Iran: deal or no deal?

"Today, I’m very concerned about the possibility of amputation of fingers that may be implemented to three men who have been convicted of theft,” said Mai Sato.

"Corporal punishment, including amputation, is absolutely prohibited under international law. And if executed, will amount to torture or ill-treatment," she said.

Earlier, rights group Amnesty International said the three men — Hadi Rostami, Mehdi Sharfian, and Mehdi Shahivand — held in Urumieh Central Prison in northwestern Iran, were informed by prosecution authorities last month that their sentences would be implemented as early as 11 April.

Amnesty said the same prison carried out amputations on two brothers last October using a guillotine device, raising alarm that authorities are prepared to enforce further amputation sentences.

Despite violating Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a party, Amnesty said the court had sentenced the three men to “have four fingers on their right hands completely cut off so only the palm of their hands and thumbs are left”.

Sato urged the Iranian authorities to halt the amputation sentence on the men.

Amnesty said the three men have consistently maintained their innocence and said that their confessions were forced under torture, including beatings, flogging and suspension by their limbs.

At least 223 amputations have been carried out by Iranian authorities out of 384 known sentences since 1979, according to the US-based rights group the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center.

The lawyers said autopsy results revealed that several organs, including his tongue, larynx, thyroid, and heart had been removed before his body was transferred to Germany, hindering a full investigation into the cause of his death.

The possibility that Sharmahd may have been poisoned cannot be dismissed, according to lawyer Patrick Kroker.

His body was in poor condition Kroker said, adding that the corpse had only two teeth remaining.

Sharmahd was abducted by Iranian agents during a visit to the United Arab Emirates in 2020 and forcibly taken to Iran. According to Sharmahd family's lawyers, he was taken to Iran via Oman.

In February 2023, the Iranian judiciary sentenced him to death on charges of endangering national security.

He was convicted of heading a pro-monarchist group called Tondar accused of a deadly 2008 bombing at a religious center in Shiraz, killing 14 and injuring 215 more. The accusation, which Sharmahd repeatedly denied, was never substantiated by any public evidence.

'Mutilation'

At the memorial ceremony on Friday co-organized by the Berlin-based rights group Hawar Help, Sharmahd's daughter, Ghazaleh, told Iran International that the removal of his organs served two purposes: to traumatize the family and conceal evidence of his fate.

"They took out his tongue, the one with which he spoke about what they didn't want him to and they removed his heart, the one that beat for Iran," Ghazaleh said.

She added that in death by hanging, examiners might look for external evidence such as marks from a tight noose. However, after a few months these marks fade and internal organs must be investigated.

“The organs they removed are the very things that could show he was executed,” she said.

On October 28 last year, Iran's judiciary website Mizan announced that Sharmahd was executed. However, a week later on Nov 5, the judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said that Sharmahd died of a stroke before his scheduled execution.

The conflicting accounts of the Iranian authorities at the time raised questions about the truth behind his death.

Nearly four months after his demise was announced by Iranian authorities, German authorities informed Ghazaleh that her father’s body would be transferred to Berlin.

"We had to try really hard to bring him here, and German authorities didn’t want to help," Ghazaleh told Iran International.

Activist Mina Khani said that rights group Hawar Help, led by founder Düzen Tekkal and co-initiator of the group’s German political sponsorship program for Iranians detained in Iran, Mariam Claren, were deeply involved in pushing the German government to pressure Iran to repatriate Sharmahd's body.

“The most shocking part was the Islamic Republic’s mutilation of Jamshid Sharmahd's body, where parts of his body including his tongue, larynx, thyroid, and heart were removed before being sent,” Khani added.

In a statement following the ceremony, Julia Duchrow, Secretary General of Amnesty International said: "The shocking finding of the autopsy is that the cause of Jamshid Sharmahd's death cannot be determined due to the condition of the body."

Duchrow called on the German Federal Prosecutor's Office to immediately launch criminal investigations against Iranian officials suspected of being responsible for Sharmahd's death.

