The execution of an Iranian Jew on Monday has drawn criticism from a top rights monitor and highlights the anguish of the community as it is increasingly torn between the Islamic Republic and Jewish state.
Manouchehr Bakhtiari was sentenced to 18 years and 74 lashes in January for his calls for accountability after his son Pouya, 27, was killed during the anti-government protests of November 2019.
His family has reported that he is being denied medical leave for serious health issues, including the need for hernia and prostate surgeries, despite forensic recommendations supporting his request.
Bakhtiari’s son, Pouya, sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the head in Karaj amid security forces’ crackdown on protests, during which hundreds of demonstrators were killed.
Since Pouya’s death, Bakhtiari and his family have called for investigations into what they say is state-sanctioned violence against citizens.
Bakhtiari’s daughter, Mona, recently took to social media to express the family’s alarm over her father’s worsening health. According to her statement, Bakhtiari “collapsed inside the prison, but authorities refused to transfer him to an outside hospital, only moving him to the prison infirmary.”
In her post, she appealed to human rights organizations, activists, and the Iranian public to stand up for her father. The Bakhtiari family has called for his immediate release.
Before starting his hunger strike eight days ago, Bakhtiari sent an audio message from prison, saying, “From October 28 until my release from prison, I will be on hunger strike, and the Islamic Republic is responsible for whatever happens to me.”
Many prisoners in Iran are forced to resort to hunger strikes as a last resort to achieve their demands, including delays in case processing and violations of their rights as prisoners, often putting their lives at risk.
Bakhtiari’s wife, Nahid Shirpisheh, who has also publicly advocated for accountability, is currently serving a five-year sentence in Zanjan Prison. Her charges likewise stem from efforts to seek justice for their son Pouya.
“The official stance of Iran in rejecting weapons of mass destruction and regarding the peaceful nature of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear program is clear," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei.
"As emphasized in the recent speech by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, we will equip ourselves to the extent necessary for the defense of Iran," he added.
For weeks, Iranian officials have ramped up their narrative that Tehran possesses the capability to produce nuclear weapons, asserting that only Khamenei's religious fatwa prevents it from doing so.
Baghaei also claimed that the country will use all its "material and spiritual resources to respond to the recent aggressions by the Zionist regime."
This statement comes as Iran’s leadership intensifies its stance amid escalating tensions with the United States and Israel.
Khamenei has called on officials to make every necessary preparation to defend the country against the US and Israel.
"We are fully committed to preparing the Iranian nation in every necessary way to confront arrogance," Khamenei said on Saturday.
He added that both military readiness and political efforts are integral to this approach.
On October 1, Iran launched more than 180 ballistic missiles in two waves, targeting sites within Israel. The attack was presented as a response to the recent assassinations of several key figures allied with Iran, including Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. While Israel reported intercepting most of the missiles, the strikes have led to further deterioration in already fraught relations between the two arch enemies.
Israel’s October 26 retaliation included airstrikes on Iranian missile facilities and air defense systems, resulting in the deaths of four Iranian soldiers and one civilian, according to Iranian sources. While Iran has not disclosed details of potential further responses, its leadership has said it will give a harsh response.
Experts have noted that Iran's strategic defense capabilities have been severely compromised by Israel, casting doubt on the credibility of Khamenei’s promised responses.
In response to the attacks between Israel and Iran, the country has experienced further economic turmoil, with the US dollar now trading at 710,000 rials—the steepest decline in the value of the national currency to date.
On Monday, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian drawn attention to the economic pressures facing the nation, saying the country faced an economic war rather than a purely military one.
Pezeshkian warned that economic hardships could pose a more significant threat to Iran than external military aggression, suggesting that economic resilience is now a primary focus of his administration.
“Today, we are facing an all-out economic war. What can bring us to our knees are economic problems, and our enemies are pursuing this goal, but we must not be defeated,” he said.
According to Pezeshkian, Iran’s missile capabilities are to deter aggression rather than provoke it. He explained that these weapons serve as a warning, ensuring that no nation could launch an attack on Iran without facing serious consequences.
"We developed missiles so that, like Gaza, Israel cannot bomb anywhere, anyone, at any time it wishes," Pezeshkian added.
On October 7 last year, Iran-backed Hamas launched a large-scale attack on Israeli border areas, killing hundreds of civilians and taking scores hostage. Israel responded with extensive airstrikes targeting Gaza.
The spokesman for the parliament's health committee Salman Es’haghi confirmed that the deaths of at least 70 dialysis patients were due to aluminum-contaminated medication.
In June, Iran International reported that Samen Pharmaceutical Company, a subsidiary of the influential Astan Quds Razavi, is the sole producer of the medication.
Without revealing the manufacturer's identity, Es’haghi added that production of the medication has not been halted and while suggesting that a legal case was filed at the time, said the judiciary has yet to initiate serious legal action for accountability.
The Ministry of Health said Monday that the deaths were cases from the previous year, and that there is no cause for concern today.
The contamination surfaced in early 2024, initially with reports of fatalities among dialysis patients in Mashhad and Isfahan.
Early estimates cited 10 to 12 deaths, but as investigations progressed, the toll quickly climbed to 50, eventually reaching 70 confirmed deaths.
Symptoms included brain dysfunction, seizures, infections, and coma - all consistent with aluminum toxicity.
