Iran has executed at least 975 people in the past year in a ‘horrific escalation’ of its application of the death penalty, two human rights organizations, Norway-based Human Rights Iran (IHR) and the French organization Together Against the Death Penalty, announced today.

Both claim the number is the highest since the former began keeping records in 2008.

In a joint report, the two organizations argue that the number “reveals a horrific escalation in the Islamic Republic‘s use of the death penalty by 2024” and accuse Iran of using the death penalty as a “key tool of political repression.“

“These executions are part of the war that the Islamic Republic has declared against its own citizens to maintain power,” says IHR director Mahmoud Amiri-Mogadam.

“Five people were executed on average every day in the last quarter of the year as the threat of war between Iran and Israel escalated,” he explains.

Last year’s figure represents a 17% increase on the 834 executions recorded in 2023, the report notes.

Of the 975 executed, four people were hanged in public and 31 were women, also the highest number in 17 years.

Executions for the protests

Human rights groups, which say Iran carries out the most executions after China, accuse authorities of using the death penalty to instill fear among citizens, especially after nationwide protests erupted in 2022.

The death penalty remains a key pillar of the sharia-based judicial system, introduced after the 1979 revolution that ousted the Western-backed Shah.

Crimes punishable by death include manslaughter, rape and drug crimes, but also more vaguely worded charges such as “corruption on land” and “sedition”, which activists say are used against dissidents.

Hanging executions have taken place in recent years, mostly in prisons but sometimes in public places, although other methods of killing remain in law.

Two of last year’s executions were linked to nationwide protests that erupted in September 2022 after the death in custody of Mahsha Amini, an Iranian woman of Kurdish descent who was arrested by vice police for allegedly violating the strict dress code imposed on women in Iran.

Mohamed Gobadlu, 23, was executed in January 2024 accused of killing a police officer with his car during a protest demonstration in October 2022.

Human rights organisations say his trial was problematic with judges ignoring evidence presented by the defence that the defendant suffered from bipolar disorder.

Golamreza Rasai, 34, was secretly executed in August accused of killing a Revolutionary Guard during a 2022 protest demonstration.

Activists say his testimony was extracted under torture.

Human rights groups say there are indications that Iran may have carried out more executions in the past year that they could not confirm to include in their report.

They argue that there is information about an additional 39 executions in 2024 that they have been unable to cross-check with other sources.

Already in that year Iran has carried out at least 121 executions, according to an IHR count.