At an October 10 conference marking the World Day Against the Death Penalty, the former UK minister called for international action against Iran’s repression and support for the Iranian people’s right to establish a democratic republic.
Former UK Minister Calls for Action Against Executions and Repression in Iran
David Jones, a former UK minister for Brexit (2016–2017) and Wales (2012–2014), has called on Western governments to intensify pressure on Iran’s regime over executions, political repression, and human rights violations, while respecting the Iranian people’s right to determine their country’s political future.
Speaking at a conference marking the October 10 World Day Against the Death Penalty, Jones argued that international policy toward Iran must look beyond nuclear negotiations, regional conflicts, and diplomacy to address the regime’s domestic repression and external confrontation.
“The Iranian regime maintains its power domestically through repression and internationally through confrontation and belligerence,” he said, describing developments during 2026 as a stark demonstration of this pattern.
Jones pointed to the regime’s violent response to the January uprising, citing arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, forced confessions, and judicial proceedings that fall far short of basic standards of justice. He also warned that executions and death sentences continue to serve as instruments of intimidation, placing political prisoners, protesters, and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) at risk.
He stressed that these violations must not disappear from the international agenda while prisoners of conscience and political opponents face execution or indefinite detention.
Four Priorities for International Action
Jones outlined four measures that governments should pursue to challenge repression and end impunity in Iran.
First, he called for an immediate halt to executions and the unconditional release of political prisoners and detained protesters.
Second, he urged governments to press for genuine, independent international access to Iran’s prisons and detention facilities. Serious crimes committed during the January uprising, he said, must be properly documented and referred to appropriate United Nations mechanisms, including the Security Council where warranted.
Third, Jones advocated using universal jurisdiction and other legal instruments to hold those responsible for crimes against humanity accountable. Those responsible, he emphasized, must understand that the passage of time will not shield them from justice and that they may eventually face personal accountability for their actions.
Fourth, he called for the effective implementation of sanctions rather than announcements alone. This should include freezing assets, identifying and shutting down front companies, and dismantling networks used for repression, espionage, and terrorism.
Jones also urged the UK and other European governments to respond firmly to the activities of Iranian regime operatives. Where diplomatic facilities are used as cover for such operations, he argued, governments should be prepared to take decisive measures, including closing the relevant missions when necessary.
Iran’s Future Must Be Decided by Its People
Turning to Iran’s political future, Jones rejected the idea that Western governments should choose the country’s next leadership. The future government, he said, must emerge from the will of the Iranian people through free and fair elections.
He identified the Ten-Point Plan presented by Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), as an important democratic framework. Its principles include a pluralistic republic, separation of religion and state, gender equality, protection of minorities, an independent judiciary, abolition of the death penalty, and a non-nuclear Iran living at peace with its neighbors.
Jones also highlighted the NCRI’s proposed transitional framework, which envisages a time-limited provisional government, elections for a constituent and legislative assembly, and the transfer of power to elected representatives.
He rejected arguments that Western governments should tolerate dictatorship to prevent instability, describing this approach as fundamentally misguided. He also warned against presenting Iran with a false choice between the current theocratic system and a return to monarchy.
“Iran does not need to exchange a religious dictatorship for a hereditary dictatorship,” Jones said. “What Iran needs is democracy, the rule of law, and an accountable government.”
Concluding his remarks, Jones called for a clear commitment to rejecting both the shah and the mullahs in favor of a democratic republic. He urged the international community to stand alongside the Iranian people and their organized resistance in their struggle for a free, democratic, and peaceful Iran.