Following a week after the implementation of a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran, some Iranians are concerned about the possible consequences of the ceasefire. One of them, contacted by BFMTV, fears a hardening of the mullahs’ repression.
Could the Middle East ceasefire paradoxically make life harder in Iran? That is what a young Iranian woman contacted this week by BFMTV teams is afraid of. Just over a week after the ceasefire between Iran and the United States, she worries about the mullahs’ regime remaining in power.
In her twenties, this young woman, who lives in a major city in Iran, believes that “the repression will surely be tougher because a sense of victory can give the regime the impression that they can do whatever they want without suffering the consequences.”
“In my opinion, a regime change is much less likely than before the war,” she regrets.
Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan, director general of the NGO Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), confirms that the repression of the Islamic Republic continued even when the country was bombed in recent weeks.
“There are thousands of arrests, arrests of protesters, political opponents, lawyers,” he says. Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent activist against the death penalty, has just been arrested again. We have not heard from her, we are worried.
In Iran in 2025, at least 1,639 people were executed, including 11 in public: a record since 1989, two NGOs warned that the use of the death penalty could increase due to the war against Israel and the United States.
The number of executions increased by 68% compared to 2024 (975 people killed) and included 48 women hanged, according to a joint annual report by the Norwegian organization Iran Human Rights (IHR) and the Parisian organization Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM).
If the Islamic Republic “survives the current crisis, there is a serious risk that executions will be used even more extensively as a tool of oppression and repression,” the report warns.
Supposed to last two weeks, the ceasefire between Tehran and Washington remains fragile. Last weekend, discussions between representatives of both countries in Pakistan ended without major progress.
