Prisoners Sew Lips Shut In Hunger Strike As Iran Executes

Prisoners at Ghezel Hesar prison near Tehran have sewn their lips shut as hundreds of inmates joined a mass hunger strike, as Iran’s executions increase for drug-related offences and cases linked to anti-government protests.

The hunger strike, involving at least 1,500 death row prisoners, began two weeks ago, according to Iranian rights groups. They said the protest started after six men convicted on drug-related charges were moved to solitary confinement ahead of their possible execution.

Protest Spurs Prison-Wide Hunger Strike

The Iranian rights groups said the death row prisoners at Ghezel Hesar, Iran’s largest prison, launched the action after the six men were placed in isolation.

In videos shared by rights groups in exile, inmates are shown in prison corridors holding placards reading “No to Executions” and chanting “Be our voice”.

In one video, a prisoner is filmed telling the camera he began sewing his lips shut because, six days into the hunger strike, no prison official had responded. Another clip shows a prisoner using a needle and thread to stitch the man’s lips together. Other footage includes appeals for urgent medical attention as hunger continues, with one inmate saying guards were not opening doors to allow transfers to the prison infirmary.

Rights Groups Cite Execution Surge

The hunger strike is part of a prisoner-led campaign against executions that began in January 2024 and has spread across prisons in Iran as the death penalty has been used more frequently.

Oslo-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) said at least 424 people had been executed this year, with hundreds more believed to be on death row. It said most executions were carried out in drug-related cases.

On Tuesday, officials hanged two men convicted of “waging war on God” over the deaths of two police officers during anti-government protests. IHRNGO said 26 people linked to the January protests have been executed this year.

IHRNGO director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said prisoners sentenced to death for drug offences are among the least represented inmates on death row. He said last year at least 795 people were executed for drug-related charges, adding that such cases drew little international response.

“By staging this protest, the prisoners in Ghezel Hesar are taking an extraordinary risk,” Amiry-Moghaddam said. He said inmates were aware the authorities could execute them at any moment, but had chosen to raise their voices in the hope that international attention would increase pressure.

Trials Under “Revolutionary Courts” Criticised

Amnesty International said revolutionary courts, which handle national security and drug-related offences, lack independence and regularly impose harsh sentences, including death sentences, after trials Amnesty describes as grossly unfair.

In a message relayed to the Guardian, one death-row protester said: “We are prisoners who turned to such mistakes simply to afford the basic necessities of life, and deeply regret our actions. Where else in the world is a human life taken for a first mistake?”

A similar hunger strike was held at the prison in October 2025, when more than 1,500 prisoners staged an action lasting six days and prompted a rare visit by authorities. Activists said conditions had not improved since then.

Moein Khazaeli, a human rights lawyer at Dadban, a legal counselling centre for Iranian activists, said executions continued after what he described as unfair trials for drug-related offences. He said defendants often do not have access to lawyers or a meaningful right to defend themselves, and he cited cases where charges were fabricated against people from ethnic minority or poor backgrounds. He said death sentences issued by revolutionary courts violate human rights and Iran’s own laws.

Families Protest As Concern Grows

Rights groups and families of death row prisoners have raised alarm over a worsening human rights situation, with Amnesty and other monitors pointing to a wider increase in executions. They said the spike this year has coincided with Iran’s conflict with the US, and that executions have also risen among political prisoners and people arrested after nationwide protests in January.

Amiry-Moghaddam said many death sentences in protest-related cases are based on confessions extracted under torture. Families of those held at Ghezel Hesar have also protested outside the prison, and sources said authorities violently cracked down on their gathering.

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28 July 2026