Iran Human Rights says Iran has executed at least 1,000 people in 2025, calling it a “mass killing campaign” and urging international action.
Iran has executed at least 1,000 people so far in 2025, marking the highest annual toll since monitoring began in 2008, according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) group. The NGO said Tuesday that 64 executions occurred in the past week alone, averaging more than nine per day. “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,” IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam stated. He added the executions “amount to crimes against humanity and must be placed at the top of the international community’s agenda.” IHR warned its figures are “an absolute minimum,” citing lack of transparency. Most executions are by hanging inside prisons, though public hangings occur occasionally. The surge follows years of political unrest and precedes President Masoud Pezeshkian’s expected appearance at the UN General Assembly, where Iran’s nuclear program and human rights record are likely to dominate discussions.