Iran Inmates Strike, Sew Lips Shut as Executions Surge
The protest began after six death-row inmates were moved to solitary confinement, and rights groups say at least 424 people have been executed this year.
- Since July 13, inmates at Ghezel Hesar Prison, near Tehran, have maintained a hunger strike protesting the regime's use of capital punishment for drug-related offenses, now in its fifteenth day.
- The mass protest began after authorities transferred six inmates sentenced to death to solitary confinement ahead of possible executions, with prisoners citing poverty as the reason for their initial offenses.
- Human rights groups released footage showing inmates holding "No More Executions" signs and sewing their lips shut in desperation, mirroring a similar October 2025 strike when more than 1,500 inmates participated.
- Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Iran Human Rights , stated that those facing execution typically come from disadvantaged social groups with little international support or media attention for their cases.
- Prisoners acknowledge their protest carries extreme risks, as Iran has executed at least 424 people this year; activists argue the regime uses such tactics to instill fear and prevent nationwide demonstrations.
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Fox NewsIran inmates sew lips shut in mass hunger strike at notorious US-sanctioned jail: report
More than 1,000 inmates death-row inmates held in a unit of Iran’s Ghezel Hesar Prison have entered a third week of a mass hunger strike to protest regime executions, with some prisoners sewing their lips shut in protest, according to reports. The escalating demonstration at the U.S.-sanctioned Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj near Tehran, also [...]
On the death row of Iran's largest prison, protests against state arbitrariness escalate. Videos are supposed to show detainees who have been refusing any food for weeks. Some choose even more drastic ways of resistance.
As of Tuesday, July 28, 2026, hundreds of prisoners have been on hunger strike for 15 days in a prison near Tehran. They are demanding an end to executions, which have surged this year in Iran. In recent days, these prisoners have managed to smuggle videos out of the facility where they are being held to draw attention to their plight.
Iran prison hunger strike: 1,500 death row inmates protest rising executions
At least 1,500 death row inmates at Iran’s Ghezel Hesar Prison have been on hunger strike for two weeks over a surge in executions: Some have sewn their lips shut, demanding an end to the death penalty
Most of the death sentences will have been imposed in cases related to drug-related crimes, although executions also increased among political prisoners, denounce organizations.
Dozens of prisoners on death row in Ghezel Hesar prison, located in the city of...
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