Kayhan Life Staff
The Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Shirin Ebadi and the prominent filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf have joined senior journalists and opposition leaders in issuing a rare joint appeal to US President Donald Trump, urging immediate international action as Iranian security forces intensify a violent crackdown on protesters, which they say has killed hundreds in recent days.
In a letter circulated publicly, the signatories—drawn from across Iran’s political and intellectual landscape—accuse the Islamic Republic of carrying out systematic abuses, including attacking hospitals, abducting wounded demonstrators and transferring them directly to detention centers; withholding the bodies of those killed from their families; and suppressing information through widespread internet shutdowns.
Besides Dr. Ebadi, the Nobel–winning jurist and human rights advocate, and Makhmalbaf, an internationally acclaimed filmmaker, signatories include senior opposition figures from constitutional monarchist, Kurdish, and republican movements, as well as veteran journalists with decades of experience covering Iran.
The letter places the current unrest within the context of Iran’s recent history of violent repression, drawing a direct parallel to the nationwide protests of November 2019—known as the Aban protests—when security forces killed more than 1,500 people, according to human rights groups. At the time, authorities imposed a near-total internet blackout, preventing the outside world from discovering the scale of the killings for weeks.
The signatories argue that all domestic and diplomatic avenues for restraining the government have failed, leaving international intervention as the only means of preventing further bloodshed. Addressing Mr. Trump directly, they reference public statements that he has made pledging support for the Iranian people should the government resort to mass violence against demonstrators.
“Now is the time to act,” the letter reads, warning that each delay allows the machinery of repression to claim more lives. The appeal reflects mounting frustration among Iranian dissidents who say repeated cycles of protest and repression have been met with condemnation abroad but little sustained action.
The letter arrives amid renewed debate in Washington and European capitals over how to respond to unrest in Iran, particularly as nuclear negotiations remain stalled. While Western governments have condemned violence against protesters in the past, critics argue that meaningful consequences for Iranian officials have rarely matched such statements.
For its signatories, the letter is an urgent plea and a moral appeal aimed at preventing what they fear could become another episode of mass killing carried out away from world attention.
Below is the text of the letter:
Full Statement
Dear President Trump,
Over the past few days, hundreds of people have been killed in demonstrations in Iran. The Islamic Republic has attacked hospitals, abducted the wounded and transferred them directly to detention centers, prevented the bodies of those killed from being delivered to their families, and, by shutting down the internet and obstructing the full dissemination of news, continues its killings and repression.
We also experienced this tragedy six years ago, in Aban, November 2019, when more than 1,500 Iranian citizens were killed out of the world’s sight.
Now, as unfortunately, all avenues for curbing the repression and saving the lives of our compatriots have reached a dead end, an exit from this situation requires international assistance. In this regard, you have so far promised on three occasions that, should the Islamic Republic resort to the killing of protesters, you would come to the aid of the Iranian people. Now is the time to act against the machinery of repression and prevent the continued killing of a people who seek dignity, justice, and freedom. With every minute of delay in your decision, the scale of crimes against these defenseless people grows. Please do not allow the world to turn a blind eye to yet another crime.
Sincerely,
Mohammad Javad Akbarin – Religious Studies Scholar and Journalist
Nazenin Ansari – Journalist, Managing Editor, Kayhan-London and Kayhan Life
Foad Pashaei – Secretary-General of the Constitutionalist Party of Iran
Yazdan Shohadai – Spokesperson for the Iran Transition Council (ITC)
Shirin Ebadi – Jurist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Mohsen Makhmalbaf – Writer and Film Director
Abdollah Mohtadi – Secretary-General of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan
