Two women, Mahtab Bayati in Vakilabad Prison (Mashhad) and 52-year-old Nahid Jokar in Adelabad Prison (Shiraz), were executed on drug-related charges.
On the morning of Wednesday, July 30, 2025, Mahtab Bayati was executed in the Central Prison of Mashhad. Less than 24 hours later, in the early hours of Thursday, July 31, Nahid Jokar was hanged in Adelabad Prison in Shiraz.
Both women had been sentenced to death following legal proceedings that, according to informed sources, lacked transparency and failed to meet standards of due process. No official announcement of their executions has been made by Iranian judicial authorities or prison officials at the time of this report.
These executions come amid growing international concern over Iran’s escalating use of the death penalty—particularly against women, minorities, and individuals accused of non-violent crimes.
With the execution of Mahtab Bayati and Nahid Jokar, the number of women executed in Iran in 2025 has risen to 26 in just seven months.
Iran: The World’s Leading Executioner of Women
Iran holds the grim record for the highest number of women executed globally. According to data compiled by the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), at least 289 women have been executed in Iran since 2007.
Many of the women executed by the Iranian regime are themselves victims of domestic violence and discriminatory family laws. A significant number have acted in self-defense.
The number of women executed in Iran saw a sharp rise in 2024. At least 34 women were hanged last year, with 23 of these executions occurring after Masoud Pezeshkian took office.
In the Iranian calendar Year 1403, at least 38 women were executed in Iran, marking a disturbing 90% increase compared to the previous year.
During one year since Pezeshkian took office in late July 2024, the number of execution victims in Iran has surpassed 1,500. While the total number of executions in the entire 2024 was over 1,000.
These figures reinforce the reality that, regardless of who holds the presidency, the Iranian regime continues to trample on the rights of its people, especially women.
