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From the very start of the killings, imprisonments, torture, murders and executions in the early days of the Islamic Republic, the pursuit of justice began in Iranian society.

In every era, under every condition and in every place, justice-seeking in Iran has taken on a form shaped by its social circumstances — but it has never been extinguished.

The images of the mothers and fathers of those killed and executed, the handwritten notes, the histories, the testimonies and memoirs of prisoners and torture survivors, and the protest actions carried out through public and private letters, petitions to judicial and security authorities, and appeals to international human rights bodies — all these have been part of the ongoing struggle over the past 46 years.

These acts — through their representation in poetry composed by renowned poets; in songs and ballads performed by celebrated singers from Marjan and Marzieh to the rap verses of young artists; in films created underground or in exile; in clandestine theater staged under fear; and in powerful stories penned by gifted and conscientious writers — have formed another part of our society’s effort to keep the pursuit of justice alive.

In truth, justice-seeking as a collective process has spread through every layer of society, accompanied by actions, reactions, creative and influential events and both individual and collective protests.

In recent years, civil activists have worked alongside prisoners, torture survivors, the wounded and the families of those killed and executed, bringing wider segments of society into this process and strengthening the justice-seeking movement.

Families and survivors of the executed, the killed, the imprisoned, the tortured, the abused, the oppressed and the wronged have all played a vital role in advancing this movement in Iran.

In the 1980s, when the solidarity of society, political and social forces and the broader public was not as widespread as in recent years, families endured indescribable suffering under government — and at times social — pressure, in order to plant the seeds of justice-seeking in society.

They made the historical tradition of justice-seeking in Iran richer and more meaningful.

With the continuation and intensification of the Islamic Republic’s oppression, every decade, every year and every day the number of justice-seekers has grown, as has the depth of their demand for justice.

Survivors of the 1980s executions and massacres, the chain murders, the 1999 student protests, the Green Movement, the protests of 2017 and 2019, and the “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising have all been interconnected threads sustaining the pursuit of justice.

Together with civil, professional, social, political, and cultural circles, they have forged a powerful chain within society.

From the image of the Khavaran mother standing tall over an unmarked grave, to the embrace of Mahsa Jina Amini’s parents in a hospital corridor as they endured her final moments in pain and tears, countless scenes have been created that will remain eternal in the history of our nation’s quest for justice.

From the images of anti-execution activists outside prison walls who kept vigil with families through the night of darkness until the dawn of execution, to the journalists who paid the price of reporting and speaking with families through imprisonment, torture, solitary confinement and the silent suffering of exile — all attest to the hidden strength of the justice-seeking movement.

Justice-seeking is a path toward liberation through the realization of justice itself — justice trampled by a tyrannical government and stripped of the tools to achieve it. In the wasteland of injustice and oppression, justice-seeking is a lamp to light the way, a hope in the darkness of despair and an effort to resist defeat and passivity.

Our society, in its pursuit of justice and its struggle to expose oppression and discrimination so that history cannot erase them, stands among the greatest in the world.

Long live the justice-seeking movement.

In an exclusive editorial for Iran International, Mohammadi said the slogan Woman, Life, Freedom which became the mantra of the protest movement ignited by her death carries forward a decades-old struggle for human rights in Iran.

"From the image of the Khavaran mother standing tall over an unmarked grave, to the embrace of Mahsa Jina Amini’s parents in a hospital corridor as they endured her final moments in pain and tears, countless scenes have been created that will remain eternal in the history of our nation’s quest for justice," Mohammadi said, referring to mass graves for dissidents executed in 1988.

"In the wasteland of injustice and oppression, justice-seeking is a lamp to light the way, a hope in the darkness of despair, and an effort to resist defeat and passivity," Mohammadi wrote.

She traced a continuous line of activism from executions since the Islamic Republic's earliest days and the so-called chain murders of intellectuals inside Iran in the nineties to student protests, the Green Movement, 2017 and 2019 demonstrations and most recently the Women, Life, Freedom movement.

"Our society, in its pursuit of justice and its struggle to expose oppression and discrimination so that history cannot erase them, stands among the greatest in the world,” Mohammadi said.

Iran’s human rights situation remains dire according to watchdogs, with widespread state surveillance, arbitrary arrests and harsh crackdowns on political activists, journalists and women’s rights defenders.

Ethnic and religious minorities face systemic discrimination, international and Iran-focused rights groups say, and the ruling system continues to suppress protests and civil society movements with imprisonment, torture and executions.

Read the full text: Focus on Society and Justice, by Narges Mohammadi

For decades, oversight of Iran’s human rights record was limited to a Special Rapporteur whose reports carried weight but lacked teeth.

The new mission, however, was built not only to observe but to investigate, document and preserve evidence for criminal prosecutions—evidence that could one day bring Iranian officials before international or national courts abroad.

In just two years, it has produced thousands of pages—legal findings, testimonies and analyses on women’s and minority rights.

