At dawn on March 30, 2026, the Iranian regime executed two members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), Mohammad Taghavi and Akbar Daneshvarkar, according to statements issued by the regime’s judiciary.
The authorities claimed the two had been convicted of “membership in the PMOI” and “armed operations in Tehran,” along with charges of “assembly and collusion against national security” and “armed uprising against the state.”
Mohammad Taghavi, 59, was a former political prisoner from the 1980s who had also been detained in 2020 and held for three years. In a message dated August 7, 2025, from Fashafouyeh Prison, he reaffirmed his position following the execution of Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani.
He wrote: “In these days, with the glorious steadfastness of our martyred brothers Mehdi and Behrouz—who said, ‘I do not bargain over my life’—the situation has taken on a very special character.”
Introducing himself, he stated: “I, Seyed Mohammad Taghavi Sangdehi, in the struggle for the liberation of the oppressed people, and as a fighter for freedom… under the proud banner of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, where the desperate regime, with its coercive nature, takes the ‘will to survive’ hostage, it is time to turn to offensive approaches and say, ‘bring it on.’”
He concluded with a vow: “I swear to fight with all my being until my last breath, to die standing… and with certainty in victory, I declare: I am Ready until the end.”
Akbar Daneshvarkar, 60, a civil engineer, had been arrested in January 2024. He was sentenced to death in December 2024 by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court.
In a letter written from Qezel Hesar Prison in February 2026, Daneshvarkar described the broader context of recent unrest in Iran. Referring to the nationwide protests in January, he wrote:
“From months ago, it was clear and certain that an uprising in Iran was on the way. What happened in January was only a prelude, and the main earthquake… that will lead to the overthrow… is inevitable.”
He also warned against efforts to divert the protests, writing:
“The dictator’s son and his remnants tried to ride the wave of the Iranian people’s uprising, deliberately tying a purely domestic movement to foreign agendas.”
Daneshvarkar further described the authorities’ response, stating:
“Khamenei ordered that the protesters be put in their place… the repression apparatus labeled the freedom-seeking people as ‘terrorists’ and carried out killings, crimes against humanity, and mass arrests.”
He added that detainees were subjected to pressure, including “brutal physical torture, false promises, and repeated threats… to extract forced confessions.”
The executions of Taghavi and Daneshvarkar come amid growing concern over other PMOI prisoners facing death sentences, following the executions of Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani in 2025.