From Vakilabad to Evin: The Horrific Record of Executing Women
The Execution of at Least 5 Women in April: A New Record of Violence Against Women in Iran
April 2025 Report: The Horrific Record of Executing Women – At dawn on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, the walls of Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad witnessed a dark and painful scene. At least ten people were hanged, among them three women. Exactly one week later, on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, another oppressed woman was hanged at the Choubindar Prison in Qazvin.
On Monday, April 28, another unfortunate woman, Marjan Sabzi, was hanged in Isfahan’s Dastgerd Prison along with six other inmates.
With the execution of these five women in April, the number of women executed in Iran in 2025 reached thirteen. These women were victims of the economic conditions, structural injustice, and chronic poverty that have marginalized thousands of women in Iran.
The 39-year-old Marzieh Esmaili, a mother of a teenage girl, was hanged in Qazvin for allegedly transporting 600 grams of drugs for only 10 million tomans (approximately $100). Living in absolute poverty, Marzieh had no social or legal support. She had no family to support her and no financial means to hire a lawyer.
The identities of the three women executed in Vakilabad are still unknown, one of whom was accused of murder. The details of her case remain unknown, but like many similar cases, she lacked a fair trial, access to an independent lawyer, and an effective opportunity for defense. Most of the women in such cases who end up on the gallows had previously been victims of child marriage and domestic violence, and their cries for help went unheard.
The execution of these women, in the heavy silence of state-run media, is just a part of the bloody record of a regime that holds the world record for executing women and uses institutionalized violence against women as a tool for its survival.
In its 2024 annual report, Amnesty International stated that over 64% of the executions carried out globally took place in Iran.
Statistical Comparison of Executions of Women in Iran
Over eight years from 2013 to 2020, at least 120 women were executed in Iran. In these years, the annual average of executed women was 15. Thus, in 2024, when 34 women were executed, the number of women executed was more than twice this average, signaling a concerning increase.
Since Raisi came to power in 2021, the number of executions, including those of women, has risen sharply. After Raisi’s death on May 19, 2023, and the ascension of Pezeshkian in August 2023, this upward trend continued with even more speed.
In the 34 months of Raisi’s presidency, 63 women were executed, which means the monthly average of women executed during his presidency was 1.85. After Raisi’s death, an average of 3.3 women have been executed every month.
In the Persian year 1403 (March 20, 2024-March 20, 2025), 38 women were executed in Iran, marking a 90% increase compared to the previous year.
Also, within just nine months after Pezeshkian took office, the number of execution victims in Iran surpassed 1,000. While the total number of executions in the entire 2024 was over 1,000.
This further proves that regardless of who holds the presidency in the clerical regime, the policy of suppression and brutal human rights violations is an inseparable characteristic of the ruling religious dictatorship.
Women, Targets of Organized Cruelty and Violence
The execution of women in Iran under the misogynist regime of the clerics is not merely a form of revenge against a few convicted individuals; this regime uses the bodies and souls of women to instill fear, humiliation, and control. Women who dare to raise their voices, or even those who silently fall victim to poverty and discrimination, are all subject to organized government violence.
Death at Dawn, Continuing the Massacre of Women in 1988
Although the recent female victims of executions had no political charges, their executions were entirely political, aimed at silencing the voices of protest and justice. The voices of women who were executed during nearly half a century of clerical rule, simply for their beliefs, still echo through history. From the gallows at Vakilabad to the death rooms at Evin, their silenced resistance remains alive. They, who sought justice from the world, remind us that courage, even when silenced, never dies.
The Cries of Women Executed in 1988 Echo in Spring 2025
April witnessed a new and horrifying revelation from within the regime. A newly released audio recording by Hossein Ali Montazeri exposed the mass execution of 300 women PMOI members in the summer of 1988. Among these women were two French nationals.
In a newly released audio file published by the BBC in April 2025, Hossein Ali Montazeri, then Khomeini’s heir-apparent, openly criticized the mass execution of PMOI women in the summer of 1988. This tape records Montazeri’s conversation with the “Death Commission” members at Evin prison, unveiling crimes where the main victims were young women who, due to their unwavering political beliefs, were executed without committing any criminal acts.
Montazeri specifically speaks about the execution of around 300 PMOI women, including two French nationals, whom, according to him, could have been used for diplomatic leverage. He also mentions the example of a young supporter of the PMOI who was sentenced to death solely for her ideological opposition to the regime, despite having no criminal record.
In this audio file, Montazeri questions the religious legitimacy of executing women, emphasizing that even in Shiite jurisprudence, such executions cannot be justified. He points out that many of these women were imprisoned merely for reading or distributing leaflets.
This revelation once again highlights the cold-blooded massacre of women in the summer of 1988, a violence that was not only political but deeply ideological and misogynistic. This tape serves as a historical witness to the central role women played in the resistance and the price they paid in their struggle against the misogynistic ruling dictatorship.
Solidarity in Women’s Prisons Against the Death Penalty
In the face of the regime’s growing brutality, women prisoners from Evin to Zahedan have raised their voices louder against the death penalty. The “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign, which has seen widespread participation from women’s prisons, continues to grow every week.
On the last Tuesday of April 2025, the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign took another step forward in exposing the regime’s crimes and protesting the growing wave of executions in Iran. On this day, the voices of protest from political prisoners across the country, including women’s prison sections, were heard worldwide, once again highlighting the heroic resistance of prisoners against executions and repression.
In the 64th week of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign in mid-April, the women’s ward of Zahedan Prison also joined the campaign. As a result, the number of prisons with female prisoners participating now stands at 10, including Evin in Tehran, Adelabad in Shiraz, Lakan in Rasht, Dizelabad in Kermanshah, Choubindar in Qazvin, Central Sanandaj Prison, Central Urmia Prison, Marivan, Kamyaran, and Zahedan prisons.
Families of Prisoners Sentenced to Death Do Not Remain Silent
Alongside the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign, which is currently taking place in 41 prisons across the country, the families of political prisoners continued their protest gatherings.
At these gatherings, attended by the elderly mothers and fathers of these prisoners, participants held images of 10 PMOI political prisoners sentenced to death and chanted slogans such as “No to executions” and “No to oppressive sentences.” The gatherings of political prisoners’ families reflect widespread opposition to the repression and heavy sentences imposed on political prisoners in Iran.
On Tuesday, April 29, in addition to a group of families of death-row political prisoners who gathered outside Evin Prison, young people in the cities of Bukan, Rasht, and Shahriar also carried out acts of protest against the death penalty, showing their solidarity with the hunger-striking prisoners in the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign.
In the meantime, hunger-striking political prisoners in the women’s ward of Evin held a protest at 11 a.m. in the ward’s yard in solidarity with the families holding a protest outside. While walking and chanting slogans, they demanded a halt to the execution of death penalties as well as the release of political prisoners.
An Appeal to Awakened Consciences Worldwide
The unprecedented execution rates in 2024 and 2025, particularly the brutal targeting of women and minors, serve as a wake-up call to the awakened consciences across the world.
The Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran once again calls on world governments to condition any dealings with the Iranian regime on halting executions and torture in Iran.