Media outlets in Tehran, including those close to his office, have been highlighting that without Khamenei’s support there would be no talks with the Trump administration. However, Friday prayer imams who work under his control, slammed negotiations in their sermons, saying that it is beneath Iran to enter diplomatic bargaining with Washington.

“Negotiating with America is against our national pride,” said Ahmad Alamolhoda, the firebrand imam of Mashhad, during his sermon on Friday, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency. “No Iranian with self-respect would accept to approach the US empty-handed.”

He added that US demands—ranging from dismantling Iran’s missile program to limiting its regional influence—amounted to surrender. “They want us to give up everything: our weapons, our science, even our pride. No honorable Iranian would accept that.”

Calling on Iran’s negotiators to resist pressure, Alamolhoda warned: “Direct talks are worse than indirect ones. We’ve been here before—and it always ends badly.”

Khamenei banned negotiations with Washington one day after President Donald Trump renewed his maximum pressure on Tehran in early February. However, the mood gradually changed, as Trump repeatedly issued military threats and a large US naval force gathered in the region.

President Masoud Pezeshkian confirmed on Wednesday that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will conduct upcoming talks with US representatives in Oman under Khamenei's guidance.

The conservative daily Khorasan, which is closely affiliated with parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, echoed this stance. The paper noted that despite previously opposing direct engagement, Khamenei has now approved the indirect negotiations and is expected to closely oversee their progress.

However, Khamenei has allowed prominent Friday Imams, who wield power in their cities and provinces, to speak out against the negotiations. The Supreme Leader adopted a similar stance during the Obama administration when the JCPOA nuclear deal was being negotiated. He reluctantly admitted that he allowed the talks but often voiced doubt if the outcome would be beneficial.

“Direct talks are beneath us,” said Tehran’s interim Friday prayer Imam Kazem Sedighi during his weekly sermon, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency. “How can we trust those who tore up the [JCPOA] deal?”

Sedighi said any engagement with Washington must be approached with caution, citing Khamenei’s guidance that negotiations should only take place when there is certainty the other side will honor its commitments.

“There is no room left for negotiation where they try to take the nuclear industry from us,” he said.

Other Friday imams argued that lifting sanctions is not a good enough reason for negotiating with Trump. They reverted to Khamenei’s calls of strengthening the Islamic Republic from within – an ideology that has failed to create a stable economy. Iran’s currency has tumbled 22-fold since 2018 and incomes have nosedived, pushing close to half the population into poverty. Workers' salaries are now barely above $100 per month.

An Iranian hardline lawmaker also said on Friday that the upcoming talks must center on proving Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons, warning that any effort to dismantle the country’s nuclear program would make talks unacceptable.

“In the talks with the US, we must prove that Iran is not pursuing the construction of a nuclear weapon,” Mousa Ghazanfariabadi said, according to the Mehr news agency.

“But if the other side tries to shut down Iran’s nuclear program or raise unrelated issues, the negotiation is invalid and unacceptable,” he added.

The mere presence of both teams in the same place—even if not in the same room—has sparked fresh hopes among a public weary of years of inconclusive diplomacy. Many Iranians have grown frustrated with what has often felt like a “negotiations for negotiations” cycle, with little to show in terms of real progress.

This time, however, the mood feels different. With Donald Trump pushing for concrete results and Iranian officials hinting that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei may finally be open to genuine engagement, optimism is spreading across Iranian cities. Many are hoping not only for economic relief but also for a de-escalation of tensions and an end to the ever-present threat of war.

The economic daily Tejarat asserted on Thursday that “Iran and America will come to the negotiating table with genuine intent—and perhaps even political honesty.” The paper noted that public optimism is high about the possibility of an agreement between Tehran and Washington. According to Tejarat, Trump is seeking a swift deal to halt Iran’s nuclear advances, while Iran is acutely aware that time is limited—particularly with the trigger mechanism of the 2015 nuclear agreement likely to be activated by October 18.

