Execution Crisis in Iran: At Least 142 Executions in August 2025

August 2025 Executions at a Glance:

• At least 142 executions were recorded
• Only 5 of the executions (under 4%) were reported by official sources
• 76 people (54%) were on death row for drug-related offences
• 62 people were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder
• 2 people were executed for the security-related charges of moharebeh (enmity against god) and efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth), one for espionage for Israel and the other for “extensive activity in the takfiri and terrorist group ISIS”
• 2 people were on death row for rape charges
• 4 women were executed
• 11 Baluch (under 8%), 6 Kurdish and 3 Ahvazi Arabs were amongst those executed
• 5 Afghan nationals were executed
• 2 of the executions were carried out in public spaces

At least 864 executions were recorded in the first eight months of 2025, a 100% increase compared to the same period in 2024 when 432 executions were recorded. Of the 864 executions, 426 were on death row for drug-related offences, 375 were sentenced to qisas for murder, 37 for the security-related charges of efsad-fil-arz, baghy (armed rebellion) and moharebeh, and 26 for rape charges. Of those, only 61 or 7% were announced by official sources. 

23 women, 49 Afghan nationals, an Iraqi national and a man only referred to as a “foreign national” were amongst those executed. Nine of those executed for security-related charges were accused of espionage for Israel and two political prisoners were executed for affiliation with banned opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK). Seven of the executions were carried out in public spaces.

On 29 August, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a statement about the increasing number of executions in Iran, stating that “the high number of executions indicates a systematic pattern of using death penalty as a tool of State intimidation, with disproportionate targeting of ethnic minorities and migrants.” The UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk called on Iran “to impose a moratorium on the application of the capital punishment, as a step towards its abolition.”