A coordinated wave of alarm is sweeping across Europe as parliamentary committees in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Romania, the Netherlands, and the Nordic countries issue urgent warnings of an impending, large-scale crackdown on political prisoners in Iran. In separate statements, lawmakers have detailed how the Iranian regime is exploiting international crises to lay the groundwork for a new wave of mass executions, drawing chilling parallels to the 1988 massacre and demanding immediate international intervention before it is too late.
The statements, from groups including the British Committee for Iran Freedom and the German Solidarity Committee for a Free Iran, argue that the regime’s actions are not random but a calculated strategy to eliminate organized dissent, particularly targeting activists affiliated with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
The Immediate Threat: New Death Sentences and Targeted Attacks
The alarm is rooted in concrete and recent judicial actions. On July 10, the Revolutionary Court in Ahvaz handed down double-death sentences to three political prisoners: Farshad Etemadifar, Masoud Jamei, and Alireza Mardasi (also known as Hamidaavi). According to the German committee’s report, their convictions for charges including “enmity against God” (Moharebeh) and membership in the MEK came after prolonged torture and sham trials. The same court sentenced two other activists, Saman and Davoud Hormatnejad, to 12 and 15 years in prison.
🚨 15 political prisoners in Iran are at imminent risk of execution for 'waging war on God' due to their support for the PMOI. Tortured and denied due process, the lives of these poets, athletes, students, and veteran activists are at risk. #StopExecutionsInIran
CC: @drmaisato pic.twitter.com/k6QmYxZHrx— IRAN HRM (@IranHrm) July 18, 2025
These sentences are part of a broader escalation. The Romanian committee states that at least 15 political prisoners are currently on death row for their affiliation with the MEK. Concurrently, the regime is targeting its most steadfast opponents. On July 17, security forces attempted to forcibly transfer Saeed Masouri, one of Iran’s longest-serving political prisoners, from Ghezel Hesar prison to an unknown location. Mr. Masouri, a former medical student arrested in 2001 for “cooperation with the MEK,” has been imprisoned for 25 years without a single day of furlough. In a letter smuggled from prison, he bravely warned that a “crime is in progress,” stating that authorities are preparing for more executions to eliminate dissidents.
The Regime’s Playbook: Echoes of the 1988 Massacre
The European groups warn that this crackdown follows a terrifying historical precedent. A key piece of evidence cited by the British and Dutch committees is a recent statement from the Fars News Agency, an outlet controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The agency openly praised the 1988 massacre of over 30,000 political prisoners—the vast majority of them MEK members—as a “successful historical experience” and an “admirable judicial action.”
This chilling rhetoric is coupled with legislative action. Multiple statements note that the regime has passed a new repressive law designed to expedite executions, targeting protesting youth and organized resistance. The lawmakers assess that the regime, fearful of popular uprisings and reeling from strategic setbacks, is using a “recent war” as a pretext to crush domestic opposition while the world is distracted. This dual strategy of negotiating with foreign powers in cities like Tehran while brutally suppressing dissent at home is seen as a desperate attempt at survival.
We commend FOFI Nordic for their principled stand to #StopExecutionsInIran incl. 15 political prisoners and stop Saeed Masouri’s forced transfer. The Foreign Ministers of Nordic countries must heed the call of their former PMs and ministers. @AmnestyIran pic.twitter.com/Oyp1NkX1tp
— Safora Sadidi (@SaforaSM) July 19, 2025
A Unified Call for International Action
In response to the escalating crisis, the five parliamentary groups have presented a clear and unified set of demands for the international community. Their calls to action transcend national borders, forming a powerful consensus on the necessary steps to avert a catastrophe:
- Political Accountability: An unequivocal and public condemnation of the recent death sentences and the broader wave of repression against political dissidents.
- Diplomatic Leverage: The conditioning of all diplomatic and economic relations with the Iranian regime on a verifiable and immediate halt to all executions and the release of political prisoners.
- UN Intervention: An urgent request for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to dispatch a fact-finding mission to investigate the state of Iran’s prisons and for the crisis to be formally placed on the agenda of the upcoming UN General Assembly.
The Exile of Political Prisoner Saeed Masouri to Zahedan Prison in Southeastern Iran https://t.co/2h0XNyzKs8 pic.twitter.com/Gj11JcYpnS
— Iran Focus (@Iran_Focus) July 20, 2025
A Choice Between Action and Complicity
The message from European lawmakers is unambiguous: international silence will be interpreted by Tehran as a green light for murder. The regime is not hiding its intentions; it is broadcasting them through its state-controlled media and rubber-stamp courts. As the German committee starkly warned, fundamental human rights must not be sacrificed at the altar of nuclear negotiations or geopolitical maneuvering.
By issuing new death sentences, targeting long-term prisoners, and openly glorifying the crimes of 1988, the regime has signaled its intent. The international community has been put on notice. It now faces a clear choice: heed the urgent warnings of these parliamentarians and act decisively to prevent a repeat of a historic atrocity or stand by as another bloody chapter is written through the cost of inaction.