Center for Human Rights in Iran:

In a forceful statement issued by the UN’s top human rights expert on August 29, 2025, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk demanded that the Islamic Republic of Iran immediately cease all executions and impose a moratorium on the death penalty.

Turk noted that “the high number of executions [in Iran] indicates a systematic pattern of using the death penalty as a tool of State intimidation, with disproportionate targeting of ethnic minorities and migrants.”

At least 841 people were executed in Iran in 2025 so far—making it the world’s second leading executor after China, and the top per capita executor.

The application of the death penalty in Iran violates every single law, standard, and norm regarding capital punishment. In the Islamic Republic, the death penalty is issued:

- After sham trials in which independent counsel, the right to mount a defense, and every other aspect of due process have been blatantly denied;

- For drug offenses that do not meet the international threshold of “most serious crimes”;

- Disproportionately against members of Iran’s minority communities;
Against juvenile offenders, despite the absolute prohibition;

- For vague religious and political charges that are impermissible and increasingly used in political cases as a means to silence dissent.

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