In remarks on May 21, Hamid Rasaei, a member of Iran parliament, in a state-staged rally, urged Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Eje’i to establish wartime-style courts and accelerate punishments, including public executions and floggings.
🚨Iranian MP Demands Public Executions and Floggings: “Your Launcher Must Fire”
— Ehsan Eghbal Eslami (@Ehsaneghbale) May 22, 2026
Hamid Rassaei urged Chief Justice Mohseni-Eje’i to establish wartime “field courts” and bypass normal trial procedures so that public floggings and hangings can be carried out quickly in city… pic.twitter.com/yB6ioo412j
Addressing Eje’i, Rasaei said:
“Mr. Mohseni-Eje’i, your launcher must fire!”
He called for what he described as “field courts” to bypass normal judicial procedures and argued that punishments should be carried out rapidly and publicly in city squares.
“Bring your courts here to the fields, here in public. Tell the people what is the stage of the case…. If the outcome is flogging do it, if it is hanging, do it right there. Mr. Mohseni-Eje’i, your launcher must fire! It means you should do ”
The comments mark one of the most explicit recent calls by a serving official for visible and accelerated punishment, but they follow months of increasingly hardline rhetoric by senior judiciary, police, and parliamentary figures.
On April 28, 2026, Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Eje’i urged courts to accelerate rulings and implementation of punishments in security-related cases, saying delays reduce deterrence. Earlier, he instructed judges to show “no mercy” in protest-related prosecutions.
On May 18, Police Commander Ahmad-Reza Radan said authorities had arrested more than 6,500 people, including hundreds accused of links to opposition activity. Earlier, on March 10, Radan said protesters would be treated as “enemies,” while on April 20 he announced 1,200 arrests in a single wave.
Iran's Police Chief admits to 6,500 arrests
— Pasha Borjkhani (@BorjkhaniP1847) May 18, 2026
In this Video Iran Police Chief, Ahmad-Reza Radan confirms:
• 6,500 citizens detained in recent weeks.
• 567 linked to the MEK and other opposition groups.
• Vows to hunt every January protester: “We won’t let them go.” https://t.co/pkB41BvjoR pic.twitter.com/99DmAS1Jsw
On May 20, judiciary-linked Mizan News Agency quoted another regime MP, Majid Doustali, defending severe punishment and stating:
“The judiciary today is acting correctly… our demand is that this path continue seriously because this is a public and popular demand.”
The rhetoric has coincided with a rise in executions and prosecutions involving political prisoners, protesters, and dissidents.
According to rights groups and monitoring organizations, at least 50,000 people were arrested following the nationwide protests beginning in 2022, while executions linked to political activity have continued to draw international concern.
In recent months, Iranian authorities have executed Kurdish political prisoners, upheld death sentences against detainees accused of opposition links, and expanded prison terms for political prisoners.
At least eight PMOI members have been executed since March 30, 2026, including Vahid Baniamerian, Pouya Ghobadi, Babak Alipour, Mohammad Taghavi, Akbar Daneshvarkar, Abolhassan Montazer, and others executed between March 30 and April 4, 2026. Two others, Hamed Validi and Mohammad Massoud-Shahi were hanged on April 21. Several of the six PMOI prisoners executed between March 30 to April 4 had sent messages or recordings from prison before their executions.
International legal experts have also warned of a broader escalation. In an open letter released in May, more than 300 former UN officials, judges, Nobel laureates, and legal experts said executions in Iran had reached levels “not seen in nearly four decades.” The letter stated that at least eight political prisoners had been executed over affiliation with the PMOI, while additional detainees remain at risk.
The latest surge has unfolded alongside months of regional conflict, internet restrictions, and mass arrests. Rights advocates and observers have argued that wartime conditions and heightened security tensions have increasingly coincided with executions, accelerated sentencing, and reduced public scrutiny of political cases.
The chronology of statements—from calls for “no mercy,” to accelerated punishments, to demands for public executions—has unfolded alongside a documented increase in arrests, executions, and harsher treatment of political prisoners in Iran.