Death record revealed; unprecedented jump in executions in Iran and warning about the machine of judicial repression
The disclosure of the death record in Iran and the unprecedented surge in executions comes at a time when human rights organizations have warned against turning the death penalty into a tool of repression.
New reports published by two human rights organizations, "Together Against the Death Penalty" and the "Iranian Human Rights Organization," present a worrying picture of the situation of executions in Iran; a picture that, from the perspective of observers, indicates that the country has entered one of the most severe periods of executions in recent decades.
According to the joint report, published today, April 13, 2025, at least 1,639 people were executed in Iran in 2025, a figure that the two organizations described as the highest recorded since 1989. According to them, this number is only the minimum number of documented cases, and due to severe restrictions on access to information, the actual number of executions is likely to be even higher.
The report also shows that the trend of executions has seen a significant jump compared to the previous year. In 2024, the number of executions was 975, and the increase to 1,639 the following year represents a growth of about 68 percent in one year; an increase that human rights analysts see as a sign of the intensification of the judicial-security environment in the country.
Among those executed, the names of 48 women have also been recorded; an issue that observers believe reflects the expansion of the scope of this punishment and its impact on different social groups.
Human rights organizations have warned in these reports that the death penalty in Iran, beyond a judicial tool, has in some cases become a tool for exerting political pressure and social control. They have also emphasized that concerns about the wider use of this punishment have increased after recent protests and political developments.
Analytical reports related to this issue have repeatedly emphasized that the lack of transparency in Iran's judicial system and limited access to independent information make it difficult to fully verify statistics, which means that the actual number of executions is likely to be higher than the official and documented figures.
Overall, these data have once again sparked widespread debate about the human rights situation in Iran and the use of the death penalty as a tool of governance, a debate that remains one of the main areas of criticism from international institutions and human rights defenders.
