Political Prisoner on Death Row Attempts Suicide in Zahedan Prison

According to The Henry Jackson Society, the West’s policy on Iran is “in tatters”. Iran continues to support Russia’s war on Ukraine, bolster its nuclear capabilities, fund, train and arm militias in the Middle East and most recently, target international shipping through its Yemeni proxy, the Houthis, in the Red Sea region.

The blockade, which the Houthis say is in allegiance with Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza amid its war with Israel, has seen the Houthis “taking hostages, seizing ships, firing missiles at US military vessels and firing missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia via Yemen”, according to the report. 

Dozens of hostages hail from countries such as Mexico, Romania and the Philippines, though the Houthis allege they are targeting Israeli-linked vessels. However, that expanded to Western backed vessels after retaliatory attacks from a UK-US coalition directly attacked Houthi facilities in Yemen. Since last year, Iran has also ramped up its policy of diplomatic hostage-taking, including European diplomat Johan Floderus. In spite of this, President Joe Biden freed up $6bn of frozen Iranian funds in South Korea last year in exchange for the release of five US-Iranian hostages, only showing the success of Iran's policy.

“For too long, Iranian aggression has been unchallenged,” the report said, suggesting direct attacks on the likes of Iran’s drone and missile facilities which have been used to arm Russia in addition to Iran’s regional proxies, as well as targeting Iran’s air defences.

Its experts claim that the US should remove its carriers from the Persian Gulf, granting the US strike capability while insulating them from drones, mines and anti-ship missiles. It also suggests targeting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) bases such as the Pasdaran base and senior IRGC personnel on Iranian or foreign soil.

Since the Gaza war alone, sparked in October by Iran-backed Hamas’s invasion of Israel, over 200 attacks on US facilities in the Middle East as punishment for supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, have all but passed with no response. Just a handful of retaliatory attacks have been launched, none of which touched Iran directly.

“Even when the US has been directly targeted by Iranian proxies, successive administrations have refused to respond directly to Iran and hold the regime accountable,” the report stated, attacks happening in the likes of Iraq and Yemen, with three US forces killed in Jordan, 47 others wounded.

Taking a softly softly approach, pursuing diplomatic means and secret, though indirect, talks instead of military options, “the strategy was to localise conflict, avoid regional escalation and prevent broader war from breaking out in the Middle East. Ironically, it has led to the exact opposite. By attempting to prevent war, the US has encouraged conflict to erupt,” said the report. 

Targeting Iran's nuclear program is essential, claims the think-tank. Under the Biden administration, Tehran has only continued to become more emboldened, escalating its nuclear enrichment, in spite of sanctions, even blocking access to the UN's inspectors. UN nuclear chief, Rafael Grossi, recently said Iran is now weeks, not months, away from a nuclear weapon.

While Iran continues to bypass sanctions, selling oil to countries such as China, the think tank also suggests targeting Iran’s oil infrastructure, including refining and processing facilities, domestic distribution pipelines and terminals, and the hydrocarbon export ports.

State-backed plots to assassinate Israelis and Jews abroad continue to be seen from South America to Europe, including the UK’s national security agency, MI5, calling Iran one of the biggest foreign threats on UK soil. Just days ago, Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, revealed plots across Europe targeting Israeli embassies.

Multiple Iran International journalists have also been targeted in assassination attempts in the UK. Most recently, journalist Pouria Zeraati, was stabbed in public on a London street, as targeting Iranian dissidents in exile becomes ever more brazen policy from the regime.

The Henry Jackson Society report also calls for a “new policy towards Iran” which would involve Israel “expanding its projection of power to target Iranian facilities on Iranian soil, and could be accompanied by the US conducting disproportionate responses to destabilise the Iranian regime with the effect of paradoxically restoring deterrence”.

After an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Syria in April, targeting senior military figures at what has been claimed is a consulate covering as a military facility, Tehran launched its first direct assault on Israel.

