Iran has executed at least 1,000 people in 2025 – NGO

Iran has executed at least 1,000 people so far in 2025, an NGO said on Tuesday, denouncing a “mass killing campaign” in prisons in the Islamic republic.

At least 64 executions took place in the past week alone, an average of more than nine hangings per day, said the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) group, which counts and verifies executions in Iran on a daily basis.

With more than three months of 2025 still to go, the figure is already the highest since IHR began keeping records in 2008, topping the 975 executions recorded last year.

“Any dialogue between countries committed to the foundations of human rights and the Islamic republic that does not include the execution crisis in Iran is unacceptable.”

IHR emphasised that its figures for executions are “an absolute minimum”, with the real number likely higher “due to the lack of transparency and restrictions on reporting”.

Executions in Iran are currently carried out exclusively by hanging, although other methods have been used in past.

Most executions take place in prison, although there are occasional public hangings.

According to human rights groups including Amnesty International, Iran is the world’s second most prolific executioner after China, which is believed to execute thousands each year although no precise figures are available.