The world knows that the Iranian regime is one of the most repressive on the planet. That’s definitely no secret, but a group of dignitaries, including some from Republican and Democratic administrations, is warning that the situation in Iran is worse than most people thought.
Seventeen dignitaries, including Newt Gingrich, Louis Freeh, Tom Ridge, and Alan Dershowitz, have signed an open letter highlighting how the Iranian regime is weaponizing the death penalty to choke out opposition. The letter highlights that Iran has executed 1,200 prisoners so far this year, with no end in sight. According to Amnesty International, Iran accounted for 64% of all executions worldwide in 2024.
The letter reads in part:
The 17 dissidents facing imminent execution are charged with membership of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), the principal opposition movement. Their lives are in immediate danger.
Among them is 33-year-old Vahid Bani-Amerian, a gifted young electrical engineer, with a master’s degree in strategic management from a leading Iranian university. He has won championships in mathematics, swimming, and drawing. According to Amnesty International, he was arrested on December 22, 2023, and subjected to torture and ill-treatment at the time of arrest and/or during interrogations, including repeated beatings, floggings, and death threats at gunpoint. He was held in prolonged solitary confinement for two months, sentenced to death in October 2024, and has languished on death row ever since.
On July 27, 2025, Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani were executed on charges of membership of the MEK, along with accusations which included “Moharebeh” – waging war against God. The same charges now threaten the lives of the 16 currently on death row.
In September alone, 200 prisoners including six women, were hanged. This is the highest number in a single month since 1988. To date, 37 women have been executed this year.
1988 was a particular milestone for the evil of Iran’s repressive regime. That year, Iran’s leaders massacred 30,000 people, all of them political prisoners, and nine-tenths of them MEK members. This year doesn’t hold a candle to that horrendous level of repression, but in July, Iran’s state-run media called 1988 a “successful historical experience” that’s worth repeating.
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Last year, Prof. Javaid Rehman pointed out that the 1988 executions were tantamount to genocide. Last month, Amnesty International warned that we could see a repeat of 1988 in Iran soon. Israel’s recent action against Iran is making things worse for those who don’t fall in lockstep with the regime.
“As people struggle to recover from the devastating effects of the armed conflict between Iran and Israel, Iranian authorities are unleashing a terrifying crackdown,” Sara Hashash, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said. “The authorities’ domestic machinery of repression remains unrelenting as they ratchet up already oppressive widespread surveillance, mass arrests and incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence against minorities.”
The letter concludes with a declaration of what’s at stake: “This is not only about justice for the victims—it is about the credibility of the international community in upholding its values and preventing mass atrocities. The world must act now, before it is too late.”
Iran won’t listen, and it won’t change. But the world needs to know what’s going on.
You can read the entire letter below:
Open Letter by 17 U.S. Dignataries for 17 Political Prisoners by PJ Media
Iran’s atrocities are a reminder of what happens when good people stay silent.
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