Truce or Noose: Iranian Ceasefire Means 15 Days of Peace but NOT if Citizens Continue being Executed
As a tenuous 15-day ceasefire between the United States and Iran takes effect, spokesmen for the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) can deliver a blunt warning: peace is desired but a pause the regime will exploit is not acceptable. History has indicated such a pattern. The NCRI welcomes the cessation of military strikes on Iran’s infrastructure and civilian locations but regime overthrow continues to be a primary objective.
NCRI Speakers Available:
Alireza Jafarzadeh: Deputy Director of NCRI
Shahin Gobadi: Member of NCRI Parliament in Exile
Ali Safavi: Member of NCRI Parliament in Exile
Dr. Kazem Kazerounian: Iranian American Engineer
Shirin Nariman: Former Political Prisoner in Iran
Homeira Hesami: Former Political Prisoner in Iran
Col. Wesley Martin (Ret): Worked with MEK at Camp Ashraf
Senator Robert Torricelli: Former U.S. Senator
Ambassador Robert Joseph: Special Envoy Nuclear Nonproliferation
**Other Speakers, to include former Political Prisoners in Iran available upon request**
**Other Speakers, to include former Political Prisoners in Iran available upon request**
- Ceasefire abroad, executions at home.
- Maryam Rajavi: no halt, no deal.
- Tehran uses pauses to purge.
- Hezbollah strikes expose the sham.
- Ignoring civilians isn’t peace.
While Washington touts de-escalation, the clerical regime in Tehran has historically used moments like this not to reform, but to repress. Inside Iran, the machinery of state violence is not slowing down; it is accelerating. Executions, long used as a tool of political control, are surging—targeting not criminals, but dissenters, protesters, and ordinary citizens whose only offense is opposition to the regime.
Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI’s President-elect, welcomed the ceasefire in principle—but issued a stark challenge that cuts through the diplomatic theater: any agreement that does not explicitly halt executions by the regime is not a step toward peace, but a license for continued brutality. Her message is clear—if the international community is serious about de-escalation, it must start by demanding that Tehran stop killing its own people.
Iranian Citizens have Skin in this Game
This is the missing piece in the current ceasefire framework. Negotiators are focused on missiles, proxies, and nuclear thresholds, while ignoring the regime’s most consistent and defining behavior: its war against its own population. NCRI spokesmen can make the case that a ceasefire which excludes human rights is not just incomplete—it is dangerously naïve.
Compounding the instability is Israel’s continued military campaign in Lebanon against Hezbollah, a direct extension of Tehran’s power. This exposes the ceasefire for what it is: narrow, fragile, and easily circumvented. The regime can continue projecting force through its proxies while benefiting from reduced direct pressure, all while tightening its grip internally.
The NCRI can speak with authority about this dual strategy. The regime escalates abroad to gain leverage, and escalates at home to eliminate the risk of uprising. These are not separate tracks—they are two sides of the same survival strategy.
Spokesmen can also draw a direct line between past diplomatic openings and spikes in executions, arguing that the regime interprets restraint from the West as weakness. Without firm conditions—starting with an immediate moratorium on executions—this ceasefire risks becoming a shield behind which Tehran consolidates power through fear.
The bottom line is uncompromising: a ceasefire that ignores the Iranian people is not a pathway to peace. It is a pause that strengthens a regime built on repression. NCRI voices can reframe the conversation, insisting that any real de-escalation must begin not with geopolitics, but with human lives.
Relevant Article(s):
Israeli military strikes southern Lebanon after US-Iran ceasefire
Iran war latest: no enriched uranium in deal, Trump insists
OPTIONAL Q&A:
- How can a ceasefire be considered meaningful if the regime continues executing its own citizens during the same 15-day period?
- What mechanisms, if any, are in place to ensure Tehran halts executions of political prisoners as urged by Maryam Rajavi?
- Is the United States effectively giving the regime breathing room to intensify domestic repression under the cover of de-escalation?
- How does Israel’s continued targeting of Hezbollah in Lebanon expose the limitations—and potential futility—of this ceasefire?
- Why have human rights conditions, particularly the surge in executions, been excluded from the core terms of the agreement?
- What historical evidence suggests the regime uses diplomatic pauses to crack down more aggressively on internal dissent?
- Can any lasting regional stability be achieved without addressing the regime’s treatment of its own population?
- Should future negotiations with Tehran make an immediate moratorium on executions a non-negotiable prerequisite rather than an afterthought?
ABOUT ALIREZA JAFARZADEH…
Alireza Jafarzadeh serves as the Deputy Director of the Washington Office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). He is also the author of The Iran Threat (Palgrave MacMillan, New York, 2008).
A recognized expert on Iranian policy, Jafarzadeh has been at the forefront of efforts to prevent the Iranian regime from acquiring nuclear weapons. His groundbreaking work in 2002 and 2003 led to the discovery of key illicit nuclear sites in Iran, including the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, the Arak heavy water plant, the Kalaye Electric centrifuge testing facility near Tehran, and the Lashkar Ab’ad laser enrichment facility. These revelations prompted the first-ever inspections of Iranian nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Jafarzadeh is a frequent guest on major television and radio networks, including CBS Evening News, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, CNBC, Bloomberg TV, and France 24. His insights have also been featured in leading publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Time, and The Hill.
ABOUT SHAHIN GOBADI…
Shahin Gobadi, a U.S.-educated nuclear engineer, is a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Iran’s Parliament-in-Exile.
