In an execution spree, the clerical regime hanged nine women in just over a month in Iran
Between July 30 and September 5, 2025, the Iranian regime executed nine women in just over a month. This shocking spree, targeting women accused of so-called “ordinary crimes,” marks an unprecedented rate of executions under the clerical regime since the massacre of political prisoners in the 1980s, especially in 1988.
Since Masoud Pezeshkian assumed the presidency on July 28, 2024, the regime has executed more than 1,700 people, among them several political prisoners. The acceleration of executions is stark when measured against past presidencies:
- Before Ebrahim Raisi took office, the regime averaged 15 women executed per year.
- Under Raisi, the number rose to 21 women per year.
- Under Pezeshkian, in just the first eight months of 2025, at least 33 women have been executed.
Iran holds the grim record of being the world’s top executioner of women. No other government in the world has executed so many women. This figure does not even include the tens of thousands of women executed on political grounds since the 1980s.
Tragically, many of the women sent to the gallows are themselves victims of domestic violence who acted in self-defense. Yet, the clerical regime wields the death penalty with alarming frequency and cruelty, targeting not only women but also religious and ethnic minorities, political dissidents, and vulnerable communities in a discriminatory manner.
Silence in the face of these crimes is not neutrality—it is complicity. The international community’s inaction emboldens a fragile yet ruthless regime, encouraging it to continue executions while fueling its export of terrorism, regional aggression, and nuclear ambitions.
Our Demands
We call upon the UN Human Rights Council, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special Rapporteurs, the European Union, governments, and all relevant institutions to:
- Issue explicit and public condemnation of executions and incitement to killing.
- Take effective and practical measures, not just diplomatic statements.
- Immediately deploy an independent international fact-finding mission to Iran.
- Condition all negotiations, political, and economic relations with the regime on the cessation of executions and the release of political prisoners.
- Pursue the legal accountability of perpetrators and commanders of these crimes to end their impunity.
The message is clear: silence is complicity in crime. The United Nations, world governments, international bodies, and all voices of conscience bear a historic responsibility.
The time for action is now—before it is too late.
