Hundreds of Iranian activists condemned Tehran’s alarming use of the death penalty – after a coalition of dissident groups reported the hangings of 280 people, including children, in October alone.
The record number is twice as many as the same period in 2024, and a death toll not seen in three decades. Among those hanged in October were 36 women and six children, the National Council of Resistance of Iran noted — and in the seven months from March to October of this year, a record 1,135 people were executed by Tehran.
The Islamic Republic is “turning executions into a tool of control and repression with unprecedented intensity,” read a statement released by 800 Iranian activists Friday, including political prisoners.
The uptick is evidence of the “moral and legal collapse of the judiciary and its blatant disregard for human dignity,” it added.
The October body count represents one hanging every two and a half hours, noted the NCRI, who released the figures.
“The scale of these criminal executions, especially in the 21st century when most countries have abolished the death penalty, wounds the conscience of contemporary humanity,” blasted Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the coalition.
“With this unprecedented bloodshed and the creation of an atmosphere of terror, Khamenei is futilely trying to prevent the formation of a popular uprising,” she added in reference to the regime’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Human rights groups have been sounding the alarm in recent months over the silencing of dissents and the rise in executions against a backdrop of mounting civilian frustration over skyrocketing inflation and shortages of basic goods like energy and water.
Iran declared one of its largest private banks, Ayandeh Bank, bankrupt Friday, seizing its assets after it racked up $2.9 billion in debt, as scores of panicked customers could be seen lining up outside branches on Saturday.
The UN also recently reimposed “snapback” economic sanctions on Tehran after its nuclear watchdog, The International Atomic Energy Agency, found in June that it was in violation of the 2015 nuclear non-proliferation pact.
Amnesty International urged the international community to step in earlier this month, saying many executions followed “grossly unfair trials held behind closed doors, amid widespread patterns of torture and forced confessions.”
“UN Member states must confront the Iranian authorities’ shocking execution spree with the urgency it demands,” the organization said in a statement.
Amnesty International estimates more than 1,000 executions in Iran this year.
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