United Nations human rights experts have expressed shock at an unprecedented wave of executions in Iran, warning that more than 1,000 people have been killed in less than nine months of 2025, marking a sharp escalation in violations of international human rights law.
“The sheer scale of executions in Iran is staggering and represents a grave violation of the right to life,” the experts said in a statement. “With an average of more than nine hangings per day in recent weeks, Iran appears to be conducting executions at an industrial scale that defies all accepted standards of human rights protection.”
At least 1,000 executions have been documented since 1 January 2025, though the actual number is likely higher due to Iran’s lack of transparency. Most executions were reportedly carried out for drug-related offenses and murder, followed by security-related charges and rape. Among those executed were at least 58 Afghan nationals, including 57 men and one woman.
The experts highlighted the alarming use of the death penalty for drug-related offenses. “At least 499 individuals were executed for drug-related crimes in less than nine months— a dramatic increase from the 24–30 executions per year recorded between 2018 and 2020,” they said.
Although a 2017 amendment to the Law on Combating Illicit Drugs initially narrowed the use of mandatory death sentences, the experts noted that the trend has reversed since 2021. “International law restricts capital punishment to the most serious crimes, interpreted as intentional murder. Drug offenses do not meet this threshold,” they said.
Executions for drug-related crimes disproportionately affect marginalized communities, often stripping families of homes, farmland, and other assets. Most executions are not publicly announced, and Revolutionary Court proceedings are typically conducted behind closed doors.
Iran has also executed at least 10 people on espionage charges, eight of them after 13 June following Israeli military actions. A recently introduced espionage bill broadens the definition of espionage to include contacts with foreign and diaspora media outlets, further raising human rights concerns.
The UN experts called on Iran to immediately institute a moratorium on executions, ensure humane treatment of all detainees, provide transparency on death sentences, and adhere to fair trial standards. They stressed the importance of using current legislative reviews to end capital punishment for drug-related crimes entirely.
“The international community cannot remain silent in the face of such systematic violations of the right to life,” the experts said. “States must take concrete diplomatic action to pressure Iran to halt this execution spree.”
