With at least 165 executions recorded between April 21 and May 21, 2025, Iran experienced its bloodiest month in recent years. The figure includes four women and two juvenile offenders. On the final day alone, at least 18 prisoners were hanged in various prisons across the country. This translates to an average of more than five executions per day.
Among the victims were 29 Baluch citizens, making up 19% of all those executed during this period. Additionally, 77 of the executions (48%) were related to drug offenses—cases that, according to reports, are often linked to the clandestine and opaque operations of institutions like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The executions were carried out in various prisons across the country, including in Isfahan, Ghezel Hesar, Karaj, Tabriz, Hamedan, Zahedan, Birjand, Yazd, and Kahnuj.
In the ten months since Masoud Pezeshkian became president of Iran’s regime, the number of executions has reached a horrifying 1,212—an unprecedented figure over the past three decades, pointing to an increasing reliance on executions as a tool for repression and intimidation.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran, the country’s largest opposition group, condemned this wave of executions, calling it a sign of “the Iranian regime’s fear of the people’s mounting rage.” They stated that such repression will not prevent the regime’s downfall but will only deepen public hatred and outrage. The Resistance also urged the international community, particularly the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to take immediate action to stop the executions and refer the regime’s crimes to the UN Security Council.
It is worth noting that in 2024 alone, more than 1,000 people were executed in Iran—figures that some human rights organizations describe as indicative of “a new wave of judicial violence and disregard for fundamental human rights” under the regime.
Appel de 300 personnalités internationales à l’arrêt de l’exécution de Behrouz Ehsani et Mehdi Hassani https://t.co/nJ9fqdEmDv pic.twitter.com/yKTWnXz8iK
— Iran Focus (@Iran_Focus) May 5, 2025
In Amnesty International’s annual report on the death penalty for 2024, Iran once again topped the list of countries with the highest number of recorded executions.
According to the report, at least 1,518 executions were recorded globally last year, nearly two-thirds of which were carried out in Iran—placing the country far ahead of others in terms of capital punishment.
While the United Nations and human rights bodies have for years called for the reduction and abolition of the death penalty worldwide, Iran’s regime has not only refused to follow this global trend but has intensified its execution practices, heightening concerns among international organizations and human rights activists.
