Press Release: Accountability needed to end executions and prevent another massacre in Iran, MPs and Peers say

Published: 30 October 2025

At a meeting in Parliament on Tuesday, cross-party MPs and Peers called for immediate intervention and stronger accountability measures to stop executions in Iran. They urged urgent international action to save the lives of political prisoners on death row, including 17 at imminent risk for their affiliation with Iran’s democratic opposition, the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

Speakers described these death sentences as part of the regime’s calculated strategy to dismantle Iran’s organised resistance and suppress the unifying opposition in order to prevent future uprisings and delay democratic change.

President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Maryam Rajavi, attended and addressed the meeting virtually. She thanked members from both Houses of the UK Parliament for supporting the Iranian people in their struggle to secure justice and establish a truly democratic republic and said:

“We call on governments and the United Nations to put pressure on this regime to accept an international delegation to meet the people sentenced to death and to inspect the torture centres and the sham courts.

“The policy of relentless executions is now meeting strong resistance from Iranian society.

“In this regard, the international community must recognise the resistance of the Iranian people and the fight of the resistance units against the IRGC, … proscribe the IRGC and make its continued relations with Iran’s religious dictatorship conditional on the halt to the execution of prisoners.”

Families of regime victims from the Anglo-Iranian community also addressed the meeting, testifying to their ordeals and the human cost of the regime’s repression.

Following Mrs Rajavi’s remarks, Members of Parliament addressed the regime’s use of the death penalty to suppress dissent.

Speakers denounced the judiciary for sentencing political prisoner Zahra Tabari to death on charges of cooperating with the PMOI following a 10-minute sham trial in which she was denied a lawyer of her choice. They said this verdict exposes the judiciary as a tool of state repression, enabling executions through unfair trials and fabricated “national security” charges, including accusations of “enmity against God,” in blatant violation of international law.

The meeting noted that more than 2,000 executions have been carried out since Masoud Pezeshkian took office last year, while senior officials have publicly called for another mass execution campaign reminiscent of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners. These developments, the speakers stressed, underline the urgent need to secure international accountability, including through a dedicated UN mechanism, the application of universal jurisdiction, and targeted human rights sanctions to stop executions.

The meeting also paid tribute to the courage of political prisoners who continue to resist executions inside Iran’s prisons.

Their recent sit-in protest at Ghezel Hesar Prison and the campaign “No to Execution Tuesdays” were described as acts of extraordinary bravery and inspiration for both the Iranian people and the global movement to end executions.

Speakers welcomed the UK Government’s stated commitment to hold the Iranian regime accountable and urged it to lead international efforts to save lives and prevent another massacre.

They stressed that the long-term solution to end executions in Iran lies in supporting the pro-democracy forces advocating a free, democratic and secular republic. They called on the UK Government to engage with the NCRI, which has spearheaded the justice-seeking campaign and presented a democratic platform for Iran’s future, a ten-point plan that abolishes the death penalty and bans torture and executions.

Co-President of the International Committee of Parliamentarians for a Democratic Iran (ICPDI), Bob Blackman CBE MP, referring to the threat the Iranian regime poses to the UK and the escalating executions in Iran, said:

“Holding Tehran accountable for executing political prisoners is both a moral duty and a national security necessity. Condemnations are not enough, the UK must move from words to action, impose targeted [human rights] sanctions, and stand with the Iranian people and the NCRI.”

Rt Hon. Sir Roger Gale MP said:

“We are witnessing the death throes of a very evil regime. The current regime is now so brutal because what we are witnessing is an act of utter desperation, because they know they have failed. They know they do not represent their people. The day is coming very soon indeed, when the future of Iran will be decided by the people of Iran.”

Referring to the testimonies of the young family members of the regime’s victims, Rachael Maskell MP said:

“Human rights is something which unites us across the House. It is absolutely crucial that we work with you, as the next generation of campaigners, advocates and politicians, to make the difference for the future of Iran.

“We have got to apply those sanctions to put [the Iranian regime] under check, under accountability, and ultimately to see democracy and justice in Iran.”

Jim Shannon MP said:

“The UK must take the lead, working with allies at the EU and the UN to ensure that another massacre does not take place [in Iranian prisons].

“Our Government must act decisively by imposing sanctions not only on the so-called Revolutionary Courts and their complicit judges, but also on the Supreme Leader himself, which is the highest oppressive authority in Iran.

“I join colleagues in endorsing Madam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan and I urge our Government to recognise and support this democratic alternative.”

Lord McCabe said:

“Our best allies in Iran today are not regime insiders or so-called moderates, because they are part of the controlled opposition. Our allies are the Iranian people and the NCRI, who fight for lasting democratic change.

“I urge our Government to stand with them, to recognise the democratic alternative they have put forward and are trying to advance, and to back their efforts to end executions in Iran through accountability and to proscribe the IRGC.”

Baroness O'Loan DBE highlighted the case of Zahra Tabari and said:

“I call upon the United Kingdom government to intervene and to put pressure on the regime to overturn this execution verdict.

“[Foreign Office] minister assured me that accountability remains a priority for this government. I urge the government to refer the regime's crimes against humanity, including the 1988 massacre, to the U.N. Security Council for prosecution of those responsible.

“We also need to apply universal jurisdiction and international accountability mechanisms to seek arrest warrants and prosecute perpetrators, including the Supreme Leader, Khamenei.”

Lord Carlile of Berriew CBE KC said:

“When one country is executing more people than the whole of the rest of the world, added together, there’s something wrong. That is what is happening in Iran and is not a result of there being large numbers of criminals in Iran. It is the result of the government being a bunch of criminals.

“These are people who will find themselves probably at least imprisoned for decade after decade because of what they have done.

“There is an increasing feeling of courage among ordinary people. I absolutely laud the women of Iran, who have shown yourselves to be the backbone of your society in the way in which quiet protest has been made, which has fuelled the public protest of such courage.”

Read the full report of this meeting on the British Committee for a Free Iran website:

https://iran-freedom.org/index.php/642-