Editor’s Note: Previously published on Death Penalty Action’s Substack on January 14, 2026.
Normally, Death Penalty Action is focused exclusively on stopping executions in the United States, but every once in a while we look outside. Several years ago we ran a little campaign to urge President Biden to order the US Ambassador to the United Nations to vote YES on the UN resolution calling for a global moratorium on executions, or to at least abstain from voting. We were ignored. We’re currently supporting efforts to oppose a new law to allow the death penalty in Israel.
It is appalling to think that the place where the US often finds itself standing with Iran is in support of executions, as has always been the case with that UN resolution that comes up every other year. HOWEVER, today we get to applaud something that President Trump is doing. According to people focused on the situation in Iran, President Trump has ordered action by the United States on multiple pressure points to try to get the Iranian government to not kill protesters in the streets.
In case you are not aware, there have been massive demonstrations in Iran for over three weeks. It feels like a revolution. Police and others are alleged to have massacred thousands of people, and many thousands more have been arrested.
Several days ago it was announced that anyone arrested at these protests will be summarily executed, without even a pretense of judicial process. The first of these executions are expected to take place tomorrow – Wednesday.
President Trump has warned the Iranians, out loud, that there will be consequences if they move forward with executions of those arrested for protesting. I‘m grateful that he has spoken out on this, even as I wish his concern about executions would extend to the US…
TUESDAYS AGAINST EXECUTIONS
Wednesday is execution day in Iran. A few months ago, we shared that prisoners in Iran, in protest against the surge in executions that started in 2024, have been going on hunger strike every Tuesday. In solidarity, I have been fasting today.
This movement, known as “Tuesdays Against Execution,” has now reached its 103rd week and has spread to 55 prisons across the country.
To internationalize this voice, Professor Antonietta Elia, a legal scholar and human rights advocate, hosts a weekly podcast every Tuesday with the participation of experts and specialists. The podcast aims to shed light on the situation of executions in Iran and express solidarity with the prisoners’ campaign. Episode 24 was broadcast last week, and featured a powerful message of solidarity in recognition of the situation in Iran. Watch here.
As Executive Director of Death Penalty Action, I was a featured guest on the podcast last August, on Episode 8, and Rob Dunham of the Death Penalty Policy Project was on Episode 11. See them all here.
Many friends and supporters of Death Penalty Action are from Iran. Please keep them and everyone impacted by this horrific human rights nightmare in your thoughts and prayers.
–abe
PS: At least TEN executions are scheduled in the United States in 2026 so far, including four in Tennessee, and Florida is just getting going. Please click here to sign petitions to oppose all US executions.
https://deathpenaltyaction.substack.com/p/tuesdays-against-executions-the-iran
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