The United Nations said on Friday that at least 841 people have been executed in Iran since the beginning of this year.
The United Nations Human Rights Office reported a significant increase in the number of executions in Tehran in the first half of 2025.
“Iranian authorities have executed at least 841 people since the beginning of this year,” spokeswoman Rabina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
“The real situation here could be worse due to the lack of transparency,” he said.
In July 2024 alone, Iran executed at least 110 people. This is more than double the number of executions carried out in July 2024.
“The high number of executions indicates a systematic pattern of Iran’s use of the death penalty as a tool to intimidate citizens in the state, and it disproportionately targets ethnic minorities and immigrants,” Shamdasani said.
He mentioned that most of the people sentenced to death are Afghans, Baloch, Kurds, and Arabs.
At least 289 people were executed in Iran for drug-related offenses in the first six months of 2025.
“The pattern seen in many countries shows that when their governments feel threatened in their grip on public order, they become increasingly repressive and less tolerant of dissent,” Shamdasani said.
Hanging in front of a child
The spokesperson was particularly critical of public executions in Iran, where the human rights office has documented seven such cases since the beginning of this year.
He added, “Public executions add an additional layer of outrage to human dignity, not only to the dignity of the person concerned, but also to the person being executed and the witnesses.”
“The psychological trauma of witnessing someone being hanged in a public place, especially for children, is completely unacceptable,” Shamdasani said.
The United Nations Human Rights Office has expressed serious concerns about due process in death penalty cases.
“Many death sentences have been imposed on the basis of vague laws, such as charges of enmity against God,” said a UNHCR spokesperson.
According to Shamdasani, 11 people are currently on death row in Iran, including six accused of “armed rebellion” for their alleged membership in the exiled opposition People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran (MEK).
He said five others were sentenced to death for participating in large protests in 2022. Last week, Iran’s Supreme Court sentenced labor rights activist Sharifeh Mohammadi to death.
According to Shamdasani, the United Nations Human Rights Office has urged the Iranian government not to carry out their death sentences.
“The death penalty is incompatible with the right to life and human dignity,” he said.
“This creates an unacceptable risk of executing innocent people. It should never be imposed for conduct protected under international human rights law.”
UN human rights chief Volker Turk has urged Tehran to halt the death penalty to reduce the risk of growing injustice. RSS/AFP
