the German government announced that it will not receive him and sees no reason to negotiate with him.

Stefan Kornelius, spokesperson for the German government, said that during the Thursday visit of the son of Iran’s last Shah to Berlin, German government representatives will not receive him, and the German government sees no reason to negotiate with him.

He added that the German government expects the people of Iran to have the right to freely choose their own leadership.

Additionally, 21 political figures in Germany addressed a letter to the Bundestag president and the heads of parliamentary factions, expressing serious concern about the visit of the former Shah’s son to Berlin and emphasizing that this trip would be an insult to millions of Iranians who overthrew the Shah’s dictatorship.

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Iran: Violent Transfer of Political Prisoners to the Notorious Ghezel Hesar Prison

On Monday, April 13, seven political prisoners held in Ward 7 of Evin Prison in Tehran were abruptly, violently, and humiliatingly transferred to solitary confinement cells in Unit 3 of Ghezel Hesar Prison, a facility whose name is associated for many families of political prisoners with pressure, isolation, and serious threats to prisoners’ lives.

Among those transferred are Miryousef Younesi, a 71-year-old political prisoner, and Mehdi Vafaee, a 40-year-old political prisoner. Mehdi Vafaee was arrested in June 2022 and sentenced to 6 years in prison on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security” and “membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).” His mother, Shiva Esmaili, is also a political prisoner held in the women’s ward of Evin Prison; she was arrested in February 2023 and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

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Criminalizing Information Technology in Iran

High-speed network cables plugged into a data switch — the backbone of internet infrastructure

In April 2026, the Islamic Republic of Iran, adopting a strictly security-oriented approach, has suppressed the right to access information and freedom of expression in an unprecedented manner. According to a report by the monitoring organization NetBlocks on April 23, the nationwide internet shutdown in Iran has entered its “55th consecutive day.” The report emphasizes that after 1,296 hours, internet connectivity has plummeted to “2% of ordinary levels.” This absolute blackout has created a platform for implementing “security elimination” policies under a complete news silence.

Security agencies are targeting tools for accessing the free internet, effectively treating the right to communicate with the outside world as an act of espionage. According to an ILNA news agency report on April 21, the Information Center of the Greater Tehran Law Enforcement Command announced the discovery and seizure of unauthorized “Starlink” receivers. In its communiqué, the police claimed: “Investigations revealed that the company’s CEO had no knowledge of the suspect’s activities, and the suspect, by exploiting the company’s name, engaged in profit-seeking and maintained continuous communication with foreign entities and hostile networks… The police emphasize that a significant portion of espionage activities in Tehran are conducted using Starlink devices.”


MEK Supporters in Gothenburg Mark the 117th Week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign in Iran

MEK Supporters in Gothenburg Mark the 117th Week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign in Iran

Gothenburg, Sweden — April 21, 2026: Supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held a rally marking the 117th consecutive week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign, a movement opposing the Iranian regime’s escalating wave of executions and systematic repression.


Paris Exhibition Honors Executed Iranian Political Prisoners, Urges Democratic Change in Iran

Paris Exhibition Honors Executed Iranian Political Prisoners, Urges Democratic Change in Iran

Paris, France – April 23, 2026 – A book stall and photo exhibition by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) was held in Paris, honoring PMOI political prisoners who were recently executed by the Iranian regime, as well as the fallen protesters of the January 2026 uprising and other nationwide protests.

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