Escalation of Conflict in Iran: the dangers for political prisoners

This post shares two letters: one written by Iranian activist, author and artist Nasrin Parvaz, who is herself a survivor or torture in an Iranian prison, and another by three women political prisoners who are themselves currently detained in Iran. We welcome any suggestions or feedback from readers as to actions that we can encourage the SolidariTee community to take to stand in support of persecuted people in Iran, or messages you would like to raise greater awareness of.

'Women in Iran' by Nasrin Parvaz

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A Letter From Evin Prison - 18th June 2025

Three women political prisoners have written to the people of Iran:

Greetings to our defiant people

We, the women political prisoners of Evin, condemn the destructive war waged by capitalist governments against all people. They are after only their own interests in securing their power through warmongering. This war brings nothing for people except destruction. People who have not caused these wars would be the main victims. We know that the people of Iran and the rest of the world do not want war. That is because wars are imposed by governments to destroy, kill and repress human life.

We political prisoners are hostages of the regime in Iran. We are behind bars without the right to defend ourselves. Despite the unique circumstances imposed on us, it is for you that we worry, the dear freedom seeking people of Iran, from the bottom of our hearts.

We demand an end to the war that has been imposed on our people as soon as possible. We are asking you, the people, to demand an end to the war with your collective power.

Anisha Asadollahi, Nahid Khodajo, Nasrin KhezrJavadi - worker activists

Translated by, Nasrin Parvaz, who says that: "Nahid Khodajo was my prison cellmate during the 1980’s, when I was in prison for eight years. Nahid was in prison for seven years during the 80’s. She was arrested again in February 2024."

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Iranian political prisoners are in danger - an explanation by Nasrin Parvaz

News has emerged from Iran that the regime has removed all non-political inmates from Evin prison. Historically this separation of prisoners has always meant that something dreadful is likely to happen.

A number of political prisoners have also been removed from their wings in several prisons across the rest of Iran. This usually happens to prisoners before execution.

During this time of war and aggression from Israel, the regime is busy arresting activists. The rapper Toomaj Salehi was arrested again today – Thursday 19th June. Toomaj has been a vocal supporter of the Woman, Life, Freedom protests and is known for using his lyrics to criticize the regime. He has been arrested and tortured several times. In 2022 he was arrested and kept in prison for more than one year, of which he spent 252 days in solitary confinement.

As an ex-prisoner myself, I worry that the regime is planning to harm or kill these political prisoners while Iranian citizens are distracted by war and trying to reach safety. The regime has also made the internet inaccessible, meaning that it is difficult to spread news both inside and outside of the country.

During the Iran/Iraq war in the 1980s, thousands of prisoners were falsely charged as spies and executed.

More than five thousand prisoners were executed when the Mujaheddin attacked Iran with the help of Iraq in 1988. Fifty prisoners were taken from the wing I was in and they never came back.

The regime announced a few days ago that everyone with connections to Israel will be punished. I am worried that the regime will kill more prisoners again.

War has many consequences. If the regime harms these prisoners, their blood will be on the hands of both the Iranian and Israeli regimes.

Nasrin Parvaz 19/06/2025 - http://www.nasrinparvaz.org/web/

Nasrin's memoir is also available for purchase: https://www.solidaritee.org.uk/product-page/nasrin-parvaz-books

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Additional context from SolidariTee's newsletter

On 12th June, Israel's IDF issued the first in a series of evacuation orders in Tehran, Iran's capital, before launching an attack on Iran. Escalating conflict in the days since then have led to at least 600 people in Iran being killed and dozens of people killed and injured in Israel. This comes after more than 18 months of bombardment, displacement and collective starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. This latest escalation, including with the US's expressions of potential direct armed involvement, is hauntingly reminiscent of a number of wars led by major international powers that have led to decades of rights violations and some of the most shocking tragedies in history, including in the Iraq war which led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. As always, it is civilian people, who did not want and were not part of any war, who are left with the most lasting impacts.  

Prior to this escalation in conflict, the people of Iran were also grappling with a system of devastating rights violations under a brutal regime. The Women Life Freedom movement, led by the Iranian people, has continued to face horrendous crackdowns, and arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, and torture of political activists remains commonplace. People from Iran continue to make up one of the largest groups by nationality of people seeking asylum in the UK, and groups such as Amnesty International have referred to the regime's 'war on women and girls'. Israel's continued attacks and an escalation in conflict between the two countries has made this worse overnight, and will continue to do so, marginalising the most persecuted groups even further.  

Let us be very clear: support for the people of Iran to themselves create a future where there is safety and freedom for all people will not come from international wars, especially those involving rhetoric of morality from states involved in actions amounting to genocide.As novelist Sahar Delijani wrote this week: "If your vision of liberation comes only through the destruction of innocent lives, then it’s not freedom you’re after."

In particular, people who cannot evacuate from Tehran are at particular risk. This includes elderly people, people with disabilities, in hospitals, without means of transportation, and also people detained in prisons, including for their political activism.

Nasrin Parvaz is an Iranian activist, author and artist, and long-time friend of SolidariTee, who some may remember from previous annual conferences, podcasts, and an art exhibition held in 2024. 

Nasrin has written a memoir documenting her experience of being detained and tortured within an Iranian prison as a result of political persecution which is available on our online shop, as well as fiction and poetry works. 

Now, she along with many others are calling on us all to urgently raise awareness of the dangers faced by those imprisoned if conflict in Iran continues. 

This is shared by one of SolidariTee's Iranian team members, who expresses the importance of "pointing out the hypocrisy of folks who are war mongering by claiming to want to free Iran and all the political prisoners, but at same time endangering the lives of those same prisoners by bombing them"