Iran has carried out at least 1,000 executions in 2025, a record high since 2008, sparking accusations from NGOs of a “mass killing campaign” intensified in prisons amid limited international response.
According to Norway-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR), Iran has executed at least 1,000 people so far in 2025, marking the highest number since the NGO began recording executions in 2008. Over 64 executions occurred in just one week recently—averaging more than nine hangings per day.
Human rights activists warn that Iran is now carrying out capital punishment more intensely than at any period in the past three decades. IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said, “In recent months the Islamic republic has begun a mass killing campaign in Iran’s prisons, the dimensions of which — in the absence of serious international reactions — are expanding every day.”
The NGO emphasised that its figure is “an absolute minimum”, noting that the real number of executions is likely higher due to restricted transparency and reporting. Executions are being carried out by hanging, mostly in prisons though occasionally in public.