In March 2025, at least 59 people including five women, were executed in Iranian prisons. Three Afghan nationals, seven Baluch and one Kurdish minority were amongst those executed.
Iran Human Rights expresses concern about the potential rise in executions in the coming weeks. It urges Iranian civil society and the international community to focus more on the issue of executions in Iran and to take action to stop this trend.
IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam stated: "The risk of a significant increase in executions in the coming weeks is serious. The Iranian authorities may, as in the past, exploit public attention on tensions between Iran and the United States to carry out more executions, including those of political prisoners. Iranian civil society and the international community must not allow the Islamic Republic’s executions to be overshadowed by political and regional tensions."
March 2025 executions at a glance:
In the first three months of 2025, at least 230, including eight women, were executed. Of those, 113 were for murder charges, 106 for drug-related offences, eight for rape charges and three were convicted of moharebeh (enmity against god) for armed robbery. Only 11 of the 230 executions (less than 5%) were announced by official sources. One man was hanged on a public bridge.
The number of executions in the first quarter of 2025 has seen a significant rise (109% increase) compared to the same period in 2024, when 110 executions were recorded. One of the reasons for the lower number of executions in February and March of last year was the first round of the parliamentary elections on 1 March 2024.
During the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva last week, representatives of multiple countries criticised the high number of executions in Iran. Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, warned that if this trend continues, the number of executions in the country could exceed a horrifying one thousand per year in 2025.
According to Iran Human Rights reports, there is a meaningful correlation between execution fluctuations and political event. Specifically, at times when there is a possibility of nationwide protests or shortly after protests occur, executions increase. In the days leading up to elections, when the government seeks greater public participation, the number of executions clearly decreases.
Additionally, when there is tension or the threat of war with a foreign country, the number of executions rises. More than 70% of the 975 executions confirmed by Iran Human Rights in 2024 were carried out after tensions between Iran and Israel began.
