Iran has executed at least 1,000 people in a “mass killing campaign” over the past nine months, it has been revealed.
The campaign of hangings carried out between January and September was the highest number in more than three decades, rights groups said.
The Norway-based Iran Human Rights organisation (IHR), which tracks executions, said at least 64 executions happened in the past week alone, averaging more than nine hangings per day.
With more than three months remaining in 2025, the figure already surpasses the 975 executions recorded in 2024 and is the highest total since the group’s records began in 2008.
“The Islamic Republic has begun a mass killing campaign in Iran’s prisons, the dimensions of which, in the absence of serious international reactions, are expanding every day,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.
Iran previously conducted extensive executions in the 1980s and early 1990s following the 1979 Islamic Revolution and during the Iran-Iraq war.
However, activists say the country now uses capital punishment more intensely than at any other time in the past three decades following its 12-day war with Israel.
The judiciary chief said last month that the Islamic Republic will deal “decisively and legally” with suspected spies, hours after the execution of a man who was accused of spying for Israel.
“We will definitely deal decisively and legally with spies, but it should be noted that identifying them is not easy and requires intelligence techniques,” Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje’i said.
Mohseni Eje’i said several people accused of cooperating with what he called “the Zionist regime” have been arrested and punished after trial in recent weeks.
He claimed that, even if some were arrested before the war, their cases had been expedited.
Iran is also preparing new legislation aimed at toughening espionage penalties.
Experts say Iran uses regional conflicts as a cover to intensify executions for domestic repression and instil fear.
Most executions are carried out by hanging in prisons, though occasional public hangings happen.
The executions target various offences, including drug-related crimes, murder, and political activities deemed threatening to state security.
Mr Amiry-Moghaddam said the executions “amount to crimes against humanity and must be placed at the top of the international community’s agenda”.
He called any dialogue between Western countries and Iran that excludes the execution crisis “unacceptable”.
The group added that its figures are “an absolute minimum,” adding that the real number is likely higher due to Iran’s lack of transparency and restrictions on reporting executions.
Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s president, is attending the UN General Assembly in New York this week, where he is expected to give a speech tomorrow.
Discussions will likely focus on Iran’s nuclear programme after the Security Council voted to reimpose sanctions.
However, human rights advocates argue that the execution crisis should dominate international discussions with Iranian officials.
According to Amnesty International and other human rights organisations, Iran ranks as the world’s second-most prolific executioner after China.
While China is believed to execute thousands annually, precise figures remain unavailable due to state secrecy.