IRAN - Ali Younesi (R) and Amirhossein Moradi (L)

IRAN - Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi Reject the Regime’s “Pardon”

May 12, 2026:

May 12, 2026 - IRAN. Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi Reject the Regime’s “Pardon” in Protest Against Executions

On 12 May 2026, two elite students of Sharif University of Technology, political prisoners Amirhossein Moradi and Ali Younesi, both charged with affiliation to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), delivered letters. Their words are not pleas for mercy; they are verdicts pronounced upon the executioners themselves.

Freedom Is a Stolen Right; We Fight to Reclaim It

Younesi and Moradi have declared from prison that they do not accept the “pardon” offered by the ruling regime in Iran. Their position came in response to notifications and reports suggesting that they had been included in the regime’s “22 Bahman pardon.”*

Why did these two political prisoners reject the “pardon”?
Their answer was clear: freedom is a right, not a governmental favor.

Ali Younesi, writing from Ghezel Hesar Prison:
“I have never requested a pardon, nor will I ever do so… I have role models: six proud cellmates who were sent to the gallows. They did not bargain for their lives. Shame on me if I bargain for my freedom.”
“Freedom is a right that has been stolen. We do not beg for stolen rights; we fight to reclaim them.”
“Is it we who should forgive, or you?!!!”

Amirhossein Moradi, writing from Evin Prison:
“I did not ask for your disgraceful pardon, and I do not want it. We are in the position to forgive you; but know this with certainty: we neither forgive nor forget.”
“The regime seeks to divert public attention from the executions of political prisoners through displays of pardons.”
“Until the people of Iran are free, I will not even think about my own release from prison.”

Who is Ali Younesi?
Computer engineering student at Sharif University of Technology.
Silver medalist in Iran’s National Astronomy Olympiad in 2016.
Gold medalist in the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics in China in 2017.

Who is Amirhossein Moradi?
Physics student at Sharif University of Technology.
Silver medalist in Iran’s National Astronomy Olympiad in 2017.

When were they arrested?
April 10, 2020.
Arrested by security forces without judicial warrants.
Security raids on their homes.
Transferred to solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin Prison.
Months of interrogations and security pressure.

What sentences were they given?
July 26, 2022: sentenced to 16 years in prison after 808 days of detention and confinement in security wards.
July 20, 2025: new trial on charges of “propaganda against the regime.”
Hearing was held in Branch 29 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court under Judge Seyed Ali Mazloum.
Amirhossein Moradi appeared in court in handcuffs and shackles.
Ali Younesi’s hearing was held in absentia.
Sentences reduced to 10 years

Where is Ali Younesi now?
Transferred from Ward 4 of Evin Prison to Ward 209 controlled by the Ministry of Intelligence.
Later transferred to Qezel Hesar Prison.
Family members and lawyers protested his exclusion from court proceedings and restrictions on communication.

These two political prisoners rejected the regime’s “pardon” while executions and pressure against political prisoners in Iran continue to intensify.

For more on the Younesi-Moradi case, see also HoC 05/06/2020; 05/07/2020; 06/30/2020; 04/17/2021; 07/03/2021; 01/18/2022; 02/10/2022; 04/25/2022; 06/06/2022; 03/10/2025.

* 22 Bahman is a key date in the Iranian political calendar: it marks the victory of the Islamic Revolution, which took place on 11 February 1979. In the Persian calendar, 22 Bahman corresponds to 11 February. It is one of the most important dates of the year for the Islamic Republic.

https://iran-hrm.com/2026/05/15/two-political-prisoners-reject-pardon-in-protest-against-executions/
https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/iran-resistance/the-verdict-of-the-unbroken-moradi-and-younesi-spurn-the-hangmans-sham-amnesty/