At Least 685 Prisoners Executed in the First Half of 2025
6-July-2025
Category: executions
5 July 2025
News Category: Executions
Breathing in Confinement – According to the latest report from the Statistics Centre of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, at least 685 prisoners have been executed in various prisons across Iran during the first half of 2025.
Breathing in Confinement, the Statistics Centre of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran publishes monthly reports on the state of capital punishment in the Islamic Republic based on verified data from reliable sources inside the country.
According to this report, at least 107 prisoners were hanged in different prisons across Iran in June 2025. This figure is not only one of the highest monthly counts this year, but also a clear indication of the ongoing and intensified trend of systematic killings under the guise of law — a trend that has escalated in recent months.
This wave of executions has occurred against a backdrop of internal instability and external war. In June, a 12-day conflict broke out following an Israeli attack on Iran, endangering the lives and security of millions across various provinces. Yet, despite the crisis, no official state of emergency was declared, no public shelters were made available, and no basic civil defence training was provided to civilians.
In such a climate of civic vulnerability and governmental inaction, the continuation and intensification of capital punishment is not only an added form of repression, but has also become a primary tool for the regime to demonstrate power over a suppressed and anxious society. In this context, executions no longer serve as legal instruments for delivering justice, but rather as weapons for instilling fear, distracting public attention from governmental failures, and consolidating a violence-based grip on power.
From the start of 2025 to the end of June, at least 685 prisoners have been executed in Iran — a figure that marks a significant increase compared to the same period in 2024. This current trajectory reflects a political will to persist and expand the use of executions.
This report provides a statistical breakdown of executions in June by location (city and province), gender of executed prisoners, type of charge, ethnicity, and nationality, and compares it with the same period last year. The aim is to shed light on the structural dimensions of judicial and security violence exercised under the cover of national law against society.
The Islamic Republic and Systematic Violations of International Obligations Regarding the Right to Life
While the international community increasingly moves toward abolishing the death penalty and replacing it with more humane mechanisms, the Islamic Republic of Iran remains one of the few states that ranks at the top of global execution statistics. The Iranian government’s official policy relies on the use of capital punishment as a tool of social control and political repression — a policy that clearly contradicts its international obligations.
Specific Cases of Violated Commitments
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
Despite this treaty’s guarantee of the right to life and fair trial, death sentences in Iran are frequently issued based on coerced confessions, torture, or legal proceedings that lack transparency.
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
Although the execution of minors is explicitly prohibited by this treaty, Iran continues to carry out death sentences against individuals who were under the age of 18 at the time of their alleged crimes.
UN Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty
These principles permit the death penalty only for the most serious crimes and only after a full and fair trial that respects the maximum rights of the accused. Such conditions are almost never met within the Iranian judicial system.
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
Iran is not a signatory to this convention, but judicial treatment of women facing execution reveals deep-rooted structural discrimination and institutionalised gender bias.
Secrecy and Censorship
Of the 107 executions recorded in June 2025, only 19 were officially announced by judicial authorities or state media. This means that more than 82% of executions in this month were carried out secretly and without transparency. This level of concealment violates the right to access public information and is designed to avoid international accountability and to obscure the true scope of state violence.
This report is just one link in a chain of human rights documentation efforts aimed at accurately portraying reality, defending victims, and applying legal and media pressure on the human rights–violating regime in Iran.
Silence ensures the continuation of this pattern, while exposure is the first step in confronting it.
Comprehensive Analysis of Executions
According to data from the Statistics Centre of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, at least 107 prisoners were executed in Iranian prisons in June 2025, averaging more than 3 executions per day, or 1 every 8 hours. With these figures included, the total number of documented executions in the first half of 2025 reaches 685.
Among those executed were at least 23 women, two of whom were hanged in June. Compared to the same period in the previous year, this pace represents an accelerated and deliberate increase in judicial violence. This surge in executions is unfolding while the Iranian public is grappling with multiple crises — in livelihood, energy supply, healthcare, and governance including repeated power outages, severe shortages of drinking water resources, an unprecedented rise in the prices of essential goods, and runaway inflation — such conditions create the groundwork for public dissatisfaction and social unrest. In this context, it appears that the Islamic Republic has resorted to judicial repression and the death penalty as tools for intimidation and social control, with the aim of containing public anger.
Executions Related to National Security Charges During the 12-Day War
During the 12-day war in June 2025, and in blatant violation of international human rights law, at least six prisoners were executed on charges of espionage for Israel. These individuals had been arrested years earlier, and their trials were marred by serious legal irregularities and their appeals process was not properly completed.
Among them were three Kurdish cross-border couriers (kolbars):
- Idris Ali
- Azad Shojaei
- Rasoul Ahmad Mohammad
All three were executed by hanging in Urmia Central Prison.
Carrying out these executions during an active war and national security crisis, without public notification and in direct violation of international humanitarian law, especially the principle of non-execution during emergencies, is not only a total disregard for the right to life, but also a politically motivated use of the death penalty as a show of force during internal and external crises.
Statistical Overview
The below diagram outlines trends in executions over the first six months of 2025.
