Iran’s regime tries to shut the voice of dissidents through brutal executions. But in the case of Ali Akbar “Shahrokh” Daneshvarkar, the regime utterly failed. In late 2025, after his death sentence was confirmed, Shahrokh sent a lengthy message, tracing his political evolution over decades.
On March 30, 2026, Iranian authorities executed Daneshvarkar alongside Mohammad Taghavi, both members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). According to reports surrounding the case, the executions followed months of detention, interrogations, and legal proceedings.
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Daneshvarkar’s final message, written after his death sentence was reaffirmed in November 2025, presents itself as both a memoir and a political statement. In the letter, he recounts his childhood, his early support for the Islamic Republic after the 1979 revolution, his gradual disillusionment with the political system, and ultimately his decision to support the PMOI.
“I am Shahrokh Daneshvar,” the letter begins. “Born on September 4, 1966, in Tehran. I studied civil engineering at Khajeh Nasir University, and right now, I am under a death sentence.”
Throughout the text, Daneshvarkar frames his life as a search for justice and opposition to oppression. He recalls his parents as people who taught him “to be sensitive to oppression and to seek to help others.” He also describes periods spent in rural areas, including villages in Bashagard and near Konarak in Sistan and Baluchestan province.
His account moves between personal memories and political turning points. As a young man, he says, he participated in activities associated with the Iranian regime during and after the revolution. He attended mosques and Islamic seminary classes, worked with literacy campaigns, and joined activities connected to the Iran-Iraq war.
Yet he describes a growing sense of conflict as he witnessed violence and repression.
“That truth-seeking and anti-oppression drive inside me did not allow me to indifferently walk past the slaughter of prisoners,” he wrote.
Daneshvarkar says this period led him to question the principle of Velayat-e Faqih, the doctrine of clerical rule that forms the ideological foundation of the Islamic Republic.
“What does Velayat-e Faqih mean?” he asked in the letter. “It means I am a sheep and the Supreme Leader must be my shepherd.”
The letter also provides insight into the frustrations experienced by some Iranians who once supported reformist politics within the existing political framework. Daneshvarkar describes the election of former president Mohammad Khatami in 1997 as a moment when he believed gradual reform might be possible.
“It seemed like a beautiful idea—that with step-by-step reforms, the regime could be reformed,” he wrote.
According to his account, that belief eventually collapsed after years of disappointment. He describes reform efforts as a “dead end” and says he ultimately concluded that the political system itself could not be changed from within.
Daneshvarkar’s reflections repeatedly return to moments of national unrest, particularly the nationwide protests of December 2017 and November 2019, where security forces killed at least 1,500 civilians.
He contrasts those events with the positions of opposition figures outside the regime. In his message, he criticizes Reza Pahlavi for advocating “non-violent struggle” after the 2019 crackdown, arguing that such an approach did not correspond to the level of force used by state authorities.
Daneshvarkar writes that by that stage he believed there were few opposition groups openly advocating the overthrow of the government. He says this realization led him toward the PMOI, despite what he describes as years of hearing negative portrayals of the organization.
“I had heard so many bad things about the Mojahedin that I was terrified to even get close to them,” he wrote.
The letter lists several questions he initially had about the PMOI, including its years in Iraq, its ideological positions, and its internal structure. According to his account, his perception changed after examining speeches and political positions associated with the organization and its leaders, Massoud Rajavi and Maryam Rajavi.
Daneshvarkar repeatedly references Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan, describing it as a political platform that addressed concerns about freedom and governance. He also highlights statements by Mrs. Rajavi emphasizing commitment to “the freedom of the Iranian people.”
One of the recurring themes in the text is Daneshvarkar’s distinction between political movements centered on power and those he viewed as centered on freedom.
“Khatami, with his ‘national dialogue,’ is still seeking a share of power with Khamenei,” he wrote. “Reza Pahlavi issued an ‘emergency booklet’ in which he made all appointments and dismissals subject to his own royal opinion.”
By contrast, he described the PMOI as focused on “the freedom of the people.”
The final sections of the letter take on a more personal and reflective tone. Daneshvarkar describes his political journey as “the path of evolution” and writes that each stage of his life pushed him further toward confrontation with what he saw as oppression.
“Every day that passes, I become prouder, more steadfast, and more resolute in the path I have taken,” he wrote.
He closes with a declaration that echoes slogans historically used by opponents of both the monarchy and the mullahs’ rule.
“Death to the oppressor, be it the Shah or the Supreme Leader,” he wrote.
In the final lines of the statement, Daneshvarkar says he would once again “give my life for the freedom” of the Iranian people and vowed to “stand until the end.”
