The Islamic Republic executed at least 1,500 people in 2025, nearly half (47%) as a penalty for drug offenses, according to a release published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Monday.
Noting that the regime has used killings “as a tool of state intimidation,” the OHCHR’s High Commissioner Volker Turk said that the executions had a “disproportionate impact on ethnic minorities and migrants.”
While global trends in 2025 saw countries reduce the number of crimes met with the death penalty, the total number last year exceeded that of previous years, the office confirmed. “My office monitored an alarming increase in the use of capital punishment in 2025, especially for offenses not meeting the ‘most serious crimes’ threshold required under international law, the continued execution of people convicted of crimes committed as children, as well as persistent secrecy around executions,” Turk said.
The report’s data analysis pertains to global trends beyond the specific uptick of such cases in Iran.
Amnesty International had previously warned that Tehran uses ambiguous charges when pursuing the death sentence. Those facing sentencing based on crimes described as “enmity against God,” “Corruption on Earth,” and “Armed rebellion against the state,” do not receive fair trials, the group added.
Further, it noted that court proceedings are conducted behind closed doors in a break from standard procedure.
Murder of Mahsa Amini by Iranian regime
Human rights groups warned Iran stepped up executions in response to the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests, which erupted in response to the regime’s murder of Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini in custody.
The Islamic Republic also targeted individuals in the wake of the 12-day war with Israel in June, these groups said.
Apart from Iran, 356 people, including two children, were executed in Saudi Arabia last year. The majority (78%) were killed for drug-related offenses.
The OHCHR noted that the true extent of the executions committed in 2025 was difficult to surmise, as executions in China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea were shrouded in secrecy.
Without mentioning the parameters that would lead to execution in Israel, the OHCHR also condemned plans for Israel to start executing convicted terrorists, citing that such a law would only apply to Palestinians.
The death penalty law would see military courts impose a death sentence for all convictions deemed “intentional killing” cases in the West Bank.
In the same paragraph, the UN body condemned Hamas’s executions but did not touch upon the numbers or the alleged crimes that led to the murders.
“The death penalty is not an effective crime-control tool, and it can lead to the execution of innocent people,” Turk said. “In practice, the death penalty is also often applied arbitrarily and discriminatorily, in violation of fundamental principles of equality before the law.”