View of Iran’s capital Tehran. UN human rights chief alarmed by rise in executions in Iran Human Rights
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has expressed deep concern over a sharp increase in executions in Iran last year. The country is reported to have carried out at least 901 executions in 2024, including nearly 40 in just one week in December. By comparison, Iran has carried out 853 executions in 2023, according to available data.
“I am extremely concerned that the number of executions in Iran continues to increase year after year,” Türk said, calling for an end to the trend.
Most of the death sentences in 2024 were for drug-related offences, but the country also executed dissidents and protesters from 2022. In addition, the number of women executed has increased.
“We oppose the death penalty in all circumstances,” the High Commissioner emphasized. “It is incompatible with the fundamental right to life and carries an unacceptable risk of executing innocent people. Furthermore, the death penalty can never be applied for acts protected by international human rights law.”
Türk called on the Iranian authorities to immediately stop executions and introduce a moratorium on the death penalty, with a view to abolishing it altogether.
To date, some 170 States have either completely abolished the death penalty or introduced a moratorium on its use.