Report: Iran executions rose to 1,639 in 2025

April 13, 2026

Summary

Two rights groups said Iran carried out at least 1,639 executions in 2025, its highest reported annual total since 1989.

Why this matters

The report points to a sharp rise in executions in Iran and renewed concerns about the use of capital punishment after protests and during conflict. It also highlights the scale of state punishment, including against women, minority groups, and people accused in protest-related cases.

Iranian authorities executed at least 1,639 people in 2025, the highest annual total reported since 1989, two nongovernmental groups said Monday.

The total was up 68% from 975 executions in 2024, according to a joint annual report by Norway-based Iran Human Rights and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty. The groups said the figure, based on cases confirmed by at least two sources, was an “absolute minimum” because most executions were not reported in Iranian state media.

The report said the total amounted to more than four executions a day and was the highest since Iran Human Rights began tracking executions in 2008.

It warned that if the Islamic Republic “survives the current crisis, there is a serious risk that executions will be used even more extensively as a tool of oppression and repression.”

The groups also said “hundreds of detained protesters remain at risk of death sentences and execution” after being charged with capital offenses tied to January 2026 protests. Those demonstrations were suppressed in a crackdown that rights groups said left thousands dead and tens of thousands arrested.

Iran executed seven people in connection with the January protests during the war with Israel and the United States that began Feb. 28: six convicted of membership in the banned opposition group People’s Mujahedin of Iran, and one dual Iranian-Swedish citizen charged with spying for Israel.

Nearly half of those executed were convicted of drug-related offenses. At least 48 women were executed, up 55% from 31 in 2024 and the highest number recorded in more than 20 years. Of those, 21 were executed for killing husbands or fiancés, and rights groups said such cases often involved abusive relationships.

The report said public hangings rose to 11 in 2025, more than triple the previous year. It said nearly all known executions in recent years were carried out by hanging.

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Report: Iran executions rose to 1,639 in 2025

Two rights groups said Iran carried out at least 1,639 executions in 2025, its highest reported annual total since 1989.

Full story +

Iranian authorities executed at least 1,639 people in 2025, the highest annual total reported since 1989, two nongovernmental groups said Monday.

The total was up 68% from 975 executions in 2024, according to a joint annual report by Norway-based Iran Human Rights and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty. The groups said the figure, based on cases confirmed by at least two sources, was an “absolute minimum” because most executions were not reported in Iranian state media.

The report said the total amounted to more than four executions a day and was the highest since Iran Human Rights began tracking executions in 2008.

It warned that if the Islamic Republic “survives the current crisis, there is a serious risk that executions will be used even more extensively as a tool of oppression and repression.”

The groups also said “hundreds of detained protesters remain at risk of death sentences and execution” after being charged with capital offenses tied to January 2026 protests. Those demonstrations were suppressed in a crackdown that rights groups said left thousands dead and tens of thousands arrested.

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