Iran's 'Horrifying' Execution Spree Surpasses 1,000 in 2025, Amnesty Urges UN Intervention

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – In a stark and urgent appeal to the international community, Amnesty International has revealed that the Islamic Republic of Iran has executed more than 1,000 people since the beginning of 2025, a horrifying surge that amounts to an average of four executions per day and marks the deadliest year for capital punishment in the country since 1989.

The human rights organization warns that Iranian authorities have increasingly weaponized the death penalty as a brutal tool to instill widespread fear, crush political dissent, and systematically punish marginalized communities, particularly in the wake of the "Woman, Life, Freedom" uprising that began in 2022.

This alarming escalation comes amid a broader state crackdown on perceived enemies, including a wave of executions targeting ethnic minorities and individuals accused of espionage for Israel following a brief but devastating conflict between the two nations earlier this year.

"Even by Iran’s own bleak record, this is a grim moment that demands a serious and coordinated international response."

Ahead of key United Nations sessions on Iran's human rights record, Amnesty International issued a damning statement calling on UN member states to confront what it describes as a "shocking execution spree" with the gravity and urgency it demands.

Hussein Baoumi, the Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, delivered a powerful condemnation of the regime's actions. "UN Member states must confront the Iranian authorities’ shocking execution spree with the urgency it demands," Baoumi stated.

"For years, Iranian authorities have sought to normalize the execution of hundreds of people each year, but this grotesque assault on the right to life must not be treated like business as usual while hundreds of families mourn their loved ones and the lives of thousands more on death row are at risk."

He added, with grave emphasis, "Even by Iran’s own bleak record, this is a grim moment that demands a serious and coordinated international response."

Amnesty's report highlights the systemic failings of Iran's judicial system, where executions consistently follow what are described as grossly unfair trials, often held behind closed doors. The organization points to the role of the country's Revolutionary Courts, which it states lack independence and actively collude with security and intelligence forces to sentence people to death.

These proceedings are frequently marred by widespread patterns of torture and the use of forced "confessions" to secure convictions.

A significant portion of these executions, according to the report, are for drug-related offenses, a practice that constitutes a blatant breach of Iran's obligations under international law, which restricts the use of the death penalty to only "the most serious crimes," defined as those involving intentional killing.

The human rights group also underscores that oppressed ethnic minorities and communities from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are disproportionately impacted by this wave of capital punishment. Among the groups most affected are Afghans, Ahwazi Arabs, Baluchis, and Kurds, who are overrepresented on Iran's death row. This grim reality was thrown into sharp relief by a series of executions carried out by the Iranian judiciary earlier this month.

On October 4, authorities announced the execution of six members of what they termed a "separatist terrorist network affiliated with the Zionist regime" in the southwestern province of Khuzestan. The executions were carried out by hanging at dawn.

According to the judiciary's official news outlet, Mizan Online, the men were accused of carrying out a series of deadly armed attacks and bombings targeting security in the oil-rich province, which is home to a large Arab population and has been a site of long-running tensions and periodic unrest.

While the Iranian state frequently levels charges of affiliation with Israel against a wide range of opposition and separatist groups, often without substantiation, the judiciary provided a list of alleged crimes.

Mizan stated the men had "direct participation in the assassination and martyrdom" of four security personnel—two Law Enforcement Command officers and two members of the Basij paramilitary force—in incidents that Agence France-Presse reported took place in 2018 and 2019.

The report further claimed the men had "confessed" to designing and carrying out other sabotage acts, including bombing a gas station, armed attacks on banks, and shooting at mosques, asserting that their actions had "repeatedly threatened the peace and security of Khuzestan's citizens."

The lack of a transparent legal process and the state's frequent use of such sweeping accusations, however, leaves the true nature of their activities shrouded in the deep fog of state secrecy that characterizes such cases in Iran.

On the same day as the Khuzestan executions, Iranian authorities also hanged a man named Saman Mohammadi. He was convicted on the charge of "Moharebeh," or "waging war against God," for his alleged membership in "terrorist and Takfiri groups," a term often used by Tehran to refer to hardline Islamist militants. Mohammadi, who was arrested in 2013, was accused of involvement in the 2009 killing of the Friday prayers imam in the western Kurdish city of Sanandaj, as well as armed robberies and kidnappings.

These executions are not isolated incidents but part of a broader, intensified campaign of state repression and capital punishment that has reached a new level of ferocity since the June 2025 conflict with Israel.

Iran, which human rights groups consistently rank as the world's second most prolific executioner after China, has vowed to deliver swift and harsh justice to anyone accused of collaborating with its arch-nemesis. This has triggered a relentless wave of arrests and executions targeting individuals accused of spying for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency.

Less than a week before the October 4 hangings, Iran announced it had executed Babak Shahbazi, a man it described as one of Israel's top spies, after convicting him of "corruption on earth" and "waging war against God" for allegedly providing sensitive information. His case followed the execution of another alleged collaborator, Esmail Fekri, in June.

The context for this ferocious crackdown is the aftermath of a devastating 12-day war in June, a conflict Iran refers to as the "12-day Holy Defense." The war saw unprecedented Israeli airstrikes, dubbed "Operation Rising Lion," on Iranian nuclear and military infrastructure, reportedly supported by Mossad sabotage teams on the ground, which resulted in the deaths of numerous senior Iranian scientists and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders.

Iran retaliated with massive missile and drone barrages against Israeli targets. This open conflict appears to have validated and supercharged a long-held paranoia within the Iranian security establishment of a deep and pervasive network of Israeli intelligence operating within the country.

In late July, Iran's intelligence agency announced it had arrested "20 spies, Mossad operational and support agents, and elements connected to the (Israeli) regime's intelligence officers" across several provinces. The judiciary spokesperson, Asghar Jahangir, vowed that those found guilty would face decisive sentences intended to serve as a "historical lesson."

The thousands of people currently at risk of execution in Iran include not only those sentenced for drug offenses but also many others convicted on vaguely defined and politically motivated charges such as "enmity against God" (Moharebeh) and "corruption on earth" (efsad-e-filarz). These charges are frequently used to silence dissidents, activists, and anyone perceived as a threat to the state's authority.

In its urgent appeal, Amnesty International has laid out a series of clear demands for the international community. "We call on all UN member states to urgently speak up, including by making strong oral statements during the upcoming Third Committee Interactive Dialogue on Iran," the organization stated.

It insists that states must demand that the Iranian authorities immediately halt all executions, quash death sentences imposed after unfair trials, revoke lethal anti-narcotic laws, and establish an official moratorium with a view to the full abolition of the death penalty.

Furthermore, Amnesty is calling on the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) to apply pressure on the Iranian authorities to reform their drug control policies to be in compliance with human rights standards.

Citing the systemic impunity for serious human rights violations that prevails in Iran, the organization is also urging states to pursue direct accountability measures. This includes initiating criminal investigations under the principle of universal jurisdiction into torture and other crimes under international law committed in Iran, with the ultimate goal of issuing arrest warrants for Iranian officials against whom there is credible evidence of criminal responsibility.

As the world prepares to review Iran's human rights record, the specter of over 1,000 state-sanctioned killings this year alone serves as a grim testament to the crisis and the profound stakes involved.