In brief
The United Nations human rights experts have condemned Iran's alarming rise in executions, reporting over 1,000 killings in just the first nine months of 2025. The majority of these executions are related to drug offenses, raising serious ethical and legal questions. The experts urge the international community to take decisive diplomatic action against Iran's execution practices, deemed a severe violation of human rights. The officials' warning comes amidst Iran's ongoing campaign against alleged spies and drug offenders, underscoring a significant humanitarian crisis.
UN human rights experts have said they are appalled by a dramatic escalation in the number of executions in Iran, with more than 1,000 people killed during the first nine months of 2025.
The sheer scale of executions in Iran is staggering and represents a grave violation of the right to life, the five special rapporteurs warned in a joint statement.
They noted that half of the known executions were for drug-related offences and that nine hangings per day on average had been documented in recent weeks.
There was no immediate comment from Iran. But the government has previously defended its use of the death penalty, saying it is limited to only the most severe crimes.
It comes on the same day as Iran said a man accused of spying for Israel had been executed.
The judiciary's Mizan news agency named him as Bahman Choubi Asl and reported that he was a database expert who worked on sensitive telecommunications projects and was a trusted spy of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, without providing any evidence.
He was hanged on Monday after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal against his conviction on the charge of corruption on Earth, it added.
Mizan did not say when Asl was arrested, and his case had not previously been reported by Iranian media or human rights groups.
He was the 11th man convicted of spying for Israel to be executed by Iran this year, with 10 of the executions carried out since the 12-day war between the two countries in June.
Last week, Amnesty International and the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights said they had documented the executions of 1,000 people in Iran since January - already surpassing last year's reported total of 975.
According to Iran Human Rights, 50% of those executed this year were accused of drug-related charges; 43% of murder; 3% of the security-related charges of armed rebellion against the state, corruption on Earth and enmity against God; and 1% of spying.
They included 28 women, 58 Afghan nationals and what Amnesty described as a disproportionate number of people from minority communities.
Both groups said the executions followed routinely unfair trials that were marred by allegations of torture and other ill-treatment.
Iran appears to be conducting executions at an industrial scale that defies all accepted standards of human rights protection, the UN special rapporteurs on human rights in Iran, arbitrary executions, minority issues, torture and other cruel punishment, and human rights in Afghanistan, warned on Monday.
The hanging of 499 people for drug-related offences was particularly alarming, they added.
International law restricts capital punishment to only the most serious crimes. Drug offences do not meet this threshold, the experts warned.
Iran Human Rights reported on Sunday that more than 500 people convicted of drug-related offences were currently on death row at Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj alone, and that their sentences were all at the implementation stage.
The UN experts said the international community could not remain silent in the face of such systemic violations and that states must take concrete diplomatic action to pressure Iran to halt this execution spree.
