A shocking human rights report released on Monday revealed a massive surge in the implementation of execution sentences in Iran, with authorities executing at least 1,639 individuals during 2025. This figure represents the highest toll since 1989, marking a staggering increase of 68% compared to 2024, which recorded 975 cases.
The joint annual report issued by the Iran Human Rights Organization and Together Against the Death Penalty stated that among those executed were 48 women who were put to death by hanging.
The two organizations warned that the Iranian regime is entrenching the use of executions as a primary tool of repression to confront ongoing crises, particularly amid the state of unrest that followed the January 2026 protests and the military tensions with the United States and Israel.
The Iran Human Rights Organization noted that these figures represent a “conservative estimate,” averaging four executions per day, pointing out that many cases are not officially disclosed. This total is the largest since records began in 2008 and the highest since the 1980s era.
The report concluded with a warning of an imminent threat facing hundreds of protesters arrested since last January, who may face similar sentences on charges of “enmity against the authority,” as Tehran seeks to tighten its security grip following a crackdown that resulted in thousands of deaths and arrests.
These statistics place the international community before an urgent responsibility to confront what the organizations described as a “systematic killing machine” in Iran.
