Martyr for freedom

My hero mum is going to be executed by ruthless Iranian regime but she’s not afraid to die the Ayatollah is losing grip

The son of a woman sentenced to death by Iran’s merciless regime after a sham 10-minute hearing has told how his courageous mum is not afraid to die.
Political prisoner Zahra Tabari, 67, faces being sent to the gallows on trumped-up charges amid an alarming surge in executions in the rogue nation.
At least one inmate is being put to death every four hours, with at least 204 prisoners hanged in September alone in an execution spree unmatched since 1988.
It comes amid fears the weakened Ayatollah is ramping up executions in a warning to dissidents.
Insiders previously told The Sun how Ali Khamenei appeared to be plotting a repeat of the 1988 massacre, in which thousands were killed, as he grapples to keep his power.
But Zahra’s brave son Soroush Samak said the Iranian people are no longer afraid of the merciless regime as he issued a plea to Western governments to intervene.
Soroush, 35, told The Sun: “This knife has lost its edge; these death sentences only fuel the people’s anger.
“My mother is not afraid to die, and we are proud of her courage. Shame on those who have imprisoned the people.”
Zahra is one of the latest political victims to join death row on bogus charges – and one of 18 facing imminent execution.
The mum was arrested when security agents raided her home in March over her ties to the callous regime’s opposition with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
Held in Lakan Prison in Rasht, Zahra has now been sentenced to execution after a 10-minute video hearing – and without access to a lawyer.
Iran has repeatedly unleashed lethal force on its own people – especially at times of crisis – in a sickening bid to crush rebellion.
Last year, at least 1,001 executions were recorded – a 16 per cent rise from 2023.
But 2025, with the regime in turmoil and desperately clinging to power, has proven worse with at least 1,200 sent to the gallows so far.
Zahra’s heartbroken son, who lives in Sweden, said: “I have heart palpitations with cold sweat – agitated, worried, and at the same time deeply angry.
“My mother told me she has 10 days to appeal, and we are searching for a lawyer to take her case.
“As long as our mother remains in the custody of this regime, we have no peace of mind. Each day is spent hoping for her release and fearing her loss.
“She is an intelligent individual with wide-ranging knowledge and professional experience — a bold, informed, and conscious woman whose bravery is unmatched. That is why they want to break her, because the clerical regime fears women like her.”
Ruthless Khamenei has been more hellbent than ever in his attempt to stamp out repression after glaring vulnerabilities in his regime were exposed this year.
One of the most damning moments for the Ayatollah’s authority came when the US and Israel launched a monumental blitz on Iran – vastly diminishing its nuclear scheme.
Power held by Iran’s terror proxies – including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen – has also been severely depleted, weakening Khamenei’s grip on the region.
Khamenei’s war on his own people has seen the tyrannical leader demand citizens act as undercover informants and turn hangings into public spectacles.
Execution figures are rocketing at a worrying rate, with the 204 recorded this September making a grim tally compared to 84 in the same month last year, and 29 in the September before that.
Among the victims this September were six women – meaning at least 37 female inmates have been sent to the gallows this year.
Alongside Zahra, 17 more political prisoners fear for their lives as campaign groups beg for help from the international community.
Soroush said: “The regime has shown that it rejects any notion of justice. We have no trust in its judicial system.
“This is a medieval regime, and we strongly condemn its treatment of political prisoners.
“Our demand is the release of all intellectual, ideological, religious, ethnic, and political prisoners — all of them must be freed unconditionally, and the death sentences must end.
“The sharp rise in executions in recent years is deeply alarming. But we have the ability to push back against the regime by strengthening solidarity among the people to increase pressure — and we must act quickly.
“This regime has shown it only understands the language of decisiveness and firm stance.
“My appeal to the British government and other Western governments, including Sweden — where she earned her Master’s degree — is to make all trade and diplomatic relations with Iran’s ruling dictatorship conditional to halting executions of political prisoners and securing their unconditional release.
“This is the only way to compel the regime to stop its crimes.”
The leap in executions prompted 1,500 inmates at Ghezel Hesar Prison to go on a four-day hunger strike.
They said: “It is unbearable for us that you take several of us for execution every day. Either kill us all together, or we will die on this hunger strike.”
As long as our mothernremains in the custody of this regime, we have no peace of mind. Each day is spent hoping for her release and fearing her loss.
Campaigners from the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has called on Western countries to “unite” and demand an end to the plight of political prisoners.
Hossein Abedini, the deputy director of NCRI’s UK office, said: “The religious dictatorship in Iran, facing a crisis of legitimacy, social unrest, and repeated regional and international setbacks, now sees mass executions as its only means of survival.
“As Mrs. Maryam Rajavi emphasised at the World Day Against the Death Penalty conference, the regime’s survival relies on repression, human rights violations, and the export of terrorism, and it will not abandon these actions until its final day.
“The recent developments in the region have further isolated the regime. Thus, the regime desperately but unsuccessfully is trying to regain its dominance.
“With the recent ceasefire further weakening the regime’s position in the region, making it harder to reassert its dominance. Thus, in fear of another uprising in Iran has intensified executions.
“Now is the time for the world to unite and demand an immediate end to executions and the release of all political prisoners in Iran.”