Iran crackdown: Why there is a surge in executions | Global News Podcast

The podcast opens with host Will Chalk and BBC Persian journalist Pum Gabbardi discussing a United Nations condemnation of Iran's escalating crackdown on its own citizens during wartime. According to the UN, 21 prisoners have been executed, accused of being Mossad agents or participants in January protests — protests in which thousands of Iranians were killed by security forces over just two nights. Rights groups have long accused the Iranian regime of using executions as an intimidation tool, ramping them up whenever the regime feels its existence is threatened.

Gabbardi highlights a particularly striking case: a 26-year-old prisoner who was arrested three years ago on charges of contact with Mossad. An audio recording of the man crying on the phone — after learning the Iranian Supreme Court had finally confirmed his death sentence on the third attempt — was published by a rights group. This example illustrates broader concerns about the lack of proper legal proceedings and access to lawyers, with many sentences characterized as politically motivated rather than based on actual criminal conduct.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk called the situation appalling, stating that the rights of the Iranian people continue to be stripped away in harsh and brutal ways. Gabbardi suggests Iran appears to be using the war as a smokescreen for its repression, with mass arrests targeting citizens who filmed strike sites and shared footage with outside media channels. The regime publishes forced confessions to deter others from communicating with foreign Persian-language outlets. A near-total digital blackout has been in place for nearly two months, cutting off most Iranians from the internet. Additionally, in an unprecedented move, regime supporters are sent into the streets nightly to chant pro-regime slogans, intimidating citizens the government fears may revolt due to economic hardship.

On the mood inside Iran, Gabbardi describes a shifting and divided public. Initially, some Iranians were glad the Supreme Leader had been killed and hoped the attack would topple the regime. However, after two months of war and worsening economic conditions, sentiment has shifted toward exhaustion and disappointment, as the regime has not fallen but has instead become more hardline, with the IRGC gaining the upper hand. A second group of Iranians described severe financial distress — selling gold jewelry, carpets, and rugs to survive after losing jobs, particularly those whose livelihoods depended on internet access and online commerce.

Regarding Donald Trump's pre-war warnings to Iran not to kill protesters, Gabbardi argues these have lost their deterrent effect. Once both Trump and Netanyahu framed the war as aimed at regime change, the Iranian government shifted into existential survival mode. The regime is now using executions explicitly as a signal: anyone who revolts, contacts Americans or Israelis, or engages in protest risks death. Gabbardi also notes an internal rift in the Iranian system between pragmatists like the parliamentary speaker and foreign minister versus hardliners like IRGC commander Ahmed Vahidi — a man with an Interpol arrest warrant for his alleged involvement in the 1994 AMIA bombing in Argentina. Vahidi, who is believed to be calling the shots even in negotiations with the Americans, is highly unlikely to be swayed by UN condemnations.