On January 7, 2025, Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed grave concerns regarding the increasing number of executions in Iran, reporting at least 901 executions in 2024. This figure includes approximately 40 executions within a single week in December.
Türk stated, "It is very concerning to note that the number of executions in Iran is rising each year," urging the Iranian government to halt this trend. In comparison, Iranian authorities executed 853 individuals in 2023.
The UN indicated that the majority of those executed in 2024 were sentenced to death for drug-related offenses, alongside dissenters and protesters involved in the 2022-2023 demonstrations. The UN also noted a rise in the number of women executed, with at least 31 women recorded in 2024, marking a new high since Iran Human Rights, a Norwegian NGO, began documenting death penalty cases in 2008.
According to various human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Iran is the leading country in executing individuals, excluding China, for which no statistics are available.
In Iran, the qisas law mandates that murder must be compensated by the loss of another life unless the victim's family forgives or accepts compensation. Türk reiterated, "We oppose the death penalty under any circumstances, as it is incompatible with the fundamental right to life and poses an unacceptable risk of executing innocent people." The UN reports that around 170 countries have abolished or imposed a moratorium on the death penalty.
Human rights advocates suspect that Iranian authorities are leveraging capital punishment to instill fear within society, particularly following the protests that challenged the regime in 2022 and 2023.