UN Human Rights Chief Voices Alarm Over Surge in Iranian Executions

 

The United Nations' top human rights official has expressed serious concern over a sharp rise in executions in Iran, warning that capital punishment continues to be used as a tool "to instil fear among the population and suppress dissent."

Volker Türk said at least 56 people have been executed on national security-related charges since 19 March, including 27 cases tied to the nationwide anti-government protests that erupted in January. He added that more than 100 others remain at risk of execution on similar charges, while executions for drug-related offences are also continuing at an alarming pace.

Iran is widely regarded as the world's second-most prolific executioner after China. 

According to Amnesty International, the country executed at least 2,159 people last year—the highest figure recorded since 1981—including 45 individuals convicted on national security charges linked to dissent.

Human rights activists have long warned that Iranian authorities could intensify their use of the death penalty against opponents in the wake of January's unrest, during which thousands of protesters were reportedly killed and tens of thousands detained, as well as following the US-Israeli war with Iran that began on 28 February.

In a statement, Türk called on Iranian authorities to halt all executions immediately and move toward abolishing the death penalty altogether, declaring that "such punishment has no place in our world."

Beyond the rising numbers, Türk highlighted what he described as a persistent and "deeply troubling" lack of fair trial and due process protections, with confessions frequently alleged to have been extracted through torture or other mistreatment. He noted that several executions had reportedly been carried out in public, with some taking place just weeks after arrest. In one particularly striking case, twelve defendants were reportedly sentenced to death following a single closed-door hearing that lasted only three hours.

The Iranian government has not issued an immediate response to these latest findings, though it has previously defended its use of capital punishment, asserting that it is reserved for "the most severe crimes."

On Monday (August 3), Iran's judiciary announced the execution of two men convicted of espionage on behalf of Israel. 

According to the judiciary's Mizan news agency, Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat were accused of transmitting coordinates, images, and other sensitive information about military, law enforcement, and security installations to Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, both during the current conflict and the 12-day war in June 2025.

Last week, 19-year-old Arvin Kheirkhahan was executed after being convicted of "enmity against God"—a security-related charge—in connection with his alleged involvement in January's unrest, according to Iran's Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which cited a source close to his family.

Two other men who had been arrested during the protests, Abolfazl Sepahi Badjani and Amirhossein Safari Hosseinabadi, were executed publicly in a square in Isfahan, HRANA reported. They were among twelve individuals convicted on multiple charges, including "enmity against God" and "corruption on Earth," in connection with the killing of four law enforcement officers on 8 January. Two of their co-defendants, Erfan Esfandiari and Gol Mohammad Mohammadi, had already been executed on 19 July.

UN human rights experts have criticized the handling of this case, noting that all twelve defendants were sentenced to death "in one hearing, in a closed courtroom and without clarity as to each defendant's individual responsibility"—a process they say violated internationally recognized fair trial standards.