In a statement released today ahead of the World Day Against the Death Penalty, Human Rights Activists (HRA) and The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran (ABC) condemn the alarming surge in executions in Iran, which have reached their highest level in the last decade—at least 811 reported executions in the past year alone as reported by the organizations.

Thirty-three years ago, in August, France was gripped for days by the news of the French police's (unsuccessful) pursuit of two Iranian assassins. The men had successfully achieved their mission to kill Iranian Pro-democracy leader Chapour Bakhtiar, sentenced to death by Iran’s Supreme Leader. Bakhtiar was killed in his home in Suresne, a suburb of Paris, where he was protected by a specially trained unit of France’s security forces (CRS) day and night.

Today, June 28, some Iranians went to the polls to choose one of the candidates the Islamic Republic’s leadership has selected to replace Ebrahim Raisi. Experts have been speculating on who is going to be elected or what the implications will be on Iran’s foreign policy. These are the wrong questions to ask. Anyone pledging loyalty to the constitution, a “reformist,” a “moderate,” “a conservative, or a “hardliner” is ultimately a hardliner by democratic standards. This is why many Iranians have lost hope in bringing about change through the ballot boxes and are boycotting elections. The question to ask, regardless of how difficult the response may be, is who wants to bring about democratic changes in Iran and how can we help them succeed? There is no easy path forward, but acknowledging the structural obstacles to change and searching for new ways forward is an essential first step.