The Islamic Republic wants Donald Trump to be more rational and focused than he was in his first term, Iran's Vice-President for Strategic Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif said in defiant remarks on Wednesday.
Social media images showed closed shops in cities such as Sanandaj, Saqqez, Divandarreh, and Marivan in Kurdistan province, as well as Mahabad, Bukan in West Azarbaijan province, and Kermanshah.
Earlier this week, six Kurdish groups released a joint statement urging people to stage a strike on Wednesday to prevent the executions of Pakhshan Azizi and Varishe Moradi by shutting down marketplaces, workplaces, and schools.
Moradi was sentenced to death in November by Tehran's Revolutionary Court on charges of "armed rebellion." Azizi received the same sentence in July.
Both sentences have sparked outrage locally and internationally. Shirin Ebadi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, also joined the protest calls, writing on Instagram, “I urge all political, social, cultural, civil, and professional organizations to join this strike.”
Among the parties supporting the strike were the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, also known as the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, and the Kurdistan Organization of the Communist Party of Iran.
Azizi was sentence to death in July 2024 for “armed rebellion against the state” and imposed an additional four-year prison sentence for alleged membership in the PJAK, accusations her lawyers have denied. PJAK has been designated as a terrorist organization by Iran, Turkey, and the US.
In addition to these groups, students and a coalition of Kurdish women issued separate statements condemning the death sentences. They also expressed support for the strike, denouncing the treatment of Azizi and Moradi, who are detained in Tehran’s Evin Prison, notorious for its harsh conditions and political detentions.
Earlier this month, Amnesty International has condemned Iran’s Supreme Court for upholding Azizi’s death sentence, calling her trial deeply flawed and her punishment unjust. Amnesty said, “Iran’s authorities must halt any plans to carry out her execution and release her immediately,” adding that her conviction appears to be tied to her peaceful humanitarian and human rights work.
In a letter from prison, Azizi has described instances of torture and harassment, including mock executions. Her case has become a focal point for human rights organizations, with many viewing her sentencing as part of a broader pattern of state repression against political dissidents.
According to the US-based rights group HRANA, at least 54 political prisoners, including Azizi, are currently facing execution across various prisons in Iran. Iran has faced increasing international criticism for its widespread use of the death penalty, especially against political prisoners and activists.
The United Nations human rights office reported in January that Iran in 2024 executed 901 people, including 31 women, marking a sharp rise in capital punishment cases.
"There is always hope people will choose rationality, Zarif said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “I hope that this time around, a 'Trump 2' will be more serious, more focused, more realistic."
On any potential pressure from the new administration on Iran to give up its nuclear program, Zarif told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that Tehran would not be convinced by force.
“Nobody thinks of Iran as such an easy place to carry out their whims. So we can move forward, move forward based on opportunity rather than based on threats.”
Tehran has gained more nuclear capabilities since the United States withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal, he added, but maintained Iran does not seek nuclear weapons and poses no threat to the world.
Starting in 2006, the UN Security Council implemented multiple rounds of sanctions targeting Iran's nuclear program.
In 2015, many of these economic sanctions were suspended under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal. After the US announced its withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018, nuclear-related sanctions were reinstated.
Relaxed hijab enforcement
Zarif, a relative moderate, also addressed Tehran's new hijab law which UN experts have labeled a further "assault on women’s rights and freedoms.”
"If you go to the streets of Tehran, you see that there are women who are not covering their hair. It's against the law, but the government has decided not to put women under pressure," Zarif said. "And this was a promise that President Pezeshkian made. And the promise is being observed."
The controversial new law imposes harsher penalties on women and girls who defy the Islamic veiling requirements. In response to significant backlash from both the public and the international community, the Islamic Republic has officially postponed its implementation. The country's existing mandatory hijab law remains in effect, with other penalties still enforced.
At Davos, Zarif argued that President Pezeshkian is not personally enforcing the new hijab law but has the support of the country's leadership, which he defined as the head of parliament, the head of the judiciary, and other key figures, including the National Security Council.
"So, we're moving in the right direction," Zarif said.
According to several human rights groups, the crackdown on women over the hijab has continued since nationwide protests erupted in 2022, following the killing of Mahsa Jina Amini in the custody of the so-called morality police.
The new law was initially drafted in May 2023, less than a year after the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising.
In December 2024, Iran's Supreme National Security Council sent a letter to parliament requesting that the process of implementing the Hijab and Chastity law be halted. The letter proposed that the government submit an amended bill to parliament, according to a member of the Parliament's presiding board.
