According to two rights groups on Tuesday, Iran carried out a “staggering” total of at least 834 executions last year—the highest number since 2015—as the death penalty increased in the Islamic republic.
Iran has executed more people by hanging in recent years than it did in 2022—a rise of almost 43%.
After 972 executions in 2015, it was only the second time in 20 years that more than 800 executions were reported in a single year, according to a joint report by Together Against the Death Penalty, based in Paris, and Iran Human Rights (IHR), located in Norway.
The groups accused Iran of using the death penalty to spread fear throughout society in the wake of the protests sparked by the September 2022 death in police custody of Mahsa Amini that shook the authorities.
“Instilling societal fear is the regime’s only way to hold on to power, and the death penalty is its most important instrument,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam in the report, which described the figure of 834 as a “staggering total”.
According to rights groups, Iran has executed nine men in instances connected to attacks on security personnel during the protests in 2022—two in 2022, six in 2023, and one so far in 2024.
However, the number of executions on other crimes has increased, particularly in drug-related cases, which had decreased previously.
“Of particular concern is the dramatic escalation in the number of drug- related executions in 2023, which rose to 471 people, more than 18 times higher than the figures recorded in 2020,” said the report.
It stated that people who belong to ethnic minorities are “grossly overrepresented among those executed” on drug-related accusations. One such group is the Sunni Baluch, who are from southeast Iran.
Despite making up only approximately 5% of Iran’s population, at least 167 members of the Baluch minority were executed in total in 2023, making up 20% of all executions.