Over 350 projectiles were launched towards the Jewish state, with Israel and a US-led coalition intercepting the majority. However, there was no international military action against Iran for the attack which risked the beginnings of a third world war, with Biden only putting distance between the US and Israel after the event, warning Israel it would not be involved in further action.

But it is not only Biden who has come under fire for being too soft on Iran. Last week, a group of over 550 British MPs and peers joined forces to call for the proscription of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as unlike the US, the UK resists designating Iran’s state-backed terror force in favor of ‘diplomatic means’.

Tory MP Bob Blackman said: “We have tried the current policy of appeasement for 40 years, and it has only resulted in failure after failure, simply emboldening the regime in intensifying its nefarious conduct.

“It should be coupled with holding the regime accountable, including by designating the IRGC as a terrorist entity, a step long overdue. That would send a clear message to the ayatollahs that business as usual is over and would signal to the brave Iranians that the West has started to be on their side.”

Daniel Stenling, the head of counter intelligence at the Swedish Security Service, revealed at a news conference on Thursday that the plots are proxies for the Iranian government.

The groups have reportedly targeted Israeli interests and Iranian dissidents within Sweden. "The Security Service can now confirm that criminal networks in Sweden are proxies that Iran uses," Stenling stated, supported by news revealed by Israel's intelligence services Thursday of terror plots across Europe including Belgium and Sweden against Jewish and Israeli targets.

Sweden's Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said, "It is deeply worrying that a foreign power, in this case Iran, should have used criminal networks to commit or instigate crimes in Sweden."

Iran has held Swedish EU diplomat Johan Floderus hostage since last year, part of its ongoing policy of diplomatic hostage taking, accusing him of espionage. 

The Guardian Council, however, had earlier disqualified him from running in the 2020 legislative elections, and is unlikely to approve him this time either.

The Council dominated by Khamenei’s conservative loyalists has barred hundreds of regime insiders from running in elections since 2020.

The field of candidates is dominated by conservatives and hardliners. 'Reformists' are still undecided about fielding a candidate, and Sadeghi would hardly be chosen as their main candidate.

Sadeghi, a former Shia cleric, wrote on Twitter in 2021, "The function of reformist and moderate governments is to get the system [regime] out of its crises, then the system will throw them away like a used handkerchief."

So far nearly two dozen politicians have registered, including several hardliners close to the Supreme Leader.

The controversial politician, who has been largely sidelined by the regime's ruling core for nearly a decade, arrived at the Interior Ministry to officially submit his credentials and register for the election.

“Today, I have come to once again greet the people of Iran,” he said as he registered his candidacy.

“The challenges we face today in all spheres are far greater than those of 2013," said the former president, pointing out that the economic hardships of the people have exhausted their patience.

Iran is grappling with soaring food prices amidst economic and social turmoil and the devaluation of the rial compounded by regional tensions. The root cause of this alarming price surge lies in Iran's faltering economy, exacerbated by the continuous devaluation of the Iranian rial. The rial has continuously fallen since the inception of the Islamic Republic in 1979, but it turned into a steep fall in 2018 when the United States withdrew from the JCPOA nuclear deal, demanding its revision. Oil export sanctions and international banking restrictions imposed by the Trump administration badly hurt Iran’s oil-dependent economy.

“My top priority will be to address the economic problems of the people," added the former president.

However, registering as a candidate does not mean that a politician can automatically participate in the election. Iran’s governing system has a powerful watchdog called the Guardian Council that vets all candidates and according to obscure criteria decides whose name can be on the ballot.

Asked if he thinks he will be permitted by the Guardian Council to run for the presidency, Ahmadinejad kept silent and just smiled, a video of him at the Interior Ministry shows.

