Representatives of Iranian youth communities from across Europe today warned of the gravest wave of political executions in Iran since the 1988 massacre of political prisoners, calling for urgent European Union action to halt the killings.
They also highlighted a major international rally on the same issue, and in support of a democratic republic in Iran, scheduled to take place in Paris on 20 June, which is expected to draw 100,000 protesters from across Europe.
Participants presented new information on the ongoing execution campaign and warned that the Iranian regime is using executions as a deliberate strategy to prevent a new nationwide uprising.
According to information presented at the conference, at least 31 political prisoners have been executed since mid-March, eight of them members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), the main Iranian resistance movement. Other victims of the execution spree have been young protesters arrested during the January uprising and members of ethnic minority communities. More than 50 political prisoners, at least 11 PMOI members, are currently on death row, with new death sentences reportedly being issued on an almost daily basis.
The speakers presented a statement signed by more than 1,000 young Iranians in Europe, rejecting both the Shah’s monarchy and the religious theocracy, and expressing support for the Ten-Point Plan presented by Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran for the transitional period.
Opening the conference, titled “Iran: Wave of Political Executions – The EU’s Responsibility & Policy Options. Iranian Youth Against the Dictatorships of the Shah and the Mullahs,” Rosa Zaraei, a postgraduate in international politics and human rights activist in London, emphasized that Europe’s long-standing policy toward Tehran has failed to improve human rights or regional stability. She urged the European Union to make the immediate halt to executions a condition for any future relations with the Iranian regime and to recognize the Iranian people’s right to resist dictatorship and establish a democratic republic.
Soroush Aboutalebi, a political science graduate and president of Youth association in Brussels, warned that the executions are part of a calculated effort to create fear and prevent the emergence of a new uprising. He noted that the overwhelming majority of those executed were young people, reflecting the regime’s fear of a generation demanding political change. He also warned that the current trend represents the gravest threat of a new political massacre in Iran since 1988.
Rana Rahmanfard, a postgraduate in applied linguistics and member of Anglo Iranian youth committee, stressed that the Iranian people should not be forced to choose between dictatorship and war and argued that a democratic alternative exists through the Iranian people and their organized resistance. She highlighted a vision for a future Iran based on free elections, separation of religion and state, gender equality, abolition of the death penalty, and respect for human rights, embodied in Mrs. Rajavi’s plan. . She added that Europe should support the Iranian people’s right to achieve democratic change.
Ali Basgheri, a PhD graduate in energy engineering and a human rights activist in brussels, warned against growing intimidation and organized violence targeting Iranian dissidents in Europe by supporters of Reza Pahlavi, the son of the deposed monarch of Iran, and their campaign to promote SAVAK, the notorious secret police of the Shah’s era, which was responsible for killing and torturing hundreds of dissidents and intellectuals. He urged European authorities to adopt a policy of zero tolerance toward political intimidation and extremism.
The speakers called on the European Union to predicate all relations and negotiations with Tehran on the immediate halt to executions, impose sanctions on those responsible for repression, end impunity for human rights abuses, and refer the regime’s crimes to the United Nations Security Council.
The conference also announced the support of Iranian youth associations across Europe for a major international demonstration to be held in Paris on 20 June 2026, where 100,000 supporters of a free and democratic Iran are expected to gather.
Organized by more than 300 Iranian associations and organizations from Europe and North America, the rally will call for immediate international action to stop political executions in Iran and express support for the establishment of a democratic republic based on freedom, secular governance, and the sovereignty of the people.
A large number of representatives of Iranian youth associations from across Europe took part in the conference.
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