Human rights advocates reported on Thursday that the Iranian government executed a minimum of 975 individuals in 2024, marking a "horrifying escalation in the use of the death penalty."
This figure represents a 17 percent increase from the 834 executions documented in 2023, as stated in an annual report by the Oslo-based organization Iran Human Rights and the France-based Together Against the Death Penalty.
This number is the highest recorded since the inception of IHRNGO’s annual reports in 2008 and is significantly above the average for that period.
Javaid Rehman, a former United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, remarked, “The death penalty is weaponized and instrumentalized against vulnerable and weak individuals, typically from marginalized communities.”
In 2024, the majority of executions—503, or 52 percent—were for drug-related offenses, according to the organizations. Murder charges constituted 43 percent of the death penalty cases in the nation.
Executions for the contentious charges of “waging war against God,” “corruption on Earth,” and “armed rebellion,” as per Islamic legal interpretation, accounted for 3 percent, while 2 percent were for rape and sexual assault.
The report indicated a “sharp rise” in the number of executions recorded following the presidential election and the appointment of Masoud Pezeshkian as president of Iran in the latter half of 2024.
“While global attention was directed towards escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, the Islamic Republic took advantage of the lack of international oversight to terrorize its own populace.
Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam, director of IHRNGO, stated, “They are conducting 5 to 6 executions every single day.”
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