Smuggled video reveals defiant song of hanged Iran protesters
As Tehran executes dissidents at ‘unprecedented’ speed, footage and manifestos obtained by The Sunday Times show the final resistance of the condemned
The Times, April 25, 2026
Pouya Ghobadi was seated alone in a prison yard. A single leafless sapling threw a thin shadow against a wall topped with coils of barbed wire. In one corner, someone had scrawled in Persian: “Death to the dictator.”
Ghobadi, 33, an electrical engineer from the western city of Sonqor, then began to sing. “I clench the weapon’s grip, with iron in my hand,” he chanted, his voice steady. “For fire is the only answer to this land.” The camera filming the young man tilted towards the sky.
Five weeks after this video was taken, Ghobadi was dead. According to Amnesty International, he was allegedly tortured before the Iranian regime hanged him on March 31, accusing him of armed rebellion against the state and membership of an outlawed organisation.
He was one of at least 17 people put to death by Iran over the five weeks to April 21, a pace that human rights monitors claim has been the fastest for decades. Amnesty believes Iran is the world’s second most prolific user of the death penalty, after China.
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Türk deplores crackdown on dissent, says rights of all Iranians must be respected
The United Nations, April 29, 2026
GENEVA – UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk today deplored the crackdown by Iranian authorities on dissent – in particular through the use of national security-related charges. At least 21 individuals have been executed and thousands of others arrested.
Since the start of the devastating joint Israeli-US attacks on Iran two months ago, at least nine people have been executed in connection with the January 2026 protests, ten for alleged membership in opposition groups, and two on espionage charges.
“I am appalled that – on top of the already severe impacts of the conflict– the rights of the Iranian people continue to be stripped from them by the authorities, in harsh and brutal ways,” said Türk.
“In times of war, threats to human rights increase exponentially. Yet even where national security is invoked, human rights can only be limited where strictly necessary and proportionate, and for a legitimate end. And core, non-derogable rights – such as protection against arbitrary detention, and the right to fair trial – must be respected absolutely, at all times.”
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Cracks developing’ in Iranian regime | ABC News Live with Kazen Kazerounian
In this insightful interview, Professor Kazerounian breaks down how the Iranian regime is exploiting regional conflict to escalate internal repression and the execution of political prisoners.
Crucially, he highlights a major strategic blindspot in Western diplomacy: the failure to recognize the power of the organized resistance within Iran. Through the Resistance Units and the NCRI’s clear platform, led by Maryam Rajavi, the Iranian people have spent four decades building a viable, tested alternative to theocratic rule. It is time for the West to align its policy with the reality on the ground.
Mrs. Shirin Nariman’s Interview with Newsmax TV: War with Iran- April 26, 2026
In this interview, Mrs. Nariman argues that the Iranian people are the decisive factor in the country’s future. Consequently, Western governments must prioritize human rights and an immediate halt to executions in any negotiations with the regime.
The regime’s greatest fear is not foreign intervention, but the Iranian people themselves. Shirin also addresses the role of Reza Pahlavi, describing him as an “irrelevant” and “manufactured” figure in the struggle for democracy. She emphasizes that the Iranian people decisively rejected the monarchy in 1979 and have no intention of returning to the past.
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