According to ancient Iranian beliefs, Yalda Night—the longest night of the year—is the time when Ahriman (incarnation of evil in ancient Iranian mythology) and the forces of darkness reach the height of their power. Yet it is precisely in the heart of this darkness that the promise of the birth of light is hidden. In the cult of Mithra, or Mithraism, which was widespread in Iran and parts of the Roman Empire before Islam, Mithra—the god of the sun and of covenant—is born on this very night.
The birth of Mithra symbolizes the victory of light over darkness, a concept embodied in Yalda through staying awake until dawn, family gatherings, lighting candles, and eating red fruits such as pomegranates. The redness of the pomegranate— the color of the sun and of blood—symbolizes life in the midst of a cold and dark night.
Yalda Night and the 100th Week of the “No to Executions” Campaign
This year, Yalda Night—dark, cold, and long—coincided with the 100th week of the campaign
“Tuesdays Against Executions.”
On this occasion, resistance units carried out 116 anti-repression actions across Iran. Their central message was clear:
“No to injustice, no to silence, no to executions!”
On the longest night of the year, their protest chants challenged the darkness until dawn.
Executions and the Regime’s Structural Crisis
In the month of Azar (November-December) alone, 357 executions were reported in Iran. The total number of executions in 2025 has doubled compared to the previous year—clear evidence of an exceptionally grave situation. Confronted with a storm of unresolved economic and social crises, the collapse of the national currency, and unprecedented poverty—all rooted in a dictatorial and ideological system—the regime has now resorted to its final instrument of control: executions.
This unrestrained violence is a desperate attempt to prevent imminent uprisings against widespread poverty, institutionalized corruption, and the suppression of freedoms. In other words, the regime is clinging to the gallows to survive.
Mithra Cannot Be Killed
The 100th week of the “Tuesdays Against Executions” campaign demonstrated that Mithra—the god of the sun, born on such a night—cannot be killed. The cries of “No to executions” heard in 55 prisons across the country are not desperate pleas born of helplessness, but conscious, political, and emancipatory acts aimed at ending the cycle of violence and despotism in Iran.
War: A “Divine Blessing”?
Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, regarded the eight-year war with Iraq as a “divine blessing,” as it allowed him to conceal domestic repression behind the façade of war. From that time until today, the regime has consistently sought to manufacture crises and conflicts, using them as cover for repression and executions at home.
Ali Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader, likewise needs an external crisis to justify continued repression. However, after successive blows to his proxy forces in the region and the decline of his military and security capabilities, he is now too weak to sustain a new war. Nevertheless, he seeks to keep society in a state of “neither war nor peace,” in the hope of escaping the unprecedented wave of internal crises.
Military Exercises and the Manufacturing of a Permanent State of Emergency
Media outlets affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have reported that the explosions heard on December 25 and 26 in Tehran Province were linked to a military exercise. This is only one of many land and naval drills conducted by the regime to maintain an atmosphere of fear and crisis. Commanders of the Islamic Republic’s armed forces, by emphasizing the continued production of missiles and openly supporting groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, are seeking to prolong this unstable and crisis-ridden situation.
Khamenei and the Nuclear Deadlock
Due to his profound political weakness, Khamenei is unable to accept zero-percent uranium enrichment or to enter negotiations with the United States. Such a move would mean breaking the “hard core of power” and would accelerate the collapse of the regime. The regime itself refers to any such retreat as “drinking the poisoned chalice.”
Khamenei would retreat only under one condition: if he were to feel, directly and tangibly, the threat of overthrow resulting from the growth and expansion of resistance units’ activities. But by then, it may already be too late for the regime to save itself.
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