Prisoners at Iran's largest jail have sewn their lips shut as hundreds joined a mass hunger strike amid a surge in executions over drug offences and charges linked to anti-government protests. The hunger strike, involving at least 1,500 death row prisoners at Ghezel Hesar prison near Tehran, began two weeks ago after six men convicted on drug-related charges were transferred to solitary confinement before possible execution, according to Iranian rights groups.
Prisoners plead for help in graphic videos
In videos shared by rights groups in exile, prisoners are seen sitting in a hallway holding placards reading "No to Executions" and chanting "Be our voice." One graphic video shows a prisoner addressing the camera, saying he is sewing his lips shut because, six days into the strike, no prison official has responded. The footage shows another prisoner using a needle and thread to stitch the man's lips together. In another video, a prisoner calls for urgent medical help for those whose conditions are deteriorating. "The guards will not open the door so we can take them to the prison infirmary," he says.
Executions surge amid US tensions
The protest is the latest act of defiance in a prisoner-led campaign against executions that began in January 2024 and has spread across prisons. According to the Oslo-based non-profit Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), at least 424 executions have been carried out this year, with hundreds more on death row. Most were drug-related. At the weekend, Donald Trump called off a two-week bombing campaign but threatened to restart strikes unless negotiations with Tehran make progress. One source in Tehran said: "Whenever the shadow of war over the regime lifts even slightly, the regime becomes more savage." They noted that a prisoner was executed on 6 April, the date of a US-Iran ceasefire. "The intensity of executions has actually increased since the war supposedly ended."
Drug offenders among most vulnerable
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of IHRNGO, said people sentenced to death for drug offences are among the most marginalised prisoners. "Last year alone, at least 795 people were hanged on drug-related charges, with almost no international reaction. By staging this protest, the prisoners in Ghezel Hesar are taking an extraordinary risk. They know the authorities can execute them at any moment, yet they have chosen to raise their voices in the hope that the international community will finally hear them." According to Amnesty International, revolutionary courts lack independence and routinely impose death sentences after unfair trials.
Prisoners appeal to international community
In a message relayed to the Guardian, one death-row protester said: "We are prisoners who turned to such mistakes simply to afford basic necessities, and deeply regret our actions. Where else in the world is a human life taken for a first mistake?" A similar protest at the prison in October 2025 saw 1,500 prisoners go on a six-day hunger strike, leading to a rare visit by authorities, but activists say conditions have not improved. Moein Khazaeli, a human rights lawyer at Dadban, said executions continue after unfair trials. "In many cases, defendants do not have access to lawyers or a meaningful right to defend themselves. There are also cases where charges are fabricated against people from ethnic minority or poor backgrounds."
Executions have also surged among political prisoners and protesters arrested after nationwide protests in January. Many death sentences were issued based on confessions extracted under torture, Amiry-Moghaddam said. "The Islamic Republic has no legitimate justification for using the death penalty for drug offences. It is not required by Islam, and authorities have acknowledged that executions have failed to deter drug trafficking. On the contrary, both trafficking and addiction have continued to rise. Those sentenced to death are rarely major traffickers; they are typically low-ranking couriers recruited because of poverty." Families of those on death row have staged protests outside Ghezel Hesar, but sources said authorities violently cracked down on their gathering.
