As we approach the World and Europe Day Against the Death Penalty, we urge the international community to take decisive action to halt executions in Iran and support the international campaign, “No to Executions” in Iran.
For years, Iran has held the world record for the execution of women and boasts the highest per capita execution rate globally.
The death penalty serves as a lifeline for the clerical regime, a mechanism for its survival. The regime’s killing machine operates at full speed, aiming to instill fear in an embittered society and prevent the next uprising, which is already in the making.
A Grim Toll: 31 Women Executed in the Past Year, 22 in 2024
According to the data recorded by the NCRI Women’s Committee, the number of women executed in Iran has sharply increased over the past year, with 31 executions recorded between October 2023 and October 2024. This marks a troubling rise from previous years, up from 19 women executed in 2022–2023 and 21 in 2021–2022.
The current year’s figure is particularly alarming, surpassing the average rate of 21 executions under Ebrahim Raisi by 10 and doubling the annual average of 15 under former president Hassan Rouhani.
Given the clandestine nature of executions and the lack of public announcement by the judiciary, it is evident that the actual number is higher than reported.
This surge underscores the Iranian regime’s growing use of capital punishment, including against women—an escalation in human rights abuses now seen under the administration of Masoud Pezeshkian.
It further proves that regardless of who holds the presidency, the rights of the Iranian people, especially women, continue to be trampled. At least 255 prisoners have been executed since July 2024, when Pezeshkian took office.
The number of women executed in Iran since the beginning of 2024 amounts to 22. Eleven of these executions were carried out during Masoud Pezeshkian’s term. The total number of executions in Iran in 2024 has reached 559, so far.
No to Executions Tuesdays Campaign
According to the internal documents exposed by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), at least 5,000 prisoners in Iran face the death penalty. Among them, dozens of political prisoners.
This year, the regime handed down death sentences for two women, Pakhshan Azizi and Sharifeh Mohammadi, both rights activists.
It has also sentenced to death at least ten political prisoners, all supporters of the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), in September and October.
Despite the escalating repression, the demand for justice remains robust. In protest against the clerical regime’s execution spree, Iranian political prisoners have launched a campaign titled “No to Executions Tuesdays,” which has been ongoing for 37 weeks since February and has spread to 22 prisons across the country.
They stage a hunger strike every Tuesday, demanding an end to the use of executions as a tool for suppressing dissent. They also urge the international community to take a stand against the regime’s atrocities.
Iran, the Leading Executioner of Women
The NCRI Women’s Committee, highlighting the persistent violation of women’s rights in Iran and the ongoing fight for freedom and equality, has marked October 10 annually as a day to remind the world of the harsh reality that Iran’s regime is the foremost executor of women globally.
The Iranian authorities use the death penalty liberally, often targeting religious and ethnic minorities, political dissidents, and women in a distinctly discriminatory manner. This practice openly defies international standards, which call for alternatives to incarceration for women, recognizing their vital roles as mothers and caretakers. Yet in Iran, women are not only imprisoned—they are executed.
The Iranian Resistance continues to advocate for abolishing the death penalty, ending torture, and stopping all forms of human rights abuses in Iran.
On World Day Against the Death Penalty, we emphasize the plight of women who face execution under the Iranian regime, calling on the global community to apply pressure on the Iranian regime to cease these punishments, especially against women.
We also call for the prosecution of Ali Khamenei, the mullahs’ supreme leader, as the primary official responsible for this ongoing cycle of executions in Iran.
