Iran: Families of Death-Row Inmates Protest before the Parliament

6 Prisoners Returned from Solitary; Ending 7-Day Hunger Strike
• Mrs. Rajavi salutes the “no to execution” campaign and the steadfastness of prisoners and their families, stating: resistance is the only way against the regime of execution and massacre, a regime that never abandons suppression and executions.
This morning, Sunday, October 19, on the seventh day of the hunger strike by death-row prisoners in Ghezel Hesar Prison, a group of their families protested in front of the clerical regime’s parliament, chanting “No to execution” and “Do not execute.” The repressive State Security Force (SSF) blocked entrances to the parliament and attacked the protesters and the defenseless families of the condemned prisoners with batons to disperse them. The demonstrators then moved toward the bazaar while continuing their chants. In fear of the protest spreading, repressive forces were stationed on high alert in the metro and surrounding parks.
Meanwhile, this morning, six prisoners who had been taken to solitary confinement for execution were returned to Unit 2 of Ghezel Hesar Prison. Simultaneously, a group of executioners, including Hayat-ol-Gheib, the head of Tehran province’s prisons; Heshmati, the head of the Tehran Prisons Organization; Azizi, the head of Ghezel Hesar Prison; and an individual named Asadi, who introduced himself as a representative of the Judiciary, appeared among the prisoners.
Asadi said, “On behalf of the Judiciary and the Prisons Organization, I promise that we will not have any executions for the next few months. During this time, we will try to prepare an amendment to the death penalty law related to drug offenses to meet your demands.” The mercenary deceptively added, “We had a meeting yesterday. Some believed your strike was organized by the PMOI, but we said that is not the case. You wanted your voice to reach us, and it did! But if you continue from now on, we will understand that you are in contact with them. They are liars!” The striking prisoners responded, “Change the execution law. Does Iran belong only to you? This law has been wrong from the beginning. You are the liars… What lies have they told us?!”
Thus, with the return of the prisoners who had been taken to solitary confinement for execution, the inmates ended their week-long strike by issuing a statement. The statement reads: “Now that we have achieved a part of our demands, namely the return of our fellow inmates, we are ending our strike as of today, Sunday, October 19.”
The statement adds: “Starting this week, we will join the ‘No to Execution Tuesdays’ campaign and will participate in the strike every Tuesday alongside other prisoners.” The statement concludes with a warning: “We caution that if the executions resume, we will restart our protest more intensely.”
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, saluted the “No to Execution” campaign and the steadfastness and protests of the prisoners and their families. She said: “Resistance is the only way forward against the regime of execution and massacre, a regime that will never willingly give up suppression and executions. Collective persistence and protest forced the anti-human regime to take a step back, but the resistance must continue with even greater strength until the end of this regime.”
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
19 October 2025