An Iranian woman, who was sentenced to death for participating in protests early this year, appealed to the international community to save her life and the lives of others facing the death penalty, according to an audio message from prison published by human rights organizations, today (Wednesday).
The call of Mahbooba Shahbani, 33 years old, came from her prison in the city of Mashhad in eastern Iran, while the authorities executed two other men on charges related to the mass protests, which reached their peak in the country at the beginning of this year.
Human rights organizations accuse Iran of escalating the executions of prominent prisoners, in an attempt to intimidate the population and ensure that the protests that preceded the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran at the end of February will not be repeated.
“The sentence issued against me shows that many others are at risk of execution,” Shahbani said in a phone call to prisoners in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad, after her lawyer informed her of the death sentence on September 26.
She added in the call, an audio recording of which was published by the “Iran Human Rights” (IHR) organization, based in Norway, and the “Center for Human Rights in Iran” (CHRI), based in the United States: “I am not worried about myself, but rather I am worried about others whose rule I support.”
The authenticity of the message could not be immediately verified. The call included an automated voice saying that the caller was a prisoner, which is standard practice in calls from Iranian prisons.
Shahbani said, in the call attributed to her: “I direct my appeal to everyone: public opinion, the United Nations, and human rights organizations. Not only for me, but for all the others whose rulings were upheld, and who spent months sleeping in fear and anxiety,” she added, adding: “I appeal to them to do something.”
“I appeal to everyone”
According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (Hrana), Shahbani was convicted of carrying out actions “to strengthen Israel, the United States, and individuals associated with opposition groups” during the protests.
But the Iran Human Rights Organization said that Shahbani only used her motorcycle to transport injured demonstrators. She added that she was transferred to solitary confinement after making the call from prison.
Shahbani said in her letter: “Conditions are very bad for the prisoners due to the pressure they are putting on us. I appeal to everyone to do what they can.”
The Iranian judiciary had previously announced the execution of Ali Hemmati and Majeed Nik-Andish by hanging in Mashhad on charges related to the killing of 4 members of the security forces in protests.
According to the Iran Human Rights Organization, since wartime executions resumed in March, 31 people, all men, have been hanged in connection with the January protests, and two more people in connection with the 2022 protests. Dozens are at risk of execution.
The Center for Human Rights in Iran said that 9 women across Iran face the risk of execution on political and security charges.
In April, US President Donald Trump republished a message on the “X” platform from a young pro-Israel activist in the United States, stating that 8 women were facing execution by hanging, and the US President urged the Iranian authorities to pardon them.
Shahbani was one of the women mentioned in the post, knowing that some of them were later released, or no longer face the risk of execution.
The US State Department offered a reward of up to $15 million in exchange for information about 3 prominent officials in the missile unit of the Revolutionary Guard, and about the unit’s financial mechanisms, individuals, entities, and activities associated with it.
In an announcement published on Tuesday, the ministry’s “Rewards for Justice” program named the three officials: Ahmad Jafarabadi, Abdullah Mehrabi, and Ali Asghar Norouzi.
Brigadier General Abdullah Mehrabi heads the Al-Jihad Organization for Research and Self-Sufficiency in the missile unit, while Ali Asghar Norouzi holds the position of Assistant for Supply and Support in the Revolutionary Guard.
The announcement described Jafarabadi as a prominent commander responsible for the operational management of the unit, without it being clear whether it meant Brigadier General Ali Jafarabadi, commander of the Space Division, or another person.
The program said that the unit is responsible for developing weapons systems, producing and deploying Iranian drones and missiles, in addition to purchasing equipment for the Revolutionary Guard, which the United States classifies as a “foreign terrorist organization.”
The announcement stated that whoever provides information may be eligible for a reward and resettlement, indicating the possibility of sending information via the “Signal” application or a communication channel that relies on the “Tor” network.
Sanctions on weapons networks
The announcement coincided with new US sanctions. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday that Washington imposed sanctions on 8 entities and 5 individuals linked to Iran’s purchase and deployment of weapons and military components, as part of the “economic isolation process.”
She added that the $15 million reward is allocated for information that leads to disrupting the financial mechanisms of the Revolutionary Guard and its branches and “cutting its economic arteries.”
The ministry said that the measures come in support of the UN restrictions that were re-imposed on Iran more than a year ago after activating the “snapback” mechanism, accusing Tehran of continuing attempts to purchase weapons and related materials.
She added that President Donald Trump “was clear: Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon, and its missile and weapons programs must not be allowed to threaten international peace and security.”
She pointed out that since September 2025, the United States has imposed dozens of sanctions on purchasing networks linked to Iranian proliferation programs, and has worked with representatives of 40 countries to enhance the implementation of the reimposed restrictions, accusing Russia and China of obstructing the updating of data on Iranian entities and individuals on the UN sanctions list in the Security Council.
In parallel with the American measures, Ali Bilali, advisor to the commander of the missile unit in the Revolutionary Guards, said on Wednesday that Iran will launch the “necessary number” of missiles until the enemy realizes that the time of “hit and run” is over.
