Death Verdicts in Iran Reach 12-Month Peak

The number of people given capital punishment across Iran reached a 12-month high in January, with at least 35 people being sentenced to death during that month, the activist HRANA news agency reported.

As many as 86 individuals were executed in January, it also said, stressing that capital punishment in Iran is “routinely imposed following trials that fall short of due process guarantees, in a judicial system that lacks transparency and impartiality, and for crimes that do not amount to the most serious crimes under international law.”

In recent weeks, the sharp rise in executions in the country sparked passionate calls from Iranian civil society to abolish the death penalty, with the hashtag #NoToExecution being increasingly popular among social media users.

In a joint statement published earlier this week, more than 430 Iranian civil and political activists said the increasing use of the death penalty was driven by “a desire for retribution, instilling fear and asserting power."

United Nations experts said last month that at least 834 people were executed last year, including eight people associated with the 2022-23 uprising, and urged the Iranian government to “stop this horrific wave of executions.”