Friends of a Free Iran and Against Fundamentalism (FoFIAF), representing lawmakers, politicians, and human rights activists from Nordic countries, has issued an urgent appeal to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk. The group has called for immediate intervention to prevent the execution of six Iranian political prisoners sentenced under harsh conditions after months of torture and denial of legal rights.
The prisoners—Abolhassan Montazer (65), Pouya Ghobadi (32), Vahid Bani-Amrian (32), Babak Alipour (33), Ali Akbar Daneshvarkar (57), and Mohammad Taghavi (58)—were convicted on politically motivated charges, including “membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK),” “armed rebellion,” and “collusion against national security.” The sentences were issued by Judge Iman Afshari of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, known for presiding over politically charged trials.
The letter also details the September sentencing of three PMOI supporters—Behrouz Ehsani, Mehdi Hassani, and Mohammad Javad Vafaie—to death on charges such as “corruption on earth” and “rebellion.” It further notes the October decision by Judge Dehghani to confiscate PMOI assets and prosecute its members, coinciding with the show trial of 104 PMOI affiliates.
The group criticized the Iranian regime for using executions as a tool to suppress dissent amid rising domestic instability. “The alarming rise in executions under President Massoud Pezeshkian—540 since July—reflects the regime’s desperation to maintain control through fear and violence,” the letter states.
Friends of a Free Iran and Against Fundamentalism urged the UN to take firm action, including publicly condemning these sentences, pressuring Iranian authorities to halt the executions, and dispatching a fact-finding mission to Iranian prisons to meet with political detainees.
“The Iranian regime is sensitive to international pressure, and firm action can force it to reconsider its oppressive policies,” the letter concluded, calling for urgent steps to save lives and ensure accountability for Iran’s human rights violations.
The original statement of FoFIAF follows:
