Iran executed ‘staggering total’ of 834 people last year, say rights groups

The number of executions which Iran has carried out by hanging in recent years was up some 43 per cent on 2022, France 24 reports.

According to the report, it marked only the second time in two decades that over 800 executions were recorded in a year, after 972 executions in 2015, Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty said in the joint report.

The groups accused Iran of using the death penalty to spread fear throughout society in the wake of the protests sparked by the September 2022 death in police custody of Mahsa Amini that shook the authorities.

“Instilling societal fear is the regime’s only way to hold on to power, and the death penalty is its most important instrument,” said IHR Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam in the report, which described the figure of 834 as a “staggering total”.

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