More than 2,000 people were executed in Iran over the past year — about one every 4.35 hours — according to a new report that found a 29% increase in executions. The nonprofit Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said in a report released this month that its findings “point to a sharp intensification in executions, continued secrecy surrounding implementation of death sentences, and an increase in political and security-related executions.” HRANA documented at least 2,003 executions across Iran between Oct.
10, 2025, and Oct. 8, 2026, based on 1,857 reports. During the same period, HRANA documented death sentences issued to 230 people. There were 1,553 executions recorded in the 2024-2025 reporting period. Data from HRA’s Statistics Center shows that executions in Iran have increased each year beginning with the 2019-2020 reporting period, when there were 249 executions. "The current total was also more than 182% above the average of 710 executions across the ten reporting periods," the report notes.
"This trajectory places the current one-year increase within a longer pattern of escalation. Continued restrictions on access to official information, together with the very high share of unannounced executions, mean that the documented figures should be understood as the minimum that could be independently verified rather than necessarily the complete number of executions carried out,” the group said. At least 16 of those sentenced to death were women, and six were sentenced to public execution.
Iran’s Supreme Court upheld 74 of the 230 sentences. Of those executed, 57.6% had been convicted of murder and 36.3% of drug-related offenses, according to HRANA. Together, the two categories accounted for more than 93% of recorded executions. HRANA also documented 69 executions on political or security-related charges, including cases tied to protests. Of those, 35 were connected to the protests in January 2026, according