An astute observer of Iranian affairs for over three decades, Gobadi is an expert on topics including Iranian state-sponsored terrorism, proxy groups in the Middle East, the Iranian nuclear and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs, Western policy toward Iran, and internal Iranian affairs.
He has been interviewed by major international media outlets, including CNN, Fox News, BBC, Sky TV, GB News, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, Reuters, and the Associated Press. Gobadi’s writings have appeared in prominent media across the U.S. and Europe.
ABOUT ALI SAFAVI…
Ali Safavi is a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Iran’s Parliament-in-Exile.
A sociologist by training, Safavi studied and taught at UCLA, California State University Los Angeles, and the University of Michigan. He was an active participant in the anti-Shah student movement in the 1970s in the United States and has been deeply engaged in Iranian affairs ever since.
Safavi has lectured and written extensively on Iran, Iraq, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and Middle Eastern politics. He has appeared in interviews on networks such as CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, BBC, Sky TV, Newsmax, and France 24. His articles and commentary have been published in leading outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, The Boston Herald, The Washington Times, and The Financial Times.
ABOUT DR. KAZEM KAZEROUNIAN…
Dr. Kazem Kazerounian is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Connecticut and served as Dean of the College of Engineering from 2012 to 2024.
A passionate advocate for democracy and human rights, Dr. Kazerounian is also an expert on Iran and the Middle East, particularly regarding the Iranian nuclear issue, and human rights situation in Iran. He has contributed widely through scholarly articles, invited talks, and media interviews on regional affairs and the democratic movement in Iran.
Nationally, he has held leadership roles with ASEE and ASME, shaping engineering policy and education. His honors include the ASME Mechanisms and Robotics Award, AIMBE Fellowship, and induction into the Connecticut Academy of Science & Engineering.
An ASME Fellow, his research spans kinematics, robotics, and biomechanics. He has authored over 160 scholarly works and co-founded AcademicKeys.com and AcademicJournal.com, a professional platform and an online journal for academics.
At one point, while Shirin Nariman was a young political prisoner in Iran, she was tortured and buried up to her neck. Today, she is a human rights advocate, and entrepreneur residing in the U.S.
At just 15 years old, during the 1979 Iranian Revolution, she became involved in pro-democracy activities and supported the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI). Less than two years later, she was arrested for her activism—becoming one of the youngest political prisoners of her time and enduring severe torture in Evin Prison. Her case drew international attention and intervention from the Red Cross.
During her imprisonment, Shirin witnessed the regime’s brutality firsthand, including the executions of children, elderly women, and pregnant prisoners. After her release, she eventually sought refuge in the United States, where she has dedicated her life to advocating for human rights, women’s rights, and a free, democratic, non-nuclear Iran.
Shirin holds a bachelor’s degree in management information systems and has worked with leading wireless and financial corporations.
ABOUT HOMEIRA HESAMI…
Homeira Hesami was born in 1966 in Iran. At age 16, she graduated from high school with honors but was denied acceptance to Iranian universities due to her political beliefs and activism. Her activism forced her to spend a significant period of time in prison in Iran as a teenager. She was eventually able to immigrate to the United States, where she pursued her education further, obtaining both her Master’s from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.
She has remained active in the political scene to help establish a free, democratic, secular, and non-nuclear Iran. Homeira was a member of the Iranian American Women’s Delegation that attended the World Conferences on Women in Beijing in 1995. She has spoken at the University of Virginia to educate students about the current plight of women in Iran. She has also spoken at The National Convention of Iranian Americans in Washington, D.C., as well as the Texas Convention of Iranian Leaders in Houston, TX. She is married with two children, and working as a medical physicist in Irving, Texas.
ABOUT COL. WESLEY MARTIN…
During his combat tours he served as the senior Antiterrorism/Force Protection Officer for all coalition forces in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom 1 and 2, as Senior Operations Officer for Task Force 134 (Detention Operations), and as Commander of Forward Operating Base Ashraf, working with the Iranian Mujahedin (MEK / NCRI).
As the Antiterrorism Officer in Iraq, Colonel Martin’s “lead from the front, and spend as much time outside the perimeter as possible” style of leadership resulted in blocking Al Qaeda from killing the moderate Shia Grand Ayatollah Sistani and blowing up the Baghdad doctors’ convention. He also prevented the theft of over one thousand Cobalt 60 radioactive sources and an attack on the Baghdad trade fair.
As a captain he served in Field Command, Defense Nuclear Agency as a security inspector of U.S. Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force commands throughout the free world. More can be found at www.colonelwesmartin.com
ABOUT ROBERT TORRICELLI…
Senator Robert Torricelli served 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the 9th district of New Jersey until January 1997, when he was elected as Democratic Senator from the state of New Jersey. While in the Congress, he was the leading voice for a free Iran and has been advocate of a free and democratic Iran for the past three decades.
In 1999, he joined the Democratic Leadership as the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Senator Torricelli served in the House Foreign Affairs Committee as the chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.
Senator Torricelli earned his law degree from Rutgers University and completed a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Before becoming a member of the U.S. Congress, Torricelli served as associate counsel to then-Vice President Walter Mondale.
ABOUT AMBASSADOR ROBERT JOSEPH…
Ambassador Robert Joseph was the United States Special Envoy for Nuclear Nonproliferation. Prior to this post, Joseph was the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, a position he held until January 24, 2007. He was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Proliferation Strategy at the White House.
Ambassador Joseph is known for being instrumental in creating the Proliferation Security Initiative and as the architect of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. He was also the US chief negotiator to Libya in 2003 who convinced Qaddafi to give up Libya’s WMD programs.
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