(Updated)Don’t Let Arghavan Fallahi’s alone in deathrow

Update — A Crucial Step Forward

Thanks to sustained legal advocacy, international attention, and public pressure, Arghavan Fallahi’s execution has, for now, been stopped. On September 24, 2026, Iran’s Supreme Court accepted the legal objections raised in her case, overturned the previous death sentence, and approved a retrial. Her case will now be sent to another court for reconsideration, and the execution of the death sentence remains suspended while that process continues.

This is an important and hopeful development, but Arghavan is not yet safe. The case is not closed, and the outcome of the retrial remains uncertain. What has happened shows why sustained international attention matters: when lawyers, human-rights advocates, organizations, and concerned citizens continue to raise a case publicly, vital legal opportunities can remain open. We are therefore continuing our campaign, closely following the retrial and calling for Arghavan’s death sentence to be permanently removed.

This progress gives us hope—and it reminds us not to stop now.

Behind closed doors, diplomats are signing agreements. In the dark corridors of Evin Prison, the regime is preparing the gallows.

While the international news cycle is flooded with headlines of geopolitical handshakes, regional ceasefires, and economic treaties, a terrifying silence is settling over the fate of those who fought for freedom in Iran. The regime in Tehran is counting on this global distraction. They are using the fog of international crisis to accelerate their execution machine, betting that the world is too busy to notice.

But we see them. And we cannot look away.

A 25-Year-Old in the Shadow of the Gallows

Right now, Arghavan Fallahi, a 25-year-old human rights defender, is sitting in a cell, waiting for the dawn. On July 1, away from the eyes of the world, she was sentenced to death.

Arghavan’s youth hasn’t been defined by university graduations or career milestones; it has been defined by an unyielding courage to stand up against tyranny. For this, she spent five agonizing months in solitary confinement. Five months in a concrete box, subjected to brutal physical and psychological torture designed to break her spirit and force her into a false confession. She refused to break.

This cruelty is a family inheritance. Her father, Nasrallah Fallahi, was jailed in the 1980s for daring to protest the dictatorship. Today, the tragedy has come full circle: Nasrallah is currently trapped back inside Evin Prison serving a five-year sentence, forced to live with the agonizing knowledge that his young daughter has been condemned to hang.

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The Danger of a Quiet Execution

Arghavan is not alone. Hundreds of political prisoners, activists, and young dissidents are currently in grave danger. As the UN Special Rapporteur Mai Sato and independent UN experts recently warned, the regime is actively accelerating executions to terrorize the population while the world’s attention is diverted by diplomatic negotiations.

There is a dark, historical pattern here: when global powers rush to secure political stability or economic deals with Iran, domestic human rights are always the first item traded away.

“The end of hostilities must not be mistaken for the restoration of people’s rights and freedoms.”

— Mai Sato, UN Special Rapporteur on Iran

We cannot allow the lives of millions of Iranians who marched for freedom to be reduced to a footnote in a diplomatic memorandum. A peace built on the graves of young activists is not peace—it is complicity.

This is an Emergency. Take Action Now.

The regime wants us quiet. They want us to believe that a 25-year-old girl’s life is a minor detail in the grand scheme of global politics. We must prove them wrong. International outcry and independent advocacy are the only shields Arghavan and her fellow prisoners have left.

At Verein Welle, we refuse to let Arghavan’s name be forgotten in the halls of diplomacy. You have the power to make a difference right now. Choose how you will stand with the people of Iran today:

• Sign the Urgent Petition: Demand that Swiss and European leaders halt all diplomatic concessions and pressure the Iranian regime to immediately annul Arghavan’s death sentence. [Sign the Petition]
• Donation to Verein Welle: Help fund our vital work in documenting these human rights atrocities, supporting the families of targeted activists, and keeping the spotlight on imprisoned dissidents. Every contribution powers our global advocacy campaigns. [Make a Secure Donation]

Do not let them hang her in the dark. Whether with your voice or your resources, please stand on the right side of history and act today.