Together, the effort paints a grim picture of systematic human rights violations in Iran, some amounting to crimes against humanity.

Limited mandate

That phrase matters. It elevates abuses from the realm of “domestic affairs” to international crimes the world cannot ignore. It also affirms what Iranian civil society has long argued: repression is not episodic but systemic.

Yet the mission has faced constraints by design.

Its initial mandate was limited to the protests and crackdowns after death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, in morality police custody in September 2022.

That scope left little room to probe earlier waves of dissent such as the December 2017 protests or the bloody crackdown of November 2019, despite clear evidence of the same patterns of violence and impunity.

Only in March did the Human Rights Council expand the mandate, acknowledging that accountability cannot be sliced into timeframes convenient for perpetrators.

The United Nations itself is under financial strain and political pressure from states wary of setting precedents for scrutiny. Iran continues to deny all allegations, dismissing international scrutiny as “Western interference.”

Against erasure

The mission is vital for two reasons. First, it amplifies the voices of victims and families silenced inside Iran. Second, it builds a legal infrastructure for future prosecutions, whether under universal jurisdiction abroad or in tribunals yet to be created.

These records matter: they are the antidote to impunity, preserving memory when a government seeks erasure.

On the third anniversary of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, the question is whether the international community will provide the political and financial backing to keep this mechanism alive.

Civil society has done its part—collecting testimonies, documenting abuses, and risking lives for the truth. Governments must now ensure this work does not wither under budget cuts or diplomatic fatigue.

In an era of deep cynicism about international institutions, this mission is a rare instrument that offers both hope and a pathway toward justice.

“While we back diplomatic efforts to restore Iran’s compliance with its International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) commitments, the international community should not allow hollow gestures and cynical threats from Tehran to stop the snapback process,” the lawmakers wrote.

“Sanctions relief should only be negotiated after snapback is fully implemented.”

The letter, led by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, said that dismantling Iran’s nuclear program, restoring full IAEA inspections and halting Tehran’s support for proxy groups and ballistic missiles should be the “minimum” bar for any relief.

The senators called for the closure of Iranian banks in Europe and tougher action against oil sales to China, arguing that “closing off the regime’s financial pathways will curb the regime’s aggression.” They thanked the E3 for their “leadership” in triggering the mechanism.

The appeal comes after EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned Wednesday that “the window for finding a diplomatic solution” was closing fast. Germany also said Tehran has yet to take the “reasonable and precise actions necessary” to extend the UN resolution underpinning the 2015 nuclear deal.

Under the process, UN sanctions on Iran will automatically return by late September unless the Security Council votes otherwise.

The groups are Harakat al-Nujaba, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, and Kataib al-Imam Ali.

“These militias have conducted attacks on the US Embassy in Baghdad and on bases hosting US and coalition forces, typically using front names or proxy groups to obfuscate their involvement,” Rubio said in a statement. He said the designations support President Donald Trump’s directive to impose maximum pressure on Iran and cut off revenue to its regional proxies.

Sanctions target oil and crypto networks

The move followed fresh Treasury sanctions on Tuesday against four Iranian nationals and more than a dozen companies and individuals in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, accused of moving funds for Iran’s military through oil sales and cryptocurrency.

“Iranian entities rely on shadow banking networks to evade sanctions and move millions through the international financial system,” Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John Hurley said. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we will continue to disrupt these key financial streams that fund Iran’s weapons programs and malign activities in the Middle East and beyond.”

Treasury said the networks laundered hundreds of millions of dollars through front companies and digital assets to finance Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programs and to support allied groups including Hezbollah.

Separately, the State Department said it revoked a sanctions waiver for Afghanistan-related projects at Iran’s Chabahar Port, effective September 29. The exemption, in place since 2018, was meant to facilitate trade and reconstruction projects for Afghanistan but will now end, exposing operators and investors to penalties under the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act.

Regional security deal with Iraq

The measures come as Iran has sought to expand its regional influence through new security understandings. Last month, Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said a new memorandum with Iraq was meant to “preserve stability” and prevent foreign powers from destabilizing the region.

The agreement commits both sides to prevent individuals or third countries from using one another’s territory to threaten security, Larijani said, linking it to lessons from the June war with Israel. Iraq later described the arrangement as a border protocol rather than a broader pact, while Washington warned it risked undermining Iraqi sovereignty.

Iran-backed groups have also been in the spotlight after the release of Israeli-Russian academic Elizabeth Tsurkov in Baghdad earlier this month.

Tasnim, an outlet linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, reported her freedom came in a prisoner exchange for two members of the “resistance,” a term used in Tehran to refer to allied armed groups.

Tsurkov, a Princeton University student abducted in 2023, was believed to have been held by Kataib Hezbollah, one of the groups long accused of attacks on US and Israeli targets in Iraq. US President Donald Trump confirmed her release on Tuesday, saying she had been tortured during her captivity.