Iran executed over 1,600 people in 2025: Report
What's the story
Iran executed at least 1,639 people in 2025, the highest number since 1989, according to a joint report by two non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The report was released on Monday by Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM). The figure is a staggering increase of 68% from the previous year, when Iran executed 975 people.
Political repression
'Absolute minimum' for hangings in 2025
The report noted that the number of executions was the highest since IHR started tracking in 2008. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of IHR, stated these figures are the "absolute minimum" for hangings in 2025, as fewer than 7% of executions are officially announced, requiring two independent sources for confirmation. The report cautioned that if the Islamic Republic endures its current crisis, executions may be used even more widely as a means of oppression.
Targeted groups
Ethnic minorities and marginalized groups disproportionately affected
The report highlighted that ethnic minorities and marginalized groups are disproportionately affected by the death penalty in Iran. The Kurdish minority in the west and the Baloch in the southeast, who mostly follow Sunni Islam, are particularly targeted. Almost half of those executed were convicted of drug-related offenses. The report also noted a significant increase in the number of women executed, with at least 48 women hanged in 2025, the highest number recorded in over two decades.
Rising numbers
Rise in public hangings
Of the 48 women executed, 21 were convicted of murdering their husbands or fiancés. Rights groups have said these women were often in abusive relationships. The report also noted a rise in public hangings, which more than tripled to 11 in 2025. Despite Iran's penal code allowing other methods of capital punishment, all known executions have been carried out by hanging in recent years, the report states.