State Violence in Iran: Women Face Execution and White Torture

As we approach International Human Rights Day and the final days of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, the NCRI Women’s Committee Podcast presents a stark examination of escalating state-sponsored violence against women. 

The discussion centers on two interlocking crises: a shocking spike in executions, including of women, and the systematic torture of female political prisoners through medical neglect.

1. A State-Driven Execution Crisis

• 1,800+ executions in the first 11 months of 2025
• 615 hangings in October and November alone
• 57 women executed, a 70% increase over the previous year
• 32 women executed in just four months (July–November)

These numbers show a deliberate government strategy to terrorize society, particularly women, who are increasingly central to anti-regime resistance.

2. “White Execution”: Torture by Medical Neglect

The podcast then examines the slow-acting violence inflicted through denial of medical care, described as a deliberate state policy.

Inhumane Prison Conditions

In November 2025, over 60 female political prisoners were transferred to:

• a basement ward 40 steps underground
• infested, damp, without heating, beds, or proper sanitation

For prisoners with chronic illness, these conditions accelerate physical decline by design.

Transcript

State Violence in Iran: Women Face Execution and White Torture

Welcome to the NCRI Women's Committee Podcast. We're opening this deep dive as we approach the final days of the sixteen days of activism against gender based violence. And it's also of course the eve of International Human Rights Day. Right. And the timing is crucial because we're focusing on some really alarming sources about the human rights crisis in Iran.

Exactly. We're zeroing in on what the sources describe as the most violent forms of state sponsored violence against women. And that really breaks down into two main areas. Okay. First, a a shocking surge in executions.

And second, the really critical condition of female political prisoners, women who have dared to oppose the regime. So our mission today is to cut through all this information and give you, the listener, a clear understanding of the scale and the systematic nature of this repression. And the core thing to grasp is that these mechanisms of control, you know, from a quick execution to just slow medical neglect, they're strategic. They are tools of the state. Right, not random acts.

Not at all. And the scale of it, I mean the sheer acceleration is just, it's horrific. We really have to start by unpacking this execution crisis. The numbers are just staggering. By the November 2025, It's over 1,800 people were executed in Iran.

In just eleven months? In just eleven months. That's not just a high It suggests a real a desperate acceleration of state violence. It's absolutely an execution crisis. I mean, look at the last couple of months described in the reports.

Yeah. 615 hangings in October and November 2025 alone. That kind of pace. Yeah. It signals a deliberate policy to maximize fear as quickly as possible.

And when you filter that horrifying number down, specifically to women, the picture gets even darker. Much darker. At least 57 women were executed by the end of  November 2025. That's a devastating 70% increase compared to the previous year. A 70% increase.

And if you narrow that timeline even more, it's it's even more intense. 32 of those women were executed in just four months between July and November. So if these executions are meant to intimidate society, this massive escalation in targeting women, it really suggests the regime sees them as central to the resistance. And when we talk about the women facing the death penalty, the sources seem to highlight two distinct groups. They do.

You have the overtly political opponents, and then you have those who are really victims of systemic poverty and discrimination. So let's start with the political executions. These are aimed directly at silencing dissent. Exactly. It's like a surgical strike against women who lead or even just inspire protest.

And the most egregious case highlighted in the material has to be that of Zahra Shahbaz Tabari. She's 67 years old. And her trial, if you can even call it that, a ten minute online session. Ten minutes. That's all it took to sentence her to death.

She had no lawyer present. And the evidence? The alleged evidence was a single piece of cloth with the slogan, woman, resistance, freedom on it, and a short audio message. That's it. That's it.

The charge was explicitly supporting the PMOI/MEK, and she's not alone. 16 other political prisoners are facing execution on that same charge. A ten minute online process to sentence a 67 year old to death over a slogan. I mean, the speed and the complete lack of due process, it tells you everything. This is about intimidation, not justice.

And it connects to a much bigger, much darker history. We have this warning from Saeed Massouri, who is Iran's longest held political prisoner. He warned about a repeat of the nineteen eighty eight massacre. He did. And you have to see that warning in the context of what the state itself is saying.

Just this past July, in 2025, FARS News Agency, which is state affiliated, openly called the nineteen eighty eight atrocity where tens of thousands were killed. A brilliant record. A brilliant record. When a state run news outlet praises a past massacre, removes it all doubt that the current surge is anything other than politically motivated repression. That just completely changes how you have to look at this crisis.

Let's turn to that second group of women facing the death penalty, the ones who are victims of poverty. Right. And this is the majority of women who are condemned to death. They're often victims of domestic abuse or just, you know, profound economic desperation. They're trapped long before they ever see a courtroom.

And the examples and the sources are they're just harrowing. Marzieh Esmaeili, a 39 year old mother. She was executed in April 2025 for transporting 600 grams of drugs. And the amount she was paid for this? It was tiny.

It was 10,000,000 Tomans. And for you, the listener, to understand that's roughly 100 US dollars, a life for a $100. It shows the sheer desperation driving these acts. It shows how the judicial system is just the final hammer for people failed by the economic system. And then there's the cruelty, like in the case of Mina Sadoughi.

