Just weeks before direct nuclear negotiations are set to begin between the U.S. and Iran in Muscat, Tehran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has executed a dramatic political U-turn. After publicly denouncing talks with Washington as “unwise, irrational, and dishonorable” in a televised speech on March 2, 2025, he has now quietly agreed to sit at the same negotiating table.
This abrupt reversal isn’t just a diplomatic maneuver — it reflects the regime’s acute fear of internal collapse. With protests simmering amid economic hardship and a deepening water crisis, Tehran’s leadership is facing unprecedented domestic pressure. The fear of a looming uprising, combined with growing international resolve, has forced the regime into a corner.
Iran’s Global Record on Executions
According to Amnesty International, Iran was responsible for 64% of all recorded executions worldwide in 2024. That staggering figure reflects a deliberate strategy of mass repression, particularly after the regime lost key regional strongholds — including its strategic influence in Syria and Lebanon.
Khamenei once justified Tehran’s involvement in the Syrian conflict by declaring: “If we don’t fight there, we’ll have to fight here, iniside Irqn.” With that regional buffer eroded, the regime has turned its tools of suppression inward, accelerating executions to instill fear and deter dissent.
Repression Fueled by Manufactured Enemies
Authoritarian regimes often rely on external threats to justify domestic repression. Iran’s clerical regime is no different. For over four decades, slogans like “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” have served as both political cover and ideological glue. As one regime insider admitted, “That slogan did more for us than ten intelligence agencies could have.”
But the real target of Tehran’s brutality has always been internal: the Iranian people and an organized democratic opposition demanding justice and change.
The International Cost of Silence
Tehran’s crimes have long spilled beyond its borders. In 1988, Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa that led to the execution of some 30,000 political prisoners — an act widely described as a crime against humanity. The global community largely turned a blind eye. That inaction emboldened the regime, paving the way for further bloodshed in Iraq, Syria, and Gaza.
Every time unrest threatens the regime at home, Tehran tries to ignite conflict abroad. Its tactics are predictable. Its brutality, however, continues to escalate.
Reform Is Not an Option
Rooted in hardline theocracy and political absolutism, the Islamic Republic has proven fundamentally incapable of reform. Calls for moderation have either been suppressed or co-opted by the regime to buy time and legitimacy.
Any genuine reform would require freedom of expression, legal accountability, and political pluralism — principles that directly contradict the regime’s DNA.
Direct Talks: A Fracture in the Regime’s Armor
The decision to pursue direct talks with Washington is not just a diplomatic shift — it’s a seismic ideological rupture. The regime built its identity on opposition to the West. Now, facing internal collapse, it’s compromising the very pillars of its legitimacy.
This contradiction is not lost on the regime’s hardliners — including parts of the Revolutionary Guards and intelligence apparatus — who see these negotiations as a betrayal. That tension may soon erupt, opening space for a broader social uprising.
Peace in the Region Starts with Accountability in Iran
Denuclearization is essential, but it is not enough. The Iranian people — who have borne the brunt of the regime’s repression and whose economic future has been sacrificed on the altar of uranium enrichment — need more than empty gestures. They need real international solidarity.
Back in 2002, it was the Iranian opposition, the NCRI, that revealed the regime’s secret nuclear sites. Today, they continue to push for regime change — from within. But the international community must take concrete steps.
Conditioning political and trade relations on an immediate halt to executions in Iran is one such step. It’s not only a moral imperative — it’s a strategic necessity to prevent future bloodshed and regional instability.
Dear reader,
Opinions expressed in the op-ed section are solely those of the individual author and do not represent the official stance of our newspaper. We believe in providing a platform for a wide range of voices and perspectives, even those that may challenge or differ from our own. We remain committed to providing our readers with high-quality, fair, and balanced journalism. Thank you for your continued support.
