ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The United States on Tuesday called on Iran to overturn the death sentence of Kurdish woman Pakhshan Azizi and to stop targeting Kurds after she was sentenced for membership in a “terrorist group.”
“We call on Iran to overturn the death sentence of Iranian Kurdish aid worker Pakhshan Azizi after a sham trial. The regime must stop targeting Iran’s Kurdish minorities and using capital punishment to silence peaceful opposition,” Abraham Paley, US special envoy for Iran, said on X.
Pakhshan was sentenced to death for allegedly being a member of Iranian Kurdish groups considered “terrorists” by Tehran such as the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK).
Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), further accused Azizi of joining university protests in Iran after being trained by the Kurdish groups to spread social unrest.
Azizi was also active as an aid worker in refugee camps in northeast Syria (Rojava) and Shingal (Sinjar) where she was helping those affected by Islamic State (ISIS) attacks, according to her lawyer.
She was sentenced to death in June 2024 for charges of “armed rebellion.”
On Wednesday, the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights watchdog reported that an Iranian court had upheld the sentence against Azizi.
Following her death sentence, significant social media activity has emerged in support of Azizi, calling for the sentence to be overturned, with both Iranian society and the international community voicing their concerns.
Iran ranks second globally for known executions, according to Amnesty International.
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