Executions by Iran’s regime have reached an unprecedented level. According to reports, at least 304 prisoners were executed in various prisons across the country between October 23 and November 21 (the Persian month of Aban); a figure that is assessed to be the highest monthly number of executions in the past thirty-seven years. Observers say this sudden and relentless surge in executions is the regime’s response to growing concerns about the formation of social protests and a popular uprising.
According to officially reported figures, 36 prisoners were executed over four days from Monday, November 17 to Thursday, November 20; in other words, during that period roughly one execution was carried out every ninety minutes. The executions continued on November 22 as well, and at least eight more prisoners were hanged in the prisons of Kermanshah, Karaj, Khorramabad, Borujerd, Hamedan, and Sari.
A look at monthly execution statistics in Iran
According to data from the Iran Human Rights Society (an Iran-focused human rights organization), executions have been rising at an unprecedented rate since March 21, 2025 (Farvardin 1 in the Iranian calendar).
Thus, the total number of executions from March 21, 2025 to the present has exceeded 1,470. At the same time, the tally for the calendar year is also notable: the website Sedaye Bazdasht Shodegan Iran (Voices of the Arrested in Iran), an activist monitoring site, has reported that approximately 1,735 executions have been recorded in the country so far in 2025.
The reports by this organization are based on field documentation and information obtained from inside prisons, courts, and prisoners’ families. The data also indicate that a significant portion of the executions were carried out in provinces such as Khorasan, Azerbaijan, Semnan, Yazd, Hamedan, and Zanjan, and that many of the victims were put to death shortly after sentencing, without public notification and without full access to the ability to defend themselves.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) issued a statement warning about the wave of executions and stressed that the accelerating implementation of death sentences is not a sign of strength but a clear reflection of the regime’s fear of the recurrence of widespread popular protests.
The council emphasized that “Silence, inaction, and dealing and negotiating with the godfather of execution and terrorism in the 21st century violate the universal principles of human rights, which were achieved at the cost of millions of victims. This regime must be ostracized from the international community, and its ringleaders must be brought to justice for nearly five decades of crimes against humanity and genocide.”
The increase in executions in Iran continues despite repeated warnings from international bodies, UN special rapporteurs, and dozens of human rights organizations about widespread violations of prisoners’ rights, lack of fair trials, and the use of execution as a tool of political repression. Nevertheless, the new information indicates that Iran’s regime has turned the enforcement of death sentences into a more central component of its domestic security policy than before.
