On Tuesday, September 30, 2025, prisoners in 52 Iranian prisons launched the 88th week of their anti-death penalty hunger strike in protest of the escalating wave of executions and the issuance of new death sentences. Meanwhile, families of death-row political prisoners and anti-death penalty activists took to the streets and carried out their acts of protest in solidarity with the No to Execution Tuesday campaign.
This week’s “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign came amid a series of shocking reports from Iranian prisons in recent days: the death of political prisoner Somayeh Rashidi in Qarchak Prison due to denial of medical care; the execution of Bahman Choubi Asl; the issuance of death sentences for Hamed Validi and Nima Shahi; and the confirmation of the death sentence for Payman Farahavar.
In their acts of protest against the death penalty on September 30, families chanted slogans such as “Free political prisoners,” “No to unjust death sentences,” and “Abolish the death penalty”—powerful calls that reflect both their resilience and society’s urgent demand to end the cycle of state violence and executions.
Since the inception of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign, the families of political prisoners and death-row inmates have played a pivotal role.
This week’s protests also spilled into the streets of multiple cities. Despite a heavy security presence, citizens in Tehran, Karaj, Mashhad, Sanandaj, Shiraz, Ahvaz, Rafsanjan, Gonbad-e Kavus, Quchan, Natanz, Najafabad, Kangavar, Delijan, Ahar, Dargaz, Borazjan, and Someh Sara rallied with anti-execution chants, turning public spaces into arenas of defiance against the state’s repressive policies. The persistence and expansion of these demonstrations highlight the growing momentum of Iran’s anti-death penalty movement.
