Iran's use of the death penalty reached a shocking and unprecedented peak last year, with at least 1,500 individuals executed, according to a leading human rights monitor. This figure represents the highest annual total recorded in the last 35 years, signaling a dramatic and alarming escalation in state-sanctioned killings.
A Staggering and Unprecedented Toll
The Norway-based organization Iran Human Rights (IHR) provided the provisional toll for 2025, calling the spike "very alarming." Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of IHR, stated that the group had never documented such high numbers since its inception. The data shows a clear and steep upward trajectory in executions following the nationwide protests that erupted in September 2022. Those demonstrations were triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian-Kurdish woman detained for allegedly violating the country's strict dress code.
The numbers tell a grim story: executions rose from over 500 in 2022 to more than 800 in 2023. The following year, 2024, saw at least 975 people put to death, as per a joint report by IHR and the French group Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM). The verified toll for 2025 has now skyrocketed to at least 1,500. A significant portion of these executions—more than 700—were carried out for drug-related offences, highlighting a severe crackdown under narcotics laws.
Executions as a Tool of Political Fear
Amiry-Moghaddam was unequivocal in his analysis of the regime's motives. He asserted that Iranian authorities use the death penalty as an instrument to create fear among the populace. The primary aim, he suggested, has been to intimidate citizens and prevent new waves of protest following the 2022 uprising. "The aim of these executions has been to prevent new protests," he said. "But as you see, these days, they haven't succeeded."
This statement comes amid a fresh, though smaller, wave of demonstrations in Iran. These new protests are primarily driven by widespread dissatisfaction with the country's severe economic stagnation. Just days before the release of the execution figures, protesters and security forces clashed in southwestern Iran. In the city of Lordegan, demonstrators threw stones and police responded with tear gas to disperse the crowds, as reported by the semi-official Fars news agency.
Context and International Concern
While the recent protests have not reached the massive scale of the 2022 movement, the state's response through executions appears to be a continuous and brutal strategy of suppression. The international community and human rights advocates have consistently condemned Iran's application of the death penalty, particularly for non-violent crimes and after trials that often fail to meet international standards of fairness.
The staggering figure of 1,500 executions in a single year places Iran at the top of global rankings for state killings per capita. It underscores a deepening human rights crisis within the country and presents a direct challenge to global norms. The data from IHR serves as a crucial, if horrifying, record of a policy designed to quell dissent through the ultimate punishment, raising urgent questions about the international response to such systematic state violence.
