The broad outrage in Iran over this latest instance of “slow execution” or “murder by medical neglect” has been galvanizing and unifying. Listen to Somayeh’s wardmates chanting in Qarchak after her death, posted by Burn the Cage.
The video caption reads, in part: “A group of women political prisoners in Qarchak demonstrated their protest by chanting slogans such as ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ and ‘No to Execution’ and also by singing songs... Some reports indicate that prisoners set fire to nooses and headscarves to dramatize their protest.”
Forty-five women political prisoners in Qarchak immediately issued a statement refuting the prison authorities’ attempts to blame Somayeh for her own death, which said in part:
She was full of desire for life and freedom until the last moment and until her last days she was persistently pursuing bail… Now that our beloved Somayeh has fallen victim to incompetence and deliberate and constant lies, we warn that other "Somayehs" are still in prison alongside us and in other prisons of the Islamic Republic, and their health is in danger.
Nineteen of them went on a two-day hunger strike, and were joined by 30 male political prisoners in Evin Prison. Two male prisoners announced continuing hunger strikes until the women political prisoners were transferred back to Evin and prison authorities are held accountable for Somayeh Rashidi’s death.
Declaration of 150 ex-prisoners: “Despite officials being aware of her deteriorating condition from the first days of detention, they neither provided treatment nor reduced the exorbitant bail of three billion tomans, which her family could not pay, even as her life was in serious danger. We demand immediate and unconditional release of all sick prisoners, regardless of age or charge; and immediate transfer of political and ideological prisoners from Qarchak Prison’s quarantine section to Evin Prison. We demand full transparency into the deaths of Somayeh Rashidi and others, the prosecution and accountability of negligent and corrupt officials, and the immediate closure of Qarchak Prison, a facility unfit to hold any human being.”
U.S. State Department: Phony Tears BUT Real Complicity
On September 30, the US State Department’s Persian X account tweeted: “In just 14 days, three women… fell victim to the regime's ruthless denial of medical care and tragically lost their lives in Qarchak Varamin Prison… The denial of healthcare is only one of the regime's methods used to suppress opponents. Other tactics include preventing treatment for injured protesters, forcing doctors to remain silent and falsifying autopsy reports to cover up their crimes. The United States strongly condemns these horrific violations and calls on Iran to respect the rights of prisoners and end the instrumental use of medical care to suppress opponents.”
These honeyed poison words are more than hypocrisy. It is the US imperialists acting on the interest of empire using the justified people’s struggle as “a pawn in their game.” The Trump regime committed war crimes of its own in its unprovoked U.S. bombing of Iran’s supposed nuclear sites in June, and in supporting Israel’s 12 days of bombings, including of Evin prison. Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported a death toll of 1,190 and over 4,000 wounded, including killing Evin prisoners and visiting family members. The U.S. has now discovered that Iran’s violation of prisoners’ “right to medical care” is “horrific.” Yet they are cruelly deporting scores of people into that nightmare (see below). And the U.S. should look in the mirror as to how its many prisoners, protesters, and immigrant detainees are being terrorized in ever more horrific ways.
On the same date as this State Department tweet, the New York Times reported that the Trump regime deported a planeload of Iranians to Iran! The NYT notes that 300 Iranians are now languishing in U.S. detention and about 2,500 face the threat of being deported, among them ethnic minorities, political and religious dissidents who may be persecuted once in Iran. Many people are being denied justified asylum claims with little or no due process in an anti-immigrant fascist craze under Trump. They could have opted to be deported to Somalia or Sudan instead of Iran!
Surge of Executions Worst in Three Decades
Imagine the terror of these deportees. The U.S. is sending them back to Iran as the Islamic Republic (IR) passed a ghoulish landmark with about 171 executions reported by human rights groups in the month of September alone, and about 1,042 hanged in the first nine months of 2025, both of these unprecedented numbers in the past 30 years in Iran.
There is little or no due process for the vast majority of prisoners, including juveniles and scores of political prisoners given death sentences and often suddenly executed. On just one horrifying day last week, Burn the Cage posted on their Instagram that 16 prisoners were executed in several prisons across Iran.
To humanize the numbers, we want to highlight two executions last month in Iran that were especially widely denounced:
“Babak Shahbazi was arrested on 6 January 2024 and was forced to confess on camera to collaborating with Israel after authorities threatened to arrest his 16-year-old daughter... Mehran Bahramian was arrested for participating in the 40th day commemoration ceremony of slain protesters… [Iran’s] Supreme Court overturned the sentence and referred the case back for retrial, ‘citing investigative deficiencies.’ Ultimately, Mehran was resentenced to death at retrial.” [1]
Families of executed or death row prisoners grieve and protest outside Ghezel Hesar Prison, posted by Burn the Cage on September 24.
The video caption reads, in part: “The gathering of families of prisoners sentenced to death in front of Ghezel Hesar Prison continues. On September 23, a number of families gathered to protest the widespread wave of executions and the transfer of prisoners to solitary confinement. On Monday [9/22], a similar protest was held in front of the same prison… The bitter reality is that the government sees its survival in continuing these executions, and for this reason, executions have become a tool to create fear and silence protests.”
The “No to Execution Tuesdays” prisoners-led campaign persists in its 88th consecutive week, now in 52 prisons across Iran, with hunger strikes against the death penalty every Tuesday. This week, in addition to expressing solidarity and outrage for the death of Somayeh Rashidi, it noted new and confirmed death sentences against political prisoners. Their fearless and fighting spirit needs to be supported and emulated worldwide in this crucial hour on our planet. The September 30 statement concludes:
“We thank all Karzar [strike] supporters around the world, emphasize that the execution machine can be stopped with solidarity and unity. Every action of protest against a death sentence is a step towards stopping this cruel process. We call on all those who oppose the execution to raise their voices against these inhumane sentences.”
We demand of the Islamic Republic of Iran: Free All Political Prisoners Now!
We say to the U.S. government: No Threats or War Moves Against Iran! Lift Sanctions!