In a statement issued on Wednesday, September 3, Amnesty International warned about the escalation of political and legal repression in Iran following the recent clashes with Israel. The human rights organization said that Iran’s regime, under the pretext of “safeguarding national security,” has implemented widespread and systematic repression across the country, intensifying international concerns over gross human rights violations in Iran.
Amnesty International reported 20,000 arrests in Iran
According to the data provided, since June 13, 2025, more than 20,000 people have been arrested in Iran. Those detained include a wide range of civil rights and political activists, human rights defenders, journalists, social media users, families of protest victims, as well as foreign nationals. In addition, ethnic and religious minorities such as Baluch, Kurds, Baha’is, Christians, and Jews have also been targeted.
Repression and violent security practices
Amnesty International, in another part of its report, pointed to the violent behavior of security forces and cited incidents of shooting at cars at checkpoints — one of which led to the death of a three-year-old child. At the same time, some regime officials and state-run media have openly called for accelerating executions and even referred to replicating the mass execution patterns of the 1980s. According to documented reports, at least nine people have been executed in recent weeks on political charges or accusations of spying for Israel. Meanwhile, Iran’s parliament is reviewing a bill to expand the use of the death penalty.
Criminal accountability for human rights violators
At the end of its statement, Amnesty International condemned the ongoing repression and called for the immediate halt of executions, the release of all arbitrarily detained individuals, an end to torture and enforced disappearances, and the international prosecution of Iranian regime officials under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Amnesty stressed that the international community must establish effective and concrete mechanisms to ensure the criminal accountability of those responsible for these violations.
