A group of activist women in Iran described the dual threats on their lives from war and repression, in a statement posted in Farsi by the left-wing newspaper Akhbar Rooz on April 22 and reposted on IG by Mansoureh Behkish (a leader of Mourning Mothers and a signatory of IEC’s Emergency Appeal)and by several diverse groups.

Posted in Farsi by the left-wing newspaper Akhbar Rooz on April 22 and reposted on IG by Mansoureh Behkish (a leader of Mourning Mothers and a signatory of IEC’s Emergency Appeal) and by several diverse groups.

War is war. It is always waged against people, no matter the banner or the name it goes by. Whether it targets "our own" people or a "foreign country," it is ordinary people, their lives, their interests, and their demands, that are sacrificed.

After the systematic, state-led killings carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) in January 2026, society was in the midst of organizing itself, preparing to continue protests and push forward long-standing demands. It was at this moment that U.S. and Israeli attacks began, framed under the slogans of "regime change" and "liberating" Iran.

The slogan that was promoted by monarchist supporters, and backers of Reza Pahlavi, not only gave authorities another pretext to repress and kill, but also lent legitimacy to the brutal U.S. and Israeli attacks and the start of war. The outcome of both forms of violence was the same: deepening divisions among anti-regime forces (inside and outside the country), the reclaiming of the streets by the IRI, and forcing the protesters to retreat.

For many of us (especially women and others who have long faced repression under a repressive system) what was already clear was proven in practice as well: bunker-busting bombs, missiles, and drones bring nothing but more killing, displacement, poverty, unemployment, inflation, and a deeper climate of fear and suffocation.

War is war: There is no real difference between a government turning guns, tanks, and machine fire on people in the marshes of Mahshahr, and the killing of schoolchildren in Minab with missiles and bombs. Choosing one form of violence over the other, under any justification, means drifting away from the spirit of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement.

That movement, like many progressive struggles, is rooted in life, equality, well-being, and the liberation of all people from discrimination and injustice. Destroying or dismissing “life”—whether through taking lives or stripping people of dignity and security—stands in direct opposition to "Woman, Life, Freedom" and to all movements that aim for a just and humane society.

For 47 years, the IRI has been at war with its own people, people whose core demands have long included "freeing political prisoners" and "an end to executions/death-penalty," calls that center on the value of human life.

Wartime conditions (during the 12-day conflict and the current one) have pushed people out of the streets and into silence. Public presence and even activity on social media have been driven into a kind of blackout, both in real life and online. This has created the conditions for the regime to impose its harshest forms of repression, censorship, and control.

Hardly a day passes without long lists appearing in tightly controlled domestic media—lists of those arrested, sentenced to death, or stripped of their property under the false accusations of "espionage," across different parts of the country.

With the internet silenced and families and lawyers cut off from detainees, repression accelerates at a frightening pace. Arrests, trials, and executions move forward in the dark, out of public view.

For those who plan and carry out repression, killing, and executions war becomes a "blessing" . It creates the conditions for martial law, spreading fear, keeping people uninformed, and giving those in power a free hand to commit all kinds of crimes while justifying every failure and restriction.

We believe that the structure of the IRI, that is against humanity, will not change by removing one official or another. Just as importantly, neither war nor closed-door negotiations and deals have ever reflected, nor will they reflect, the demands of the people.

Both sides in this conflict are focused on the preservation of their fascistic and corrupt regimes, and their own interests. Until strong, visible movements within society are formed and can assert themselves, people will continue to be caught in the rivalry of repressive and fascistic governments and global capital seeking to reshape and redraw the world’s geography, especially in the Middle East.

We believe that the politicians involved in these conflicts reduce our bodies to cheap, or even free, labor. In wartime, even that is stripped away, as we are dehumanized into shattered bodies beneath missiles and bombs.

This dehumanization doesn’t happen only through dropping bombs and missiles on people. It also becomes harsher and more intolerable through unbearable daily conditions: displacement, poverty, unemployment, inflation, and rising costs. And all of this will be even more difficult in the post-war days.

Even today, we are facing millions pushed into unemployment as infrastructure, factories, and power plants were hit by missiles, as well as internet shutdowns, ongoing layoffs across production and service sectors, and widespread unemployment among precarious workers, many of them women.

Women have long stood at the forefront against war, violence, and executions, and who have carried the spirit of "Woman, Life, Freedom." Now, in the midst of this crisis, what they see most at risk is “life” itself, the survival and dignity of human beings.

People who are being kidnapped or sent to the gallows in the current climate of silence and repression, are the very forces that could shape future movements, and the current criminal regime is trying to eliminate them to further entrench its authoritarian rule.

Therefore, women’s central demand in this moment is:  unconditional release of all political prisoners, and an immediate halt to executions, ultimately, the abolition of all executions.

We believe that, in the current circumstances, no responsibility is more urgent than a collective  effort to save the lives of thousands of prisoners, many of whom are at risk of  execution. This calls for collective action from all progressive movements that have long championed the demands of different sections of society: women, workers, retirees, students, environmental advocates, children’s rights groups,  national minorities, anti–death-penalty activists, and justice-seeking families of those who have been executed.

Nothing is more urgent than saving the life of a human being, whose most basic right to live is stripped away by placing a noose around their neck and kicking away the stool beneath their feet.

Let us be the voice of the prisoners!

Let's unite against the executions and for the release of political prisoners.

April 21, 2026

A group of women from Tehran and Karaj

A group of women activists within the country

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