Record 1,500 people executed in Iran in 2025

In 2025, Iran recorded the most executions since the 1980s - more than 1,500, with more than 700 of them related to drug offences, according to Iran human right.

According to Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), these were systematic executions targeting the most vulnerable - the poor, minorities or foreigners - often without due process, with confessions coerced by torture.

In the village of Sartarhan Chah Kheyr, 70 people have been executed in the last 15 years, with hundreds more on death row.

Since 2010, the Iranian authorities have executed more than 5 300 people for drug offences, but have only officially admitted to 2.4 per cent of these cases. The 2017 reform of the law has not changed the situation - more than 2 100 people have been executed since its adoption alone.

The report highlights the opacity of the system and argues that executions serve more to perpetuate fear than to combat drugs.

IHRNGO Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam called on the UN to investigate these acts as crimes against humanity and demanded that the UNODC end any cooperation legitimising Iran's execution policy.

(pir)