At Least 87 Executions in Iran Prisons in January 2025

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); February 4, 2025: At least 87 people including 10 Afghan nationals, an Arab, 7 Kurdish, 4 Baluch minorities, were executed in prisons across Iran in January 2025.

Only 5% of the executions were reported by official sources, the remaining 95% were verified and recorded by IHRNGO. The significant increase in the execution of Afghan nationals in 2024 has continued into 2025, with at least 10 Afghan executions recorded in the first month.

Iran Human Rights once again draws the attention of the Iranian people and international community to the executions in Iran and emphasises the need for protests and pressure on the Islamic Republic to stop the executions.

IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: "The Islamic Republic's execution machine continues to move forward at full speed, and those executed are mostly from deprived and marginalised communities who were denied due process and fair trial rights. Stopping the executions requires urgent action from the international community and widespread public protests."

January 2025 Executions at a Glance:

- At least 87 executions were carried out

- Only 4 of the executions (5%) were reported by official media

- 48 of those were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder

- 35 people were executed for drug-related offences

- 2 of the executions were rape charges

- 10 Afghan nationals were executed

- An Arab, 7 Kurdish and 4 Baluch minorities were amongst those executed

One of the cases recorded in January 2025:

Mohammad Biranvand, a murder defendant, was one of the 87 people executed in January. He was another victim of the Islamic Republic’s opaque judicial system and unjust laws which fail to distinguish between premeditated murder and manslaughter and applies the same punishment of qisas (retribution-in-kind) to all cases.

In an audio recording obtained by Iran Human Rights, Mohammad Biranvand recounted the events that led to his arrest and capital punishment:

He was working as a cargo driver on the Khorramabad-Tehran route to earn a living. One day, after passing through Saveh, he stopped in a small town called Zarandieh. A white unmarked Renault L90 with private plates approached, and its occupants, dressed in civilian clothing, opened fire without warning or identifying themselves.

Terrified, Mohammad and several others fled. While trying to escape, Mohammad accidentally struck one of the assailants with his vehicle as he ducked under the steering wheel, fearing for his life.

He was eventually arrested and under torture, he confessed that he had known the attackers were government officials. He said: "How were we supposed to know they were officials? They weren’t in uniform, they weren’t using an official vehicle, and they didn’t present a warrant. Should people be shot at over a shipment of plastic water bottles? Anyone in that situation would try to save their life."

The judiciary sentenced Mohammad to death just 11 days after his arrest and his execution was carried out in Saveh Prison on 22 January 2025.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, February 4, 2025

_____________________________________________________________________

Twitter/X | Instagram | Telegram | Contact Us

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

Comments

The US reporter who has witnessed 14 executions: ‘People need to know what it looks like’

South Carolina-based journalist Jeffrey Collins observed back-to-back executions in 2025 after the state revived the death penalty following a 13-year pause Jeffrey Collins has watched 14 men draw their final breaths. Over 25 years at the Associated Press, the South Carolina-based journalist has repeatedly served as an observer inside the state’s execution chamber, watching from feet away as prison officials kill men who were sentenced to capital punishment. South Carolina has recently kept him unusually busy, with seven back-to-back executions in 14 months.

Georgia parole board suspends scheduled execution of Cobb County death row prisoner

The execution of a Georgia man scheduled for Wednesday has been suspended as the State Board of Pardons and Paroles considers a clemency application. Stacey Humphreys, 52, would have been the state's first execution in 2025. As of December 16, 2025, Georgia has carried out zero executions in 2025. The state last executed an inmate in January 2020, followed by a pause due to COVID-19. Executions resumed in 2024, but none have occurred this year until now. Humphreys had been sentenced to death for the 2003 killings of 33-year-old Cyndi Williams and 21-year-old Lori Brown, who were fatally shot at the real estate office where they worked.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester. Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Saudi Arabia executed 356 people in 2025, highest number on record

Analysts attribute increase to kingdom’s ‘war on drugs’ as authorities kill 356 people by death penalty Saudi authorities executed 356 people in 2025, setting a new record for the number of inmates put to death in the kingdom in a single year. Analysts have largely attributed the increase in executions to Riyadh’s “war on drugs”, with some of those arrested in previous years only now being executed after legal proceedings and convictions. Official data released by the Saudi government said 243 people were executed in drug-related cases in 2025 alone, according to a tally kept by Agence France-Presse.

California | Convicted killer Scott Peterson keeps swinging in court — but expert says he’s not going anywhere but his cell

More than two decades after Laci Peterson vanished from her Modesto, California, home, the murder case that captivated the nation continues to draw legal challenges, public debate and renewed attention. As the year comes to a close, Scott Peterson, convicted in 2004 of murdering his pregnant wife and their unborn son Conner, remains behind bars, serving life without the possibility of parole. His wife disappeared on Christmas Eve in 2002, and a few months later, the remains of Laci and Conner were found in the San Francisco Bay.

M Ravi, the man who defied Singapore regime's harassment, dies

M Ravi never gave up despite the odds stacked against him by the Singapore regime, which has always used its grip on the legal process to silence critics. M Ravi, one of Singapore's best-known personalities who was at the forefront of legal cases challenging the PAP regime over human rights violations, has died. He was 56. The news has come as a shock to friends and activists. Singapore's The Straits Times reported that police were investigating the "unnatural death".

Singapore | Prolific lawyer M Ravi, known for drug death-penalty cases, found dead

Ravi Madasamy, a high-profile lawyer who represented death-row inmates and campaigned against capital punishment, was found dead in the early hours, prompting a police investigation into an unnatural death KUALA LUMPUR — Prolific Singapore lawyer Ravi Madasamy who tried to save Malaysian drug traffickers from the gallows found dead in the early hours with police investigating a case of unnatural death. Lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam, who had previously represented 56-year-old Ravi in court and described him as a friend, said he was deeply saddened by the news.

USA | Justice Department Encourages New Capital Charges Against Commuted Federal Death Row Prisoners

On Dec. 23, 2024, former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. commuted the sentences of nearly all federal death row prisoners, sparing 37 men from execution. Just 28 days later, on Jan. 20, 2025, newly inaugurated President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order encouraging state and local prosecutors to pursue new charges against those same prisoners, reopening the possibility of capital punishment in state courts.

Burkina Faso to bring back death penalty

Burkina Faso's military rulers will bring back the death penalty, which was abolished in 2018, the country's Council of Ministers announced on Thursday. "This draft penal code reinstates the death penalty for a number of offences, including high treason, acts of terrorism, acts of espionage, among others," stated the information service of the Burkinabe government. Burkina Faso last carried out an execution in 1988.

Iran | Executions in Shiraz, Borazjan, Ahvaz, Isfahan, Ardabil, Rasht, Ghaemshahr, Neishabur

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 23, 2025: Mahin Rashidi, Abbas Alami, Naser Faraji, Tohid Barzegar and Jamshid Amirfazli, five co-defendants on death row for drug-related offences, were secretly executed in a group hanging in Shiraz Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, four men and a woman were hanged in Shiraz (Adel Abad) Central Prison on 17 December 2025. Their identities have been established as Mahin Rashidi, a 39-year-old woman, Abbas Alami, 43, Naser Faraji, 38, Tohid Barzegar, 51, and Jamshid Amirfazli, 45, all Kashan natives.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog