Iran has executed at least 1,639 people in 2025, a record since 1989, with 48 women included. Authorities in Iran use the death penalty as a tool of repression, especially against minorities and protesters.
The number represents a 68% increase from 2024, as reported by two NGOs on Monday. The Iran Human Rights (IHR) and the French organization Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM) jointly documented these figures.
The report highlights a serious risk of increased executions as a form of oppression and repression if the Islamic Republic survives the current crisis. The IHR considers the estimate of hangings in 2025 as a minimum.
The average of more than four executions per day is a record since IHR began documenting in 2008, and the highest ever reported since 1989. Hundreds of detained protesters still face the death penalty.
Ethnic minorities and marginalized groups are disproportionately affected by Iran’s use of the death penalty, with Kurds in the west and Balochs in the southeast singled out.
Almost half of those executed in 2025 were convicted of drug-related offenses. The report notes a significant increase in the number of women executed, with 55% more compared to 2024, including cases like killing their husbands.
Iranian law allows for other methods of capital punishment, but all known executions in recent years have been by hanging. Human rights organizations consider Iran to be one of the countries with the highest number of executions per capita globally.
