Iran Executed 1,639 People in 2025 Amid Rising Domestic and Regional Tensions

Iran executed at least 1,639 (people) — executions recorded in Iran in 2025, highest since 1989 people in 2025, the highest figure recorded in the country since 1989, according to a joint annual report released Monday by Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Paris-based Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM). The figure represents a 68% increase compared to 2024, when 975 people were executed, and translates to an average of more than four executions per day. IHR founder and director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam presented the findings at a press conference in Paris, stressing that the estimate represents an "absolute minimum" because most executions go unreported by official Iranian media. The two organizations warn that if the Islamic Republic "survives the current crisis, there is a serious risk that executions will be used even more extensively as a tool of oppression and repression." The report covers the highest number of recorded executions since IHR began tracking them in 2008.

Iran has long ranked as the world's second most prolific executioner after China, where the exact number of executions remains a state secret. The current surge follows a pattern that began after the nationwide "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests in 2022, which the report says marked the start of a sustained upward trend in executions. Human rights organizations including Amnesty International have argued that Iran holds the highest number of executions per capita globally. The Islamic Republic's use of Revolutionary Courts — which human rights groups describe as conducting grossly unfair trials without due process — has been a persistent concern for international observers.

Drug-related offenses: 795, Murder: 747, Security-related charges: 57, Rape: 37

Drug convictions and murder cases drive the surge Of the 1,639 people executed, executed for drug-related offenses in 2025, a 58% rise">795 were convicted of drug-related offenses, a 58% increase compared to 2024, while 747 were executed for murder, a 79% increase. At least 57 people were convicted of security-related charges, including two protesters, and 37 were convicted of rape. The report notes that just over half of all executions were based on sentences handed down by Revolutionary Courts after what the NGOs describe as "grossly unfair trials and without due process." Six people convicted of membership in the exiled opposition group Mujahideen-e Khalq were also executed, along with one person convicted of spying for Israel. The number of public executions more than tripled, reaching 11 in 2025, even as the vast majority of hangings took place inside prisons.

Iran executions: 2024 vs 2025: Total executions (before: 975 (2024), after: 1,639 (2025)); Drug-related executions (before: 503 (2024, implied by 58% rise), after: 795 (2025)); Murder executions (before: 417 (2024, implied by 79% rise), after: 747 (2025)); Women executed (before: 31 (2024), after: 48 (2025))

Women and ethnic minorities disproportionately among the executed At least 48 women were executed in 2025, the highest number recorded in more than 20 years and a 55% increase compared to the 31 women executed in 2024. Of those 48 women, 21 were executed for the killing of a husband or fiancé. Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan, executive director of ECPM, stated that ethnic minorities and other marginalized groups were disproportionately represented among those executed. The Kurdish minority in western Iran and the Baluchi minority in the southeast — most of whom practice Sunni Islam rather than the Shia branch dominant in Iran — were identified as particularly targeted groups. „The death penalty is used in Iran as a political instrument of oppression and repression, and ethnic minorities as well as marginalized groups are disproportionately represented among those executed” — Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan via AFP The Iranian penal code permits other methods of capital punishment, but in recent years all known executions have been carried out by hanging, according to the report.

Protesters from January 2026 face death penalty amid ongoing war The two organizations issued an urgent warning about the fate of demonstrators detained during the January 2026 anti-government protests, which were suppressed with human rights groups reporting thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of arrests. Since the start of the Israeli-American military conflict on February 28, 2026, seven people have been executed in connection with those protests. Twenty-seven people have been sentenced to death over the January protests, while hundreds more face charges carrying the death penalty. An ongoing internet blockade inside Iran, described as lasting for weeks, has prevented outside observers from fully monitoring the situation. Amiry-Moghaddam deplored the absence of "mention of the Iranian people's rights" at negotiations held in Islamabad over the weekend and demanded that a moratorium on executions and the release of political prisoners become the "number one requirement" of any future discussions. „By creating fear with an average of four or five daily executions in 2025, the authorities tried to prevent new protests to prolong their staggering rule” — Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam via IHR press conference Chenuil-Hazan called on Western governments to place the abolition of the death penalty "at the heart" of any negotiations with Tehran on ending the conflict, demanding that parties "be firm, put the death penalty in all agreements."