Wednesday, October 29, 2025 – The Sun, the British daily, published an exclusive interview with Soroush Sammak, 35, the son of Zahra Tabari, a 67-year-old political prisoner in Iran who has been sentenced to death. Excerpts of this interview follow:
My hero mum is going to be executed by ruthless Iranian regime but she’s not afraid to die…
The son of a woman sentenced to death by Iran’s merciless regime after a sham 10-minute hearing has told how his courageous mum is not afraid to die.
Political prisoner Zahra Tabari, 67, faces being sent to the gallows on trumped-up charges amid an alarming surge in executions in the rogue nation….
But Zahra’s brave son Soroush Samak said the Iranian people are no longer afraid of the merciless regime as he issued a plea to Western governments to intervene….
Soroush, 35, told The Sun: “This knife has lost its edge; these death sentences only fuel the people’s anger.
“My mother is not afraid to die, and we are proud of her courage. Shame on those who have imprisoned the people.”
“She is an intelligent individual with wide-ranging knowledge and professional experience — a bold, informed, and conscious woman whose bravery is unmatched. That is why they want to break her, because the clerical regime fears women like her….”
Zahra’s heartbroken son, who lives in Sweden, said: “I have heart palpitations with cold sweat – agitated, worried, and at the same time deeply angry.
“My mother told me she has 10 days to appeal, and we are searching for a lawyer to take her case.
“As long as our mother remains in the custody of this regime, we have no peace of mind. Each day is spent hoping for her release and fearing her loss.
“She is an intelligent individual with wide-ranging knowledge and professional experience — a bold, informed, and conscious woman whose bravery is unmatched. That is why they want to break her, because the clerical regime fears women like her….”
Alongside Zahra, 17 more political prisoners fear for their lives as campaign groups beg for help from the international community.
Soroush said: “The regime has shown that it rejects any notion of justice. We have no trust in its judicial system.
“This is a medieval regime, and we strongly condemn its treatment of political prisoners.
“Our demand is the release of all intellectual, ideological, religious, ethnic, and political prisoners — all of them must be freed unconditionally, and the death sentences must end.
“The sharp rise in executions in recent years is deeply alarming. But we have the ability to push back against the regime by strengthening solidarity among the people to increase pressure — and we must act quickly.
“This regime has shown it only understands the language of decisiveness and firm stance.
“My appeal to the British government and other Western governments, including Sweden — where she earned her Master’s degree — is to make all trade and diplomatic relations with Iran’s ruling dictatorship conditional to halting executions of political prisoners and securing their unconditional release.
“This is the only way to compel the regime to stop its crimes.”
Notes:
Zahra Shahbaz Tabari, who holds a master’s degree in Sustainable Energy from a Swedish university, was arrested in April at her home in Rasht by Iranian security forces.
According to her family, her only “crime” was “supporting the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI)” and possessing a piece of fabric bearing the slogan “Woman, Resistance, Freedom” and an unpublished voice message.
Her trial reportedly lasted less than ten minutes, held without legal representation or a chance to defend herself, ending with a death sentence. Zahra Tabari is currently being held in Lakan Prison in Rasht and has only ten days to appeal the verdict.
