Iran under war’s shadow: Executions rise under ‘security cases’

Iran has turned executions and opaque security trials into one of its harshest tools for suppressing dissent and maintaining control.

The Iranian regime has used its conflict with Israel and the United States, regional tensions, and recurring political crises as tools to intensify repression at home. The sharp rise in executions in recent years stands out as the starkest expression of this policy. Reports published by international human rights organizations show that Iran remains one of the world’s leading executioners.

According to Amnesty International’s report for 2025, Iran alone accounted for the majority of documented executions worldwide, with at least 2,159 people put to death. The figure far exceeded the approximately 972 executions recorded the previous year and marked the highest number documented for Iran since the organization began keeping records in 1981.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and related mechanisms have also stressed that executions in Iran are increasing systematically. Amnesty International said the growing use of the death penalty is aimed at intimidating opponents, creating a climate of fear and suppressing dissent. The organization reported that executions have increasingly become a tool of political repression and that wartime conditions have further strengthened this trend.

Thousands executed every year

A joint report by Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) confirmed at least 1,639 executions in 2025. This represented a 68 percent increase compared to 2024 and marked the highest annual figure recorded since 1989. The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) documented 2,063 executions in 2025.

The increase in executions is not merely statistical but is also linked to political and social developments. The regime turned executions into a tool to intimidate opponents during the protests that erupted after the killing of Jina Amini in 2022. In 2025 and 2026, the war, the January 2026 protests; and cases brought under “national security” charges further intensified the trend.

Human Rights Watch reported that at least 28 people had been executed for political reasons since March 2026, some of them among those detained during the January protests.

No rule of law, no justice

Preliminary assessments for 2026 indicate that Iran’s judiciary has continued to harden its stance, particularly in cases brought under charges of “national security” and “acting against the state.” Many of these cases target political prisoners active in Eastern Kurdistan (Rojhilat) after 2022 and members of ethnic communities living in border regions. Reports by international monitoring organizations on Iran’s prison system indicate that executions have continued throughout 2026, although a lack of transparency means that not all cases are made public.

At least 160 people were executed during the first quarter of 2026.

A large number of death sentences are issued by Revolutionary Courts in closed proceedings, leaving little room for independent verification. Amnesty International has documented the use of confessions obtained under torture as evidence, trials lasting only minutes, and systematic violations of the right to defense.

Wave of executions

The first months of 2026 in Iran began with what human rights monitoring groups described as a “wave of executions.” Data compiled by Iran Human Rights showed that executions continued uninterrupted during the opening months of the year. Field reports published by the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) documented the execution of 52 people in at least 42 prisons across the country between 5 and 14 January. HRANA also reported that at least 22 more people were executed in different provinces between 12 and 15 January. Reports released later in January recorded that 72 people were executed within a single week in cities including Shiraz, Mashhad, Birjand, Ahvaz, Yazd, Ilam, Kerman and Gorgan.

Another source indicated that at least 160 people were executed during the first quarter of 2026, with Kurds, Baluch and Arab communities disproportionately represented among those put to death. The report also noted that at least four women were executed.

The executions of Saleh Mohammadi, Saeed Davodi and Mehdi Ghasemi in the city of Qom in March indicated that death sentences were being handed down in cases linked to the January 2026 protests. Cases involving allegations of “espionage” and “acting against the state,” often accompanied by accusations of ties to Israel or the United States, also increased during the same period. Dozens of executions were reportedly carried out under these charges between March and April.

No to executions on Tuesdays

The “No to Executions on Tuesdays” campaign said data collected from prisons throughout 2026 showed a rise in simultaneous executions, with multiple hangings taking place on the same day in different cities. Launched on 9 January 2023 to demand an end to the death penalty, the campaign reported that more than 350 prisoners had been executed by February.

In Eastern Kurdistan, the corridor stretching through Urmia, Sine, Kermanshah and Mahabad has been identified as one of the areas where executions are most concentrated. Most political cases in these regions are handled behind closed doors by Revolutionary Courts, making independent verification difficult. Kurdish detainees have also been subjected to torture in many documented cases.

As Iran’s execution machinery continues to operate at an accelerating pace, international human rights organizations warn that these executions constitute not only violations of the right to life but also a systematic tool of repression directed against a broad civilian population. They continue to call for urgent international action.

Source: ANF, Staff, June 23, 2026

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

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