Iran has raised the alert level of its defense systems around nuclear sites due to concerns of a potential attack by Israel and the US, The Telegraph reported on Monday, citing two senior government sources. The report also mentions that Iran has been strengthening security around key nuclear and missile sites, including the deployment of additional air defense launchers.
These measures are said to be in response to increasing fears of a possible joint military action by Israel and the US. This comes after US intelligence warned both the Biden and Trump administrations that Israel might target critical Iranian nuclear sites this year.
Israel and Iran have been locked in a prolonged shadow war, primarily between Israel and the Islamic Republic’s proxies. Since the war in Gaza began in 2023, both sides have carried out bold attacks on each other. In October of that year, Iran launched an unprecedented missile strike involving 200 missiles on Israel, prompting retaliatory airstrikes from Israel.
On Tuesday, February 4, 2025, coinciding with the 54th campaign of “#NoToExecution Tuesdays”, the families of #political_prisoners sentenced to death gathered in front of #Evin Prosecutor’s Office, demanding an end to the execution of their loved ones.#amnesty #HumanRights #Iran pic.twitter.com/HSSWxKmr8a
— Iran Human Rights Society (@iranhrs_en) February 4, 2025
The Tehran regime now believes that with the backing of President Trump, who has urged Israel to target Iran’s nuclear facilities, an Israeli attack could be imminent. Rank and file Iranians are also well aware of the approaching war and it appears that the only way to prevent them from staging a revolution is to intimidate them with a continuous stream of executions, most of which are carried out on Tuesdays.
Iranian activists have highlighted that the country’s judiciary, now under the leadership of Jafar Montazeri, has become a tool for oppression, fast-tracking unjust death sentences in a bid to distract the public from the looming threat of war. According to the UN human rights chief, Iran executed at least 901 people in 2024, with 40 of those executions occurring in just one week in December.
The Ayatollahs’ regime has intensified its campaign of executions following state ceremonies in February. In just two days, on February 20 and 21, 17 prisoners were executed, with 10 of them hanged at Ghezel Hesar Prison alone.
No to Execution” Tuesday is an opportunity to make the injustice and objections of prisoners heard worldwide. #StopExecutionsInIran #NoDeathPenalty pic.twitter.com/J1p5H8CnRu
— Reza Caldani (@RezaCaldani) January 28, 2025
State-sanctioned killings in Iran are not limited to executions. Last week, three prisoners died in Urmia, Lajevardi-Iranshahr, and Dehdasht prisons due to intentional medical neglect. This ongoing crisis threatens the lives of countless other inmates and amounts to nothing less than systematic murder by the regime.
Iran’s “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign has entered its 57th week, now spanning 37 prisons across the country, with Chubindar Prison in Qazvin being the latest to join. In response to the surge in state executions, prisoners nationwide launched a hunger strike on February 25, calling for an end to the widespread use of the death penalty by the regime.
Amid the heightened repression, a group of prisoners in Qazvin announced they would join the “No to Executions Tuesdays” hunger strike on February 25, to protest the unjust execution sentences imposed on both political and non-political prisoners. They declared that their hunger strike would continue until the regime’s execution machine is halted and pledged solidarity with the broader campaign.
Reports indicate that on February 23, the Supreme Court rejected the appeals of political prisoners Mehdi Hassani and Behrouz Ehsani, both of whom had previously been sentenced to death. As a result, these two prisoners now face an imminent execution. This grave situation also affects many others, including Pakhshan Azizi and Varisheh Moradi in Evin Prison, Sharifeh Mohammadi in Lakan Prison in Rasht, and numerous other inmates.