Over the past week, many Iranians appear to have moved past the debate over direct versus indirect negotiations, the paper said. Even Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi now seems to agree that the substance of the talks matters more than their format. At this stage, confidence-building appears to be the top priority for both sides.

Still, Tejarat cautioned that “despite Trump’s efforts to restrain Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the shadow—and possibly the quiet influence—of Israel on the Oman negotiations cannot be ignored.”

In a hopeful assessment, Iranian academic Alireza Soltani, an international relations and foreign policy analyst, told Khabar Online that “the very fact that the talks are set to begin is already the first achievement in Iran-US diplomacy.” Soltani expressed optimism about the potential success of the negotiations in Oman.

He suggested that the two sides are likely to reach a quick agreement on at least two initial points: continuing the negotiations and moving toward direct talks. From there, progress could follow on Iran’s nuclear program and, more broadly, on reducing tensions in the region.

Meanwhile, in interviews with the Fararu website, foreign policy analysts Abdolreza Faraji Rad and Ali Ghanbari noted that the talks are unlikely to produce results quickly, estimating that it could take at least six months to reach any agreement. Ghanbari also cautioned that the Iranian market’s positive response to news of the talks may be short-lived. “However,” he added, “if the negotiations proceed smoothly, we could see an economic breakthrough.”

Meanwhile, in an interview with the pro-reform daily Arman Melli, reformist figure and former Tehran City Councillor Zahra Nejad Bahram stressed that “Iranian society seeks peace.” She suggested that, to counter hardline opposition to the talks, the government should allow a public rally in support of negotiations—demonstrating the popular backing such efforts enjoy.

“Hardliners who entered parliament with the support of only three percent of eligible voters lack legitimacy,” she said. Still, Nejad Bahram emphasized that Iran will proceed with the talks based on national interests. “While there’s no guarantee of success, opposing negotiations amounts to betrayal of the country,” she added.

As preparations for the talks continue, hardline media close to the core of power appear eager to shift responsibility to the Pezeshkian administration—seemingly to shield Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei from blame should the negotiations fail. In contrast, pro-Pezeshkian outlets such as Etemad argue at length that the president is simply carrying out the Supreme Leader’s directives, with little independent authority of his own.

This gap in messaging reflects the deeper political struggle over who owns the process—and who will answer for its outcome.

"Three men in Iran face imminent finger amputations that may be carried out as early as tomorrow (11 April 2025). The prohibition of torture and ill-treatment is absolute and allows no exceptions," Mai Sato, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, said in a post on X.

UN experts, which include Sato, expressed deep concern over the planned amputations, saying it violates international law and called for the immediate halt of such punishments.

In their statement, the UN experts said the three men were convicted of theft in 2019 and sentenced to amputation, with the Supreme Court upholding the verdict in 2020 despite allegations of torture.

Iran executes five political prisoners

The planned amputations come just days after Iran executed five political prisoners on Tuesday in Mashhad Central Prison, in northeastern Iran.

The five prisoners, identified as Farhad Shakeri, Abdolhakim Azim Gorgij, Abdolrahman Gorgij, Taj Mohammad Khormali, and Malek Ali Fadayi Nasab, were convicted of “armed rebellion” for their affiliation with banned political groups, according to Norway-based rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR).

In a statement on Wednesday, IHR said the five men were executed without the opportunity for a final visit with their families. Their executions came after years of detention, including long periods in solitary confinement and allegations of torture during their trials.

“These prisoners were subjected to torture and sentenced to death following an unfair trial in the Revolutionary Court,” said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, Director of Iran Human Rights (IHR). "The international community and the people of Iran must respond seriously to these executions."

The executions of the five men came on the same day as Amnesty International warned that the vast majority of the executions in Iran last year were linked to political repression.

The rights group reported that Iran accounted for 64% of all known global executions in 2024, with at least 972 people executed, in what Amnesty said is the government's ongoing campaign of mass suppression of dissent.