Executions in Iran doubled in 2025 — marking a 36-year high: report

Caitlin McCormack / NEW YORK POST

The Iranian regime executed more than 1,600 people last year — marking a three decade high not seen since the end of the Islamic Republic’s war against Iraq in 1989.

The shocking figures were included in a joint report released by the nonprofit Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty, which estimated that in 2025 at least four people were put to death each day in Iran.

In total, at least 1,639 were executed in Iran last year, the highest reported number since the post-war bloodbath in 1989, where an estimated 1,700 political prisoners were executed, according to the report. 

It’s not clear how many of the executions were done publicly.

Most of last year’s prisoners were hanged for drug-related offenses or murder at ostensibly higher rates compared to 2024. Drug-related convictions resulting in death saw a 58% increase, while murder convictions — which almost always leads to execution — jumped a staggering 79%, according to the report. Read more here.