On November 5, PEN raised the alarm in an article about “Shocking Arrests of Writers and Scholars in Iran Latest in Escalating Free Speech Crackdown,” which included home raids, interrogations, and arrests of “several notable leftist intellectuals in Tehran,” “part of a wider spate of detentions and targeting of academics and others who have voiced criticism of Iran’s economic policies and social conditions or other dissident views.” At least two of those targeted “are known for their translations of leftist texts or topics including economics and gender.”
A week later on November 12, PEN announced a petition where they “joined almost 300 scholars and writers worldwide—including Fatemeh Shams, Ervand Abrahamain, and Judith Butler—calling for the release of a group of prominent progressive scholars, writers, and translators arrested in early November, as well as other unjustly detained writers in Iran.” We applaud this effort.
There is real significance in the fight for a better world to defend progressive and revolutionary dreamers and fighters of a society as to what future we get. There is no movement for social or fundamental change without thinkers who use their intellectual capacity and training—of working with ideas—in the service of liberating the people from historically outmoded socio-economic systems. Imagine if there is a Darwin among them in Iran? What would be lost to humanity if such thinkers and their revolutionary ideas were suppressed—as is being done currently by theocrats everywhere?
Twelve political prisoners in Evin Prison quickly issued a statement against these arrests and raids. In part, it reads:
In a situation where economic misery has put the livelihoods and lives of the people in a deplorable state, the regime’s security system has taken action to arrest and interrogate economists who defend the lower classes of society… The arrest of these individuals reflects the fact that the regime is still in conflict with thought and thinkers who think differently. We, a group of political prisoners imprisoned in Evin Prison, while condemning this rotten policy, demand their immediate and unconditional release.
On November 12, Radio Zamaneh, a left-leaning Farsi language station based in Amsterdam, reported that three “leftist researchers” who had been arrested on November 3 had now been released on bail. They were Parviz Sedaghat, a political economy researcher and translator; Mahsa Asadollahnejad, a sociologist researcher; and Shirin Karimi, a social science writer and translator.
Importantly, Radio Zamaneh noted that the repression of these progressive intellectuals “sparked widespread condemnation. A group of 12 political prisoners held in Evin Prison, as well as around 900 cultural, civil and political activists, denounced these politics and called for immediate and unconditional release of the researchers, and to hold accountable those responsible for the poverty and misery which prevails in Iran.”
Referring to the petition announced by PEN, they went on to say “More than 260 Iranian and non-Iranian academics from various countries also signed a statement recognizing the prominent and respected position of these researchers in the scientific community – emphasizing that ‘in every lawful society that values academic freedom, they would be respected and cherished, instead of being threatened and incarcerated!’”
Evin Prisoners’ Bold Resistance Prevents Transfer of Death Row Inmate
When Ehsan Afrashteh was dragged out of Ward 7 of Evin Prison in Tehran, calling for help and covered in blood from being beaten by guards, his fellow prisoners feared that they would not see him again. They chanted “Down with [Supreme Leader] Khamenei!” and fought with guards. It was the second time guards had tried to transfer the 32-year-old engineer, sentenced to death on unfounded charges of espionage and sent to Ghezel Hesar Prison, which executes the largest number of prisoners in the country. Last month, fellow prisoners had physically prevented his transfer. On November 10, guards locked the other prisoners in the yard and separated Ehsan, along with two other political prisoners, Mehdi Farid and Behzad Panahi, and moved them to an unknown location.
In response, 200 prisoners in Evin, which holds the largest number of Iran’s political prisoners, immediately announced a hunger strike, and the next day joined with the “Tuesday No to Execution” weekly hunger strike. Iranian diaspora activists flooded social media about Ehsan Afrashteh and Mehdi Farid, who is also accused of espionage and sentenced to death.
It is a testament to the determined and courageous struggle of Evin prisoners and their supporters that three days later, the authorities returned two of the prisoners, Ehsan Afrashteh and Behzad Panahi, to wards in Evin.
Families and Supporters of Hunger-Striking Prisoners Attacked Outside Evin
The day after of the violent transfer of political prisoners, a sit-in of families and supporters of two Azerbaijani ethnic minority political prisoners was attacked by a large gang of police in front of Evin Prison gates. They tore up signs and physically dispersed the family protesters. Four long-time activists who had joined them were beaten and arrested. Even in the face of this, the families have continued to sit in and hold signs. On November 13, Islamic state police forces again attacked and dispersed them.
That same day, two political prisoners, Vadud Asadi and Taher Naghavi, who were on their 17th day of a hunger strike, lost consciousness and were taken to the prison infirmary.
Prolonged hunger strikes continue to be a tactic of last resort among many prisoners, and, tragically, many have lost their precious lives or suffer permanent damages to their health. The “No to Execution Tuesday” campaign of a one-day hunger strike every week has proven to be a creative and sustainable practice which has garnered worldwide support. Nearing its two-year anniversary in January 2026, it has spread to 54 prisons across Iran to date.