Report Highlights Surge in Iran’s Executions
A recent report from two European NGOs has projected that Iran will execute around 1,639 individuals in 2025—a staggering 68% increase from the previous year. This represents the highest number of executions recorded since 1989.
This edition of the Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran comes from the Iranian Human Rights Group (IHR) and the Group Against the Death Penalty (EPCM), based in Norway and France respectively, and has been published annually since 2012.
While both organizations typically oppose capital punishment, they emphasize that Iran’s practices are particularly alarming. The Islamic regime often ranks at or near the top globally for executions per capita and maintains notably lower standards for capital punishment compared to other nations.
Human rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh remarked in her contribution to the report that Iran’s “worst form of execution” involves political killings, frequently executed under the influence of aggressive interest groups. She pointed out, “This is precisely why death sentences should not be handed down under the influence of public opinion.”
Sotoudeh speculated that if the already weakened Iranian regime were to collapse, successor groups might resort to mass executions to solidify their power, which could perpetuate this brutal practice.
It’s worth noting that the current regime is not likely to be passive in the execution arena, meaning any potential successor might need to resort to considerable violence to keep pace.
The data in the report was gathered with the assistance of IHR members in Iran, who managed to leak information despite risks from regime surveillance and power outages. Although Tehran officially authorizes numerous public executions, the actual figures are likely far higher than reported.
The IHR and EPCM revealed that Iran accounted for just 113 official executions last year, a mere 7% of the total killings identified by their researchers.
Nearly half of the death sentences were linked to drug offenses. The rest primarily included “Kissas” executions, a term in Islamic law referring to retaliatory killings that individuals may request from families of murder victims.
Human rights advocates note that Kissas executions can be especially vicious, often matching the brutality of the initial crime, and occasionally, death row inmates might escape their fate by paying compensation.
The year 2025 is projected to set a record for the number of women executed in Iran, with researchers counting 48 female executions—a 55% increase compared to 2024.
Though relatively few executions in 2025 are attributed to “armed rebellion” or “crimes against God,” the landscape could shift dramatically in future reports, particularly after the recent “Women, Life and Freedom” protests and subsequent uprisings. The IHR and EPCM cautioned that the 2025 findings come at a time when the Iranian populace has endured the largest mass killings of protesters in the regime’s history.
Almost half of the planned executions in 2025 are expected to come from Iran’s so-called “revolutionary courts,” which have a reputation for conducting unfair trials with little regard for legal protocols.
These courts issued numerous death sentences for drug-related offenses last year, prompting the IHR and EPCM to recommend that the United Nations investigate these as potential crimes against humanity. Even first-time drug offenders are often sentenced to death, and anyone found in possession of drugs could face severe penalties without substantial evidence of wrongdoing.
Another organization against capital punishment, Harm Reduction International (HRI), reported that executions for drug offenses reached an unprecedented high in 2025, largely due to practices in Iran and Saudi Arabia. Their findings highlighted that drug-related executions represented over 46% of all global executions last year.
The Iranian report anticipates a continued rise in executions in 2025, despite a transition to a new president, Massoud Pezeshkian, who is characterized as more moderate. Interestingly, following his appointment, execution rates surged beyond those witnessed under his three immediate predecessors.
In conclusion, the report urged Iranian authorities to abolish the death penalty, establish a uniform age of majority for boys and girls at 18, address the practices of qisas and diyat, and enhance engagement with the United Nations and other international oversight bodies.
