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The new Ayatollah has ordered speeding-up of hangings of political prisoners opposed to the regime.
21:41, Fri, Apr 10, 2026 Updated: 21:46, Fri, Apr 10, 2026
Protesters hold up picture of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. (Image: Getty)
The mullahs nominally in charge of Iran fear a massive wave of uprisings in the wake of the US-Israeli attacks and are ramping up hangings of those opposed to the dictatorship.
New Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei - the son of Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the first wave of US airstrikes on Iran - is believed to be semi-conscious after being seriously injured in the same attack. He is reported to be undergoing round-the-clock medical treatment in the holy city of Qom.
But either he, or clerical or Revolutionary Guard proxies acting for him, have ordered the speeding up of hangings of political prisoners opposed to the regime. Leading Opposition leader Maryam Rajavi, President Elect of the National Council for Resistance of Iran, said the move was to terrorise rank and file Iranians because the dictatorship feared a mass popular uprising when American and Israeli forces wind down the war.
At a conference in Paris, Rajavi said the Ayatollah’s claim that 17 million Iranians were ready to die for the regime was laughable.
She added: “Khamenei’s son continues the daily execution of Iran’s youth to preserve the moribund regime’s grip on power, while absurdly claiming to command 17 million devoted supporters ready to sacrifice their lives.
“If this claim were true, then as we have consistently said, he should accept free elections for a constituent assembly or the presidency, under United Nations supervision, based on the principle of popular sovereignty and not clerical rule.”
She also asked for the NCRI’s ten-point plan for a nuclear-free Iranian democracy to be taken into account.
Former speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow choked back tears as he revealed a conversation with an Iranian mum whose son had been killed for his opposition to the Ayatollah.
Struggling to remain composed, he said: “She told me her son had perished in the struggle. I said I was sorry for bringing up what must have been a painful memory for her.
“With an extraordinary display of fortitude, she said his death had fired her up.”
In recent days, 13 political prisoners have been hanged on consecutive days.
The NCRI say thousands more are at risk and is calling on both the US and the UN to make halting the executions part of any formal ceasefire.
She also asked for the NCRI’s ten-point plan for a nuclear-free Iranian democracy to be taken into account.
In January, as many as 40,000 Iranians were estimated to have been slaughtered by the state’s ruthless Revolutionary Guard for taking to the streets in opposition to the Ayatollah and the economic crisis gripping the country.
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Jean-Francois Legaret, president of the Middle East Studies Foundation, said it was impossible to know for certain because of the news and internet blackout. He added: “We think at least 30,000 were executed. But 2,000, 10,000, or 40,000, nobody can really say; we just don’t have the total amount of lives lost.”
Herta Daubler-Gmelin, Germany’s former Minister of Justice, expressed deep grief and anger over the recent execution spree, labelling the clerical regime's judiciary as a "killing machine" comprised of cynical "agents and tools". She drew parallels to the final days of the Nazi regime, underscoring that those responsible for the executions in Iran will one day face justice in a free and democratic Iran.
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