The Guardian Council, loyal to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei barred Ahmadinejad from running in the 2017 and 2021 presidential elections. Following his disqualification in 2017, the hated and loved politician became a vocal critic of the ruling elite’s governance, even going as far as criticizing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

He was not the only well-known figure who was barred from running in mid-2021. Former Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and former Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri were also barred, opening the path for Ebrahim Raisi to win a low-turnout election as a hardliner candidate.

After Raisi’s victory, Ahmadinejad was apparently put on a short leash and mostly stopped commenting and criticizing. With Raisi’s death in a helicopter crash last month, he came out of the shadows and began commenting about a bright future for Iranians.

Among these prisoners is Aref Rasouli, a 20-year-old young man whose case has underscored a significant ongoing issue: Iran's persistent violation of international human rights standards by sentencing minors to death.

Rasouli was reportedly born on 25 April 2004, making him 17 years old at the time of his alleged crime. Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), which reported on his transfer to solitary confinement, has urged the international community and all countries with diplomatic relations with Iran to use every available channel to halt these executions. IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam stated:

“The international community’s reaction can prevent the execution of Aref Rasouli and the other death row prisoners. Executing child offenders is a flagrant breach of international law and the Islamic Republic’s treaty obligations. The international community shouldn’t allow child offender executions to continue.”

The Islamic Penal Code and Iran’s Breach of International Laws

Executing individuals for crimes committed under the age of 18 contravene international human rights norms, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which Iran has ratified.

According to Iran's 2013 Islamic Penal Code, the age of criminal responsibility is 15 for boys and 9 for girls. This means they can be sentenced to death for murder and other capital crimes in Iran.

Although the May 2013 update to the Islamic Penal Code allowed judges to replace the death penalty if juvenile offenders lacked an understanding of the crime or their mental maturity was in doubt, Iran persists in imposing such sentences. Amnesty International stated that Iran’s claims of reform of the justice system with the 2013 May are “not reality” and that “little has changed in practice”. 

Notably this provision further emphasized Iran’s disregard for meeting its international obligations, which strictly prohibit such sentences for juvenile offenders under any circumstances in the first place.

Even if Iran were to adhere to its obligations under international law, the country's judiciary faces scrutiny by International rights groups for its track record of sham trials and blatant disregard for due process, with detainees frequently denied legal representation.

Recent Cases of Child Offenders on Death Row Executed in Iran

Earlier this month, 20-year-old Ramin Sa’adat was executed at Miandoab Prison in West Azarbaijan province for a murder he committed at the age of 16, as reported by Kurdpa. Despite Saadat maintaining his innocence throughout his trial, his sentence was carried out on 18 May 2024.

Transparency remains elusive, with Iran withholding crucial data on executions, including those of juvenile offenders. However, as many as 85 juveniles could be on death row in Iran’s prisons as per a 2021 UN report.

Of the juvenile offenders on death row, at least 5 were executed in 2023, as per Amnesty reports.

One of those executed in 20203, was Hamid Azari who not only was sentenced to death when he was a minor, but also executed when he was only 17 years old.

“Hamidreza Azari was arrested when he was just 16 years old and executed less than seven months later after a grossly unfair trial that was expedited by prosecution authorities. The Iranian authorities misrepresented his age as 18 in domestic media to evade accountability for violating international law which prohibits the imposition of death sentences on people under 18 at the time of the crime,” Amnesty stated.

In 2022, at least 3 juvenile offenders were executed on murder charges according to IHRNGO. Of those executed, included Yousef Mirzavand who was sentenced to death for a murder he allegedly committed at age 16.

“His family said he was innocent...someone else committed the murder and Yousef had taken the wrap for it…Yousef was from the Mirzavand tribe in Lorestan…” an informed source told IHRNGO. Mirzavand was executed in Dezful Prison on 26 December 2022.

With the fate of Rasouli and other juvenile offenders including Arvin Ghahremani hanging in the balance, and as advocacy groups continue to sound the alarm, the imperative to confront Iran's egregious human rights violations grows ever more urgent.