Iran Executed At Least 1,639 People Last Year, Protesters Say In Madrid

Iran carried out the highest number of executions in decades, with Iranians living in Spain protesting against recent executions in the Islamic Republic in Madrid on Saturday.

“Iran, 'world record holder' for registered executions in Amnesty International's 2024 death penalty report”

BBC

The report cited by the West Asian outlet yalibnan says Iran executed at least 1,639 people last year, the highest number recorded there since 1989, according to two non-governmental organisations.

BBC

Those figures come from a report by Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty (EPCM), which the article says found a 68% increase compared to 2024, when 975 executions were recorded.

The same yalibnan report says the average was four executions per day and that 795 of the 1,639 people hanged were convicted of drug-related offences, a 58% increase compared to 2024.

It also says 747 were convicted of murder, a 79% increase, and that another 37 people were convicted of rape.

The article adds that at least 48 women were executed, which it describes as a 55% increase compared to 2024 and the highest number recorded in more than 20 years.

In a separate Amnesty International framing carried by the BBC, Iran again topped the list of countries with the most registered executions in Amnesty International’s annual 2024 death penalty report, with nearly two-thirds of the world’s registered executions carried out in Iran.

The execution figures described in yalibnan are tied to a broader security and political timeline, with the article warning that Iranian authorities could use executions even more extensively this year in the wake of January’s protests and the war against the US and Israel.

It says that since the start of the conflict on 28 February, seven people have been executed in connection with the protests, when thousands of demonstrators were killed and tens of thousands detained during an unprecedented crackdown by security forces.

DW

The same article says six people convicted of membership of the exiled opposition group Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK) have also been executed, along with one person convicted of spying for Israel.

It also frames the 1,639 figure as the highest number of recorded executions in the Islamic Republic for 36 years, and it reports that the NGOs warn of a “serious risk” if the Islamic Republic “survives the current crisis.”

In the BBC’s Amnesty International report summary, the organization similarly links the upward trend to intensifying execution of sentences, saying Iran “not only did not follow this trend but, by intensifying the execution of sentences, has fueled concerns among international human rights organizations and activists.”

The BBC also reports that the total number of registered executions worldwide in 2024 rose by about 32 percent compared with the previous year, reaching the highest level since 2015, and that Iran’s 2024 figure nearly matches the record set in 2015.

In the DW account, a joint statement issued on the eve of World Day Against the Death Penalty (October 10) warns about an alarming rise in executions and says that since Mehr (October) of last year at least 811 executions have been recorded in Iran.

Multiple rights-focused voices in the sources describe the executions as driven by unfair trials, torture-tainted confessions, and political repression, while also tying the death penalty to international negotiations.

“Iranians living in Spain protested against recent executions in the Islamic Republic in Madrid on Saturday Iran executed at least 1,639 people last year, the highest number recorded there since 1989, two non-governmental organisations say”

yalibnan

In the BBC’s account, Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard says: "Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia were responsible for the sharp rise in executions last year, and by carrying out more than 91 percent of the registered executions, they violated human rights and brutally took lives under the pretexts of drug-related and terrorism charges."

The BBC also quotes Callamard saying: 'The death penalty is not only a flagrant violation of the right to life, but also a tool for political and social control. The international community must respond decisively and effectively to the ongoing violation of human rights.'

In the DW report, the joint statement describes death sentences issued in unfair courts and points to forced confessions obtained under torture, used as the main basis for verdicts, along with lack of access to legal representation.

The DW article also highlights a specific case, saying Sharifeh Mohammadi, a civil and workers’ activist, was sentenced to death by Rasht Revolutionary Court, and it describes the sentence as issued without transparent and legal procedures and under the influence of security and intelligence agencies.

In the DW account, the campaign “In the Name of Sharifeh; No to the Death Penalty” calls the sentences issued in Iran state murder and says the case exemplifies the regime’s efforts to silence civil activists.

In the yalibnan report, IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam says there was "no mention of the Iranian people’s rights" at the negotiations over the weekend, and he argues that a death penalty moratorium and the release of all political prisoners should be "demand number one."

While the sources converge on the claim that Iran is executing at extremely high rates, they diverge on the specific totals and the way those totals are presented, reflecting different reporting windows and methodologies.

The BBC says Amnesty International’s 2024 death penalty report registered at least 1,518 executions worldwide last year, with nearly two-thirds carried out in Iran, and it states that Iran’s 2024 figure reached 972, rising by 14 percent from the year before.

BBC

By contrast, the DW account reports that since Mehr (October) of last year at least 811 executions have been recorded in Iran, and it frames that as the highest figure in a decade.

The yalibnan report, drawing on IHR and EPCM, states that Iran executed at least 1,639 people last year, describing it as the highest number recorded since 1989 and reporting a 68% increase compared to 2024 when 975 executions were recorded.

The Tabnak/Etemad piece adds yet another set of numbers, saying that in 2024 at least 972 people were executed in Iran and that this figure compared to 853 in 2023 shows a 17% increase.

Tabnak also says only 95 cases (less than 10%) of these executions were officially reported by authorities or domestic media, which it uses to argue that reporting is incomplete.

The DW report, meanwhile, focuses less on a single national total and more on the structure of the death penalty system, describing forced confessions obtained under torture and lack of access to legal representation as grounds for death sentences.

The sources portray the death penalty in Iran as producing both immediate legal jeopardy for specific people and broader social consequences, while also urging policy changes and international pressure.

“Iran, 'world record holder' for registered executions in Amnesty International's 2024 death penalty report”

BBC

The BBC reports that Amnesty International expressed concern about the rise in executions of women in Iran in 2024, saying that according to the data 30 women were executed that year, most of them for drug-related offenses or domestic killings.

DW

It also quotes Roya Boroumand, executive director of the Abdulrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights, saying: 'Several women activists have been sentenced to death. This is a serious warning to women who oppose discriminatory laws and practices in Iran.'

The BBC further says that some executions were political in nature and were carried out against civil activists, protesters and dissidents, and it quotes Boroumand that the evidence shows "the number of executions increases after major protests and during periods of instability."

In DW’s account of Sharifeh Mohammadi, it says she is detained in Rasht’s Lakan Prison and that the protest movement No to the Death Penalty by the women political prisoners of Evin continues every Tuesday with hunger strikes by political prisoners in 22 prisons, including Rasht’s Lakan Prison.

Tabnak’s Etemad-based article argues that the death penalty has deep historical roots and claims that in 2024 drug-related executions were mainly concentrated in deprived and border provinces including Sistan and Baluchestan, Razavi Khorasan, Fars, Kurdistan, Tehran and Alborz.

Finally, the sources converge on calls to halt executions: DW’s joint statement calls on Iranian authorities to immediately halt the use of the death penalty, and yalibnan reports IHR and EPCM warning that if the Islamic Republic “survives the current crisis, there is a serious risk that executions will be used even more extensively as a tool of oppression and repression.”