Es’haghi said that the initial assumption was low-quality production, but later findings suggested contamination with aluminum, leading to severe complications.
Criticizing the judiciary's slow response, Es'haghi said that months have passed without any significant action.
“If the judiciary continues to neglect its responsibilities,” he warned, “the Health Committee will disclose the name of the company and escalate the matter through other channels.”
Dialysis drug maker linked to sanctioned group
Headquartered in Mashhad and directly overseen by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Astan Quds Razavi - the parent company of the drug producer Samen - has a long and complex history of influence over Iran’s pharmaceutical sector.
Former President Ebrahim Raisi previously served as the head of Astan Quds Razavi, a conglomerate with extensive holdings across Iran’s economy.
Astan Quds Razavi was sanctioned by the US primarily for being owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by Iran’s Supreme Leader. Raisi’s successor as custodian, Ahmad Marvi, was also sanctioned under this designation.
The Iranian Food and Drug Administration first acknowledged issues with the dialysis solution in June, citing reports of adverse reactions linked to the product manufactured by Samen Pharmaceutical Company.
The Food and Drug Administration temporarily halted production, distribution, and use of the company’s peritoneal dialysis solution until further testing could be conducted; however, it remains unclear why production has resumed without confirmed safety improvements.
Samen Pharmaceutical Company, founded in 1984, holds a dominant position in Iran’s pharmaceutical industry as the sole producer of peritoneal dialysis solutions. Its shareholders include Astan Quds Razavi, which controls a 70% stake, along with the Iranian Retirement Fund and Hakim Pharmaceuticals.
Es’haghi said that the company's head admitted a lack of oversight on raw materials used in manufacturing, with aluminum-contaminated ingredients apparently slipping through quality control.
Iran’s dialysis patients, estimated at around 800,000, rely heavily on peritoneal dialysis solutions like those produced by Samen Pharmaceutical. Peritoneal dialysis involves using the abdominal lining as a membrane for filtering blood, and contamination of the solution can have severe, even fatal, consequences. Patients affected by the contaminated batch, distributed between December 2023 and May 2024, suffered irreversible damage.
Efforts to uncover details of the contamination have faced obstacles.
In June, when deaths were first reported, Samen Pharmaceutical reportedly informed journalists it was barred from commenting on the matter by a superior organization, believed to be Astan Quds Razavi.
This restriction has fueled public concern, as Astan Quds Razavi has previously been implicated in various allegations of corruption and misconduct.
Director of Iran Human Rights group, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, said the symbolism must not be overlooked as Israel awaits potential retaliation for the October 26 aerial attacks across Iran.
“In the midst of the threats of war with Israel, the Islamic Republic executed Arvin Ghahremani, an Iranian Jewish citizen”, he said, adding that the legal case had “significant flaws.”
Arvin Nathaniel Ghahremani was executed after he was convicted of murder, although his defense argued that the death was accidental and he was defending himself.
Iran’s security apparatus are alleged to have pressured the victim, Amir Shokri’s family not to accept a financial settlement, or blood money, to prevent the execution, as per Iranian laws. Mizan, the news agency of Iran’s judiciary, said the family refused to give consent to the deal.
Iranian-born Yossi Avrahami, who moved to Israel aged 17, told Iran International: “This is just another straw to break the camel’s back for the Jewish community who live a very tough life in Iran."
“Many are leaving and the exodus will continue under the systemic antisemitism of the government to seek a better life elsewhere. It’s heartbreaking but we are being forced out of our homeland.”
Avrahami has family in the US and Israel. “Really, the only safe place for us as Jews now, is Israel, in spite of the threats from Iran.”
Iran’s Jewish community, now numbering around 8,000, is the largest in the region outside Israel, though they live under government oppression. Before 1979, the community was over 100,000 strong, but most fled after the revolution, primarily to Israel and the United States.
Sara Babajani, whose father was born in Iran before moving to Israel, said her family still long to go to their homeland. “To my father, who lived there until he was 15, it’s his home, but it’s not safe for Jews to live under an oppressive, antisemitic regime where sharia law rules,” she told Iran International.
“No Jew is free or safe and until the regime is toppled, we are all trapped in exile. Non-Jews don’t understand why having one Jewish state in the world is so important for us, and this case couldn’t make this answer more clear.”
The Islamic Republic bans Jews from contacting family in Israel or supporting Israel in any way, in spite of the land of Israel being the very essence of the spiritual texts, and prayers directed towards Jerusalem.
"Still in control"
Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against a Nuclear Iran, said Iran “wants to send a message at home that it is still in control despite its losses against Israel” after last month’s air attacks which destroyed swathes of Iran’s air defenses.
However, Iranian-born Beni Sabti, a security analyst who now lives in Israel, told Iran International: “I don’t think that it had something to do with Israel because his crime was not related to espionage or something against the regime, so maybe yes they chose the timing for now, but we cannot know for sure.”
As the case was not related to Israel, he said the symbolism is less relevant than the fact the death penalty is being given out in record numbers in the wake of the 2022 uprising. Last year alone, Iran topped the world’s rankings with the most executions with 74 percent of the world’s total, according to Amnesty International.
“In the end, the Jews will have to leave and should, as soon as possible. Israel is no doubt the safest place for them. Many have left, but those who remain choose to be hostages to the regime,” Sabti added.
