The Execution of ‘Ali Rahbar’, a Blatant Crime the World Must Not Remain Silent About
The execution of ‘Ali Rahbar’, a bodybuilding coach and Iranian protester, is a blatant crime that demonstrates the Islamic Republic has no red lines when it comes to killing people, and the world must not remain silent in the face of this atrocity.
As suppression and killing of protesters in Iran has entered a new phase, news and human rights sources report on the execution of death sentences against detained protesters in Iranian prisons, a matter that once again reveals the merciless and ruthless nature of the Islamic Republic’s government in taking the lives of its people more clearly than ever before.
According to credible sources, ‘Ali Rahbar’, one of the detained protesters in Mashhad, was executed on the morning of Wednesday, February 21, 2025. The 33-year-old was a gym instructor and citizen who was detained during recent protests and was executed just days after his arrest, once again demonstrating that the Islamic Republic has no hesitation in taking the lives of protesting citizens and continues suppression through the most brutal methods.
News of Ali Rahbar’s execution has been released as more reports emerge regarding the continuation of executions and imminent threats against other protesters, with human rights groups warning about the renewed use of executions as a tool of torture and intimidation against the Iranian people.
Human rights and media sources have reported that hundreds to thousands of protesters and detainees are subjected to torture, forced confessions, and are at risk of execution, a situation that is characterized not only as a continuation of suppression, but as the use of execution as a tool of political intimidation.
On the international level, these bloody actions have also been met with reactions. Media outlets have reported that foreign governments and international bodies have warned about violence against protesters, and emergency sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council have even been held to review the situation in Iran.
Furthermore, at the international level, concurrent with domestic suppression and the carrying out of executions in Iran, the issue of reaction from foreign officials has also been raised; on one hand, media have reported that the U.S. President has warned about the consequences of continued killings in Iran, and on the other hand, the Islamic Republic has attempted to deny or downplay some of these executions, but human rights movements emphasize that political executions and suppression of protesters continue.
These developments should be a warning bell for the international community: a government that shows no hesitation in taking human lives is bound by no human rights rules and has only employed fear, suppression, and violence as instruments of its rule. Now, more than ever, global awareness, human rights pressure, and the response of international bodies to defend the people of Iran appears necessary and urgent.
