A joint report released on Thursday by Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and French group Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) claims that Iran executed at least 975 people in 2024—a “horrifying escalation” in the country’s use of capital punishment. The figure is the highest recorded since IHR began tracking executions in 2008 and represents a 17 percent increase from the 834 executions documented in 2023.
The report accuses the Iranian government of employing the death penalty as a central tool of political oppression. “These executions are part of the Islamic republic’s war against its own people to maintain its grip on power,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. He highlighted that during the final three months of 2024, an average of five people were executed each day, a period coinciding with rising regional tensions amid escalating threats between Iran and Israel. Although Tehran has repeatedly accused individuals of espionage on behalf of Israel, the precise impact of these tensions on the surge in executions remains unclear.
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Among the 975 reported executions, four were carried out as public hangings and 31 were women—the highest numbers in the past 17 years. Human rights organizations have long criticized Iran, now considered the world’s second most prolific executioner after China, for its extensive use of capital punishment to instill fear and suppress dissent.
The report also notes that many of these executions followed the nationwide protests sparked in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini in custody. Two cases highlighted in the report include Mohammad Ghobadlu, 23, who was executed in January 2024 on charges of killing a police officer during a protest, and Gholamreza Rasaei, 34, who was executed in secret in August on charges of killing a Revolutionary Guard—an execution marred by allegations that his confession was extracted under torture.
Moreover, the rights groups mentioned reports of an additional 39 executions in 2024 that remain unconfirmed, while already in 2025, Iran has executed at least 121 people according to IHR. The findings underscore a continued and troubling reliance on capital punishment within Iran’s sharia-based judicial system, where death sentences are imposed not only for serious crimes such as murder, rape, and drug offenses but also for vaguely defined charges like “corruption on earth” and “rebellion.”