While a slight decrease in total executions in June compared to previous months may be observed, it must be noted that Iran was engaged in a 12-day war during this time which ended up in an extraordinary situation in judiciary and security system. Despite this, executions continued with complete disregard for fundamental human rights. This persistence reflects the systematic and political use of the death penalty by the Islamic Republic — even during wartime — as a means of maintaining fear, projecting power, and controlling internal unrest.
The silence of the international community in the face of such organised violence, especially executions, is unjustifiable. The impunity of institutions like Iran’s judiciary must be challenged and brought to an end.
The international community has a duty to demand an end to judicial immunity for those responsible for human rights violations, and to establish effective mechanisms for documentation, monitoring, legal accountability, and justice. Only a firm and unified international response can bring an end to the growing wave of executions in Iran and hold the regime accountable for its politically motivated killings.
Analysis by Type of Charges
As in previous months, executions in June 2025 were carried out for a wide range of charges, including:
- Drug-related offences
- Murder
- Political and national security charges
- Espionage
- Moharebeh (waging war against God) and armed robbery
- Rape
This variety of charges, particularly the prominent number of politically and security-motivated cases, shows that the death penalty in Iran is not merely a criminal punishment tool, but a mechanism for maintaining authoritarian rule through structural violence.
The pie chart below displays the distribution of executions by charge type:
According to this chart:
- 53 prisoners were executed for drug-related offences
- 36 prisoners were executed for murder (Qisas)
Together, these two categories made up over 80% of all executions in June.
Executions for drug-related charges are among the most systematically carried out and least transparent forms of judicial violence in Iran. This policy has continued for years under global silence, without transparency or accountability.
Field research and documented data show that most of those executed were not major traffickers, but rather small-scale users or street-level sellers, many of whom were drawn into the cycle of crime due to extreme poverty, lack of social support, school dropouts, and no access to addiction treatment.
In contrast, large-scale drug trafficking networks — which, according to numerous reports, operate under the protection or involvement of entities like the IRGC and security agencies — remain untouched. No high-ranking officials or collaborators in these networks have been arrested, charged, or tried.
Moreover, reports and reliable testimonies indicate that the arrest, interrogation, and sentencing processes for many of these prisoners were riddled with violations of fair trial standards, including:
- No access to independent legal counsel
- Brief, closed trials lacking transparency
- Forced confessions obtained under torture or psychological pressure
These have been common patterns in drug-related cases that have ended in execution.
Overview of Executions in the First Half of 2025
The bar chart below presents an overall picture of executions during the first half of 2025:
Only in June, 107 executions were recorded, carried out in 33 different prisons across the country. As in previous months, the highest number of executions occurred in Karaj, which has two major prisons.
Qezel Hesar Prison accounted for the highest number of executions nationwide.
The chart below depicts the geographic distribution of executions by prison:
Analysis by Characteristics of Those Executed
Execution of Foreign Nationals
According to recorded data, the Islamic Republic of Iran executed at least 11 Afghan nationals in June 2025, accounting for approximately 11% of all executions that month. These executions have occurred amid a wider wave of repression following the 12-day war, during which thousands of Afghan asylum seekers have been subjected to arbitrary arrest, forced deportation, and the risk of execution.
In recent weeks, credible reports have emerged regarding the arrest of dozens of Afghan nationals, accused of crimes such as espionage and threatening national security charges that, within the Iranian judiciary, are typically associated with opaque legal processes, a lack of transparency, and swift issuance of death sentences.
Meanwhile, the mass forced deportation of hundreds of thousands of Afghan migrants in recent months — carried out without proper refugee assessments, access to legal recourse, or due process — has led to what many are calling a silent humanitarian catastrophe. This policy not only violates core principles of international refugee law, but also reflects a cruel, security-driven, and discriminatory approach by Iranian authorities toward one of the region’s most vulnerable migrant populations.
The execution of foreign nationals in such a crisis context constitutes a clear violation of Iran’s obligations under international law, including:
- Articles 14 and 15 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
- Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963)
- Standards protecting the rights of undocumented migrants
Under these international frameworks, states are obligated to ensure that foreign detainees have access to legal representation, translation services, and communication with their consular authorities from the time of arrest. However, documented reports show that in most of these cases, Afghan prisoners were denied access to legal counsel, prevented from contacting their diplomatic representatives, and condemned to death in opaque, irregular legal proceedings.
This approach not only violates the principles of fair trial and international protections for migrants, but also demonstrates how the regime uses migrant populations as disposable tools in its broader strategy of repression, crisis manipulation, and denial of justice.
The international community and organisations defending migrant rights must respond with urgency and resolve before this new wave of executions is buried in silence and forgotten. It must be stopped.
Gender
According to data collected by the Statistics Centre of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, at least 2 women were executed in June 2025. In total, 23 women have been executed in Iran in the first half of 2025.
Names of Women Executed in June 2025:
- Masoumeh Karbakhsh, mother of two – Kerman Prison
- Talaat Sabzi, 47 years old – Qom Prison
State Secrecy
The pie chart below illustrates the percentage of officially reported executions versus secret executions:
In June 2025, based on data collected and verified by the Statistics Centre of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, at least 107 executions were carried out across Iranian prisons. However, only 19 of these executions were reported by official state media or judiciary channels.
This indicates a systematic effort to conceal the majority of executions, further reflecting the regime’s strategy of avoiding accountability, maintaining public fear, and manipulating the narrative surrounding the scale and scope of state violence.