Iranian authorities executed at least 1,639 people in 2025, marking the highest number since 1989 and a 68 percent increase from the 975 executions recorded in 2024, according to two human rights organizations. The groups described the figure as a minimum estimate, averaging more than four executions per day, and warned that capital punishment is being used to instill fear and suppress dissent.

The report said dozens of those executed were women, the highest number in more than two decades, with many convicted of killing spouses in situations rights advocates say often involved abuse. Nearly half of all executions were linked to drug-related offenses. Public hangings also more than tripled compared with the previous year, though most executions were carried out inside prisons.

The organizations cautioned that hundreds of detained protesters remain at risk of death sentences following unrest in January 2026 and a subsequent crackdown. They also highlighted concerns that ethnic and religious minorities, including Kurdish and Baluch communities, are disproportionately targeted, describing the death penalty as a tool of political repression, even during the ongoing war involving Israel and the United States.