Tehran, February 23, 2025 – Political prisoners Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani now face imminent execution after Iran’s Supreme Court rejected their retrial request on Sunday, February 23. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) confirmed the two men, held in Ghezel Hesar Prison, are at the edge of the regime’s gallows, convicted on charges tied to their support for the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). Resistance voices and human rights advocates are sounding the alarm, demanding urgent global action.
On February 25, Dr. Mai Sato, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, urged the Iranian regime to halt the executions of Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani, following reports of torture and unfair trials. In a post on X she wrote: “I call on the Islamic Republic of Iran to stop the execution of Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani,” citing trials marred by forced confessions. Her call is part of a broader call by three UN experts, who underlined in their February 25 statement that, ” Executing Individuals for broadly defined national security offences without fair trial guarantees is against international human rights law.”
Ehsani, 70, and Hassani, 48, were sentenced to death on September 16, 2024, by Judge Iman Afshari at Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. The charges— “rebellion (baghi),” “waging war against God (moharebeh),” “corruption on earth (efsad-e fel arz),” and “membership in the PMOI”—were upheld by the Supreme Court on January 7, 2025. The NCRI branded the trials a sham, built on forced confessions extracted through torture after their 2022 arrests during nationwide protests.
On January 26, regime agents abruptly transferred the pair from Evin Prison’s Wards 4 and 8 to Ghezel Hesar, a facility notorious for executions, sparking protests among inmates who chanted, “If you execute, there will be an uprising.” Ehsani, a veteran dissident jailed in the 1980s, wrote from prison, “I will not bargain over my life… I am ready to sacrifice my insignificant life for the liberation of the Iranian people.” Hassani, a father of three, endured similar torment in Evin’s Ward 209 before the move.
Amnesty International slammed the sentences on January 16 and 23, stating, “Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani were convicted… in relation to their alleged support of the PMOI… following a grossly unfair trial.” The group documented prolonged solitary confinement and torture, underlining the regime brutality. On January 23, the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning Iran’s “systematic repression,” calling for the release of death-row prisoners like Ehsani and Hassani.
The NCRI’s warned on February 24, “The mullahs’ regime is accelerating executions to crush dissent,” urging the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Council, and Special Rapporteur on Iran to intervene. The statement highlighted a global campaign that briefly halted the executions in late January, but the Supreme Court’s latest ruling has reignited fears. “Time is running out,” the NCRI stressed, pointing to Tehran’s 2024 execution tally of over 1,000, with 47% in the last quarter alone.
Ehsani’s lawyer had filed for a retrial last week, banking on Article 478 of Iran’s Criminal Procedure Code to suspend the death penalty. The Supreme Court’s rejection on Sunday dashed that hope, leaving the men’s fate in the hands of a regime defiant of international pleas. The NCRI noted six other PMOI supporters also face death sentences, signaling a broader crackdown.
From Ghezel Hesar’s isolation cells, Ehsani and Hassani embody the resistance’s defiance. “This execution-driven regime can do nothing else,” Ehsani wrote, a sentiment echoing across Iran’s prisons. The NCRI’s president-elect, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, long a voice against the mullahs, has framed such executions as the regime’s desperate bid to stave off a popular uprising—a view bolstered by the 2022 protests that first landed Ehsani and Hassani behind bar