Mina Sadoughi, a mother of three very young kids, seven, nine, and 11. She was executed in November along with her husband. And they weren't allowed a final visit with their children. No. That level of systematic cruelty is just it's applied even when the victims are clearly not state enemies but products of a failed system.

So if the execution crisis is the regime's swift violence, we need to transition now to what the sources call the silent execution. Torture by neglect. Exactly. And this is a calculated, deliberate policy. Denying medical care isn't an oversight.

It's meant to disable, to marginalize, or to slowly kill political prisoners. It literally uses their own bodies against them. Let's look at the case of Maryam Akbari Manfred. She's been in prison for sixteen years. Sixteen years and not a single day of leave.

Her physical condition is, it's critical. She has severe back and knee pain, numbness. And she can barely move. And even though official forensic medical reports have demanded daily physiotherapy, even surgery, the authorities just flat out refuse to transfer her to a hospital.  And the consequences of that refusal?

Well, doctors have warned of permanent nerve damage, urinary incontinence. She can only move with strong painkillers. The strategy is to let her body deteriorate until she's no longer a political force. It's a slow-motion death sentence. And for others, like Hoda Mehreganfar, the neglect is acutely life threatening right now.

Hoda is a 38 year old electronics engineer, and she's dealing with a recurrence of endometrioma. There's a real risk of internal rupture, which could kill her. And the prison doctor agrees it's urgent. Absolutely. Stressed she needs immediate hospital transfer but it's been blocked and they were explicit about it citing direct orders from security agencies.

So her health becomes a political tool. And medical access itself is used for psychological torture. The case of Shiva Esmaeili is just a shocking example. It's so cruel. Shiva is 60.

She has debilitating back pain. She was finally approved for a hospital transfer on October 19. They took her. But then what happened? The officers discovered her bank card didn't have enough money on it to cover the costs.

And the authorities' response. They deliberately stopped her from calling her family to get the funds, and then they just took her straight back to Evin Prison. They dangled this critical relief in front of her only to snatch it away over a financial barrier they created. It's pure torture. This abuse is just compounded for the chronically ill who are even being rearrested.

Yes. Look at the tragic case of 68 year old Fatemeh Ziaii. She's a prominent political prisoner from the 1980s. She suffers from advanced multiple sclerosis a severe internal infection. She was released on medical bail earlier this year but then re arrested in August.

Right. They're knowingly rearresting prisoners who are medically unable to survive in prison. It turns the prison itself into the weapon. And the physical environment of the prison wards just makes it worse. Tell us about this recent transfer back to Evin.

In October 2025, over 60 female political prisoners were moved from Qarchak Prison, which is already notorious for overcrowding and sewage problems, back to Evin. But they were put in a basement ward. A basement? Yes. Described as being 40 steps below ground level.

40 steps down. That sounds less like housing and more like a strategy for isolation and, well, suffering. It is. The sources describe the ward as damp, unhygienic, overrun with rats and insects. And it lacks the basics like beds, blankets, even heating.

For women like Ziaii with MS or Esmaeili with chronic pain, these conditions are designed to accelerate their illness. It's tantamount to torture. So all of this abuse, the executions, the medical denial, it's triggered a global response rate. Let's shift to what the international community is saying. It has not gone unnoticed.

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres released a report in October expressing his deep concern. He called for an immediate stop to executions, the release of political prisoners, and an end to torture. And he specifically pointed out that many executions were based on forced confessions, right, a clear breach of international law. Absolutely. He highlighted confessions obtained under torture and trials that lacked any legal standards.

And we also heard a very strong statement from Amnesty International. What did they say? They called on UN member states to urgently press authorities to halt executions and to confront what they called a shocking execution spree. So, if the evidence is this overwhelming, what are the concrete steps being called for right now? It demands immediate action.

I mean, the deliberate killing of sick prisoners is a crime against humanity. The women's committee of the NCRI is demanding two key steps. Okay. What are they? First, urgent action from the Human Rights Council and other UN bodies to get sick political prisoners like Maryam Akbari Monfared and Fatemeh Ziaii released immediately.

And second. The second is about transparency. The necessity of an international fact finding mission that can actually go into Iranian prisons. And meet with the prisoners themselves? Crucially, yes.

Meet specifically with the female political prisoners to document these acts of torture and medical neglect firsthand. Without that independent verification, this will all just continue behind closed doors. So, what does this all mean for you, the learner? This deep dive really reveals that the state's repression in Iran uses time itself as a weapon. That's a great way to put it.

You have the breakneck speed of a ten minute online death sentence designed to shock and intimidate. And then you have the agonizing, deliberate slowness of medical neglect in a damp basement, designed to break the human spirit. And the ultimate takeaway has to be the resilience of these women. Understanding the systematic violence is the first step, but their continued resistance, you know, even when they know what the consequences are. It's a powerful act that really demands our attention.

We invite you to visit our website, wncri.org, for more information on the plight of female political prisoners and the human rights situation in Iran.  Mhmm. Thank you for joining us for this deep dive.  Until the next deep dive, take care.