Iran executed at least 1,639 people in 2025 in 68% increase on year before, NGOs say
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Rights groups, including Amnesty International, say Iran carries out more executions per capita than any other country, and more in total than any nation except China, where reliable figures are unavailable.
Iranian authorities executed at least 1,639 people in 2025, according to two NGOs, which warned that the number could rise further following the conflict involving the United States and Israel. In a joint annual report, Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) urged Western governments to place the issue of capital punishment “at the heart” of any negotiations with Tehran.
The figure marks a 68% increase from the 975 executions recorded in 2024 and includes 48 women. IHR noted that, as it requires confirmation from two independent sources and many cases go unreported in official media, the total should be seen as a minimum estimate.
The report describes the figure as the highest since IHR began tracking executions in 2008, and the most recorded since the years following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It also warns that if the Iranian regime weathers the current crisis, executions could be used even more extensively as a tool of repression.
ECPM director Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan said the abolition of the death penalty should be central to any future talks between Iran and Western powers, while IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam criticised recent negotiations for failing to address the rights of the Iranian people.