The Fars Agency, affiliated with the Guard, quoted Bilali as saying: “In the recent operations, the enemy fired a limited number, and we responded many times that,” adding that the pace of missile launches allows Iran to continue operations at the same rate “even if the confrontation continues for several years.”
Tension has risen in Türkiye against the backdrop of the crisis of manipulation of investment funds, which has caused a sharp decline in the Istanbul index since mid-September, amid continuing investigations and arrests.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded sharply to the call of the opposition leader, head of the “New Party,” Ozgur Ozil, who called on him to resign if he had previously learned of the involvement of his party’s vice president, Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya, in seizing huge funds from the funds, or to call for elections and leave power to whoever deserves it, if he had not known about it in advance.
Erdogan said, without referring to Ozil by name, “These people are trying, without looking at their dark records, to teach us lessons in morals and political values... Let them go from here... They protected those who took bribes in baklava boxes, those whose corruption and sordid relations were exposed, and those who looted Istanbul (referring to his political opponent, the detained mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu). They protected the thieves, And the corrupt.”
Erdogan defends his party
Referring to Sayan Kaya's involvement in the funds crisis, Erdogan said, in a speech during a meeting of the heads of the party's branches in the Turkish states on Tuesday night - Wednesday, without naming anyone, that "there are those in the history of the party who wanted to harm it. Some of them lost their way, some of them were enslaved by themselves, some of them were deceived by the devil, and some of them deliberately infiltrated it to distort this blessed and sacred movement. We rejected every one of them, held them accountable, and continued our path with unwavering determination." Relent.”
Erdogan announced the formation of a council, headed by Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, to investigate the fund crisis, and to accelerate the liquidation of 131 funds that the Turkish Capital Markets Authority had decided to freeze in preparation for their liquidation within 6 months, and to return investors’ funds, stressing that Türkiye will emerge from this crisis stronger than it was.
The Justice and Development Party's vice president for social policies, Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya, resigned from all her positions in the party headed by Erdogan, on Saturday night - Sunday, after the New Party, the largest opposition party, revealed that she and her husband, Ilyas Kaya, had made huge profits from trading shares in the Ozata Denizcelik shipbuilding company, where they invested about 163 million liras ($3.3 million) on April 8. Last April, most of them were in the shares of that company, and they achieved about 2.17 billion liras ($44 million) from selling them and withdrawing the money, days before the facts of stock manipulation were revealed in a complaint filed by the Capital Markets Authority on September 16 of this year.
The Istanbul Public Prosecution said on Wednesday that it had decided to freeze the assets of Sayan Kaya, who previously held the position of Minister of Family and Social Policies from 2016 to 2018, and her husband, Ilyas Kaya, in the latest development in the ongoing investigation into the funds crisis.
Ozil responds to Erdogan
Ozil responded to Erdogan, saying: “When it suits you, you say that no bird flies without our knowledge, and when it does not suit you, you swear that you did not know, and you say that Lady Fatima has surrendered to her tendencies... There is no acceptable side in this talk.”
He added that Fatima Betul Sayan Kaya is “the tip of the iceberg,” and was not as intelligent as many of the ministers and officials in the government and party who carried out the looting of the people’s money through intermediaries, or through companies managed from outside the country.
Ozil revealed, in a speech at the headquarters of the new “New Party” in Ankara on the eve of the opening of the new session of Parliament, that all the executive officials and directors of funds and companies arrested, so far as part of the investigations, have ties to the “Justice and Development Party” and from Erdogan’s close circle, and he signed appointment decisions for them with the same pen. He said: “A president cannot appoint those who commit the biggest theft of the century one after another. What happened was a financial massacre in which 4.5 trillion Turkish liras evaporated. This is not just a financial crisis, but a state crisis, and the truth that was revealed from the funds scandal is that the (Justice and Development) Party is nothing but a pyramid scheme for theft and corruption.”
New investigations and arrests
The crisis erupted in mid-September, after investment funds were unable to meet investors’ requests to recover their money, which led to a wave of turmoil in the Turkish stock market. The Turkish Capital Markets Authority ordered the liquidation of 131 funds managed by 7 companies, with the value of their assets amounting to about 18 billion dollars, while the authority said that 455,758 investors were affected by the decision.
The Minister of Justice, Akin Gurlik, announced through his account on “X” on Wednesday that a fifth wave of arrests had been implemented as part of the investigations, which included search, seizure and detention orders against 34 suspects, pointing out that the number of suspects who had been subjected to investigation had reached, so far, 217 suspects. 56 of them were arrested, and judicial control procedures were applied to 88 suspects.
He pointed out that the scope of the investigations is not limited to the funds and the current suspects, but also includes a careful examination of the movements of 26 stocks believed to be subject to speculation and manipulation. Transaction records, money movements, individual relationships, and accounts that have achieved unusually large profits in a short period are also being investigated.
