Government Media Claims Delay in Execution of Pakhshan Azizi's Sentence

As images and reports of shopkeepers' strikes in Kurdish cities circulate, the government-affiliated news agency Tasnim, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, claimed on Wednesday, January 23, that the execution of Pakhshan Azizi, a Kurdish activist and social worker, has been postponed. This media outlet reported that "according to news received from informed sources from the National Security Council (NSC) to Tasnim's reporter, the execution of Pakhshan Azizi has been delayed." The announcement of this news from sources close to the Islamic Republic's "Security Council" coincides with the early days of Donald Trump's presidency in the United States. Meanwhile, reports of shopkeepers' strikes in Sanandaj protesting the issuance of death sentences have emerged today. Ms. Azizi was sentenced to death and four years in prison on August 24 of this year by Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, presided over by Iman Afshari, on charges of "rebellion through membership in opposition groups in the country." She was arrested last summer by the Iranian intelligence forces in Tehran. In initial reactions, the Iranian teachers' union and the Iranian retirees' council stated that "widespread domestic and international protests and the determination of the people of Kurdistan for a general strike in protest against the death sentences of Pakhshan Azizi and Vrishe Moradi have led to the postponement of Pakhshan's execution so far." The Deputy Special Representative of the United States for Iran called for the cancellation of Pakhshan Azizi's death sentence on Tuesday, January 16. Abram Pili stated in a message on the social media platform "X" that the U.S. urges the Iranian government to revoke the death sentence of the aid worker following her "sham trial." Pili emphasized that the "Iranian regime" must stop targeting Kurdish minorities and using the death penalty to silence peaceful dissent. A group of United Nations experts also expressed their deep concern about the confirmation of Pakhshan Azizi's death sentence by the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran in a statement on Tuesday, January 16. According to the United Nations Human Rights Council website, they wrote: "The charges against Ms. Pakhshan Azizi do not reach the level of the most serious crimes necessary for the imposition of the death penalty under international law," and emphasized that "her death sentence constitutes a serious violation of international human rights law." The confirmation of Pakhshan Azizi's death sentence has faced widespread domestic and international criticism. The United States, dozens of human rights organizations, political prisoners, Amnesty International, and a group of United Nations experts are among those protesting this sentence.