The United Nations and international human rights organizations have sounded the alarm over a staggering surge in executions in Iran in 2025, describing the current wave as an unprecedented assault on the right to life and a grave breach of international law. In a joint statement released on September 29, 2025, five UN special rapporteurs declared, "The sheer scale of executions in Iran is staggering and represents a grave violation of the right to life." According to these experts, more than 1,000 people have been executed in Iran during the first nine months of the year—an average of nine hangings per day in recent weeks, a pace that has shocked even seasoned observers.
This dramatic escalation has drawn condemnation from international watchdogs and activists alike. Amnesty International and the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights have documented more than 1,000 executions in Iran since January 2025, already surpassing the previous year’s reported total of 975. The UN Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council echoed these findings, warning that "Iran appears to be conducting executions at an industrial scale that defies all accepted standards of human rights protection."
What’s behind this chilling trend? According to Iran Human Rights, half of the known executions in 2025 were for drug-related offenses, while 43% were for murder, 3% for security-related charges such as "armed rebellion against the state," "corruption on Earth," and "enmity against God," and 1% for espionage. The UN experts were particularly alarmed by the 499 hangings for drug-related crimes, noting that international law restricts capital punishment to the "most serious crimes"—a threshold that drug offenses do not meet. "Drug offences do not meet this threshold," the experts warned, pointing to Iran’s obligations as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Despite a 2017 amendment to Iran’s Anti-Narcotics Law—which abolished the death penalty for lower-level drug offenses and introduced mechanisms to commute many death sentences to life imprisonment—executions for drug-related offenses have steadily risen since 2020. The numbers have surged dramatically, with 503 drug-related executions reported in 2024 alone, accounting for more than half of all executions that year. The trend has only intensified in 2025, with more than 500 people convicted of drug offenses currently on death row at Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj, their sentences at the "implementation stage," according to Iran Human Rights.
Minority groups have borne a disproportionate share of this brutality. The Baluch ethnic minority, for example, makes up just 2-6% of Iran’s population but accounted for at least 17% of drug-related executions in 2024. Among those executed in 2025 were 28 women and 58 Afghan nationals, with Amnesty International describing a "disproportionate number" hailing from marginalized communities. "Drug-related executions in Iran disproportionately target minorities from marginalized and underdeveloped regions," the UN experts emphasized.
Beyond the numbers, the process itself has come under fierce scrutiny. Both Amnesty International and Iran Human Rights have reported that these executions often follow unfair trials marred by allegations of torture and other ill-treatment. Many defendants are denied basic legal protections, and their confessions are frequently obtained under duress. The UN rapporteurs underscored, "Executions followed routinely unfair trials that were marred by allegations of torture and other ill-treatment."
Meanwhile, the Iranian government has continued to defend its use of the death penalty, insisting that it is reserved for only "the most severe crimes." But international law and human rights advocates beg to differ. The UN experts stressed, "International law restricts capital punishment to only the 'most serious crimes.' Drug offences do not meet this threshold." The international community, they argued, "cannot remain silent in the face of such systemic violations" and must "take concrete diplomatic action to pressure Iran to halt this execution spree."
The crackdown has not been limited to drug or murder cases. On September 29, 2025, Iran executed Bahman Choubi Asl, a database expert accused of spying for Israel. The judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported that Asl worked on "sensitive telecommunications projects" and was a "trusted spy" for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency—though no evidence was provided, and his case had not previously been reported by Iranian media or human rights groups. He became the 11th man convicted of spying for Israel to be executed this year, with 10 of those executions occurring since a brief 12-day war between the two countries in June 2025.
Political prisoners and dissidents have also been targeted. At the "Human Rights in Iran" Conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Maryam Rajavi, a prominent opposition figure, highlighted that since early July 2025, at least 450 people had been executed in less than three months, and 1,850—including 59 women—had been executed in the past 14 months. Rajavi noted that state-controlled Iranian media openly call for repeating past atrocities, such as the 1988 massacre of political prisoners, which the UN has described as both genocide and a crime against humanity.
The clerical regime’s campaign of repression, Rajavi said, focuses especially on members and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), subjecting them to arrests, persecution, and various forms of restrictions. In July, two prisoners—Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani—were executed on charges that included membership in the PMOI. Fourteen more currently face execution on similar charges. Rajavi also drew attention to long-term prisoners like Maryam Akbari Monfared, who has been held for more than 15 years for demanding justice for the victims of the 1988 massacre.
Inside Iran, resistance to the death penalty is growing. A social movement uses the slogan "No to Execution," and for 87 consecutive weeks, prisoners in 52 facilities have staged hunger strikes every Tuesday. In the wake of the execution of political prisoner Mehran Bahramian, residents of Semirom demonstrated and went on strike. The scale of repression is immense: an estimated 1.5 to 2 million people are arrested in Iran every year. Prisoners are often denied basic living and sanitary conditions, and their right to medical care is routinely violated, sometimes with fatal consequences. Women prisoners, especially those in Qarchak Prison in Varamin, face even harsher conditions.
The situation is further complicated by Iran’s ongoing tensions with the international community. The country faces strict scrutiny for alleged breaches of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and other purported human rights violations. On September 23, 2025, Iran’s Supreme Leader brazenly vowed not to abandon 60 percent uranium enrichment, raising concerns about the regime’s intentions and the broader regional security implications.
As the international community debates its next steps, the UN and rights advocates continue to call for robust diplomatic action. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran has urged countries to use universal jurisdiction to issue arrest warrants for those responsible for these atrocities, including Iran’s highest officials. In the words of Maryam Rajavi, "Remaining silent about the violations of human rights in Iran, emboldens Khamenei to continue his warmongering and bomb-making project."
With Iran’s execution machinery running at full tilt and international pressure mounting, the world is left to grapple with the urgent question: Will global outrage finally translate into meaningful action, or will the cycle of repression and death continue unchecked?
