Setayesh Mohammadpour, a 52-year-old woman from Jahrom County, was executed at dawn on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Adelabad Prison in Shiraz.
Mohammadpour, the mother of two children aged 8 and 11, had been sentenced to death approximately three years ago on charges related to drug offenses.
At the time of publication, the execution of Setayesh Mohammadpour had not been officially announced or confirmed by Iran’s state media or judicial authorities.
With the execution of Setayesh Mohammadpour at Adelabad Prison in Shiraz, the number of women executed in the 2026 calendar year has risen to sixteen.
A Systemic Cycle of Violence and Injustice
Women sentenced to death by the Iranian regime are often trapped in a continuous cycle of violence and defenselessness. They are the primary victims of discriminatory laws, domestic abuse, poverty, and a corrupt judicial structure that offers them absolutely no legal protection.
Furthermore, women executed for drug-related offenses are frequently forced into trafficking by male family members. Meanwhile, the primary smuggling networks and drug cartels remain under the control of syndicates tied to the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which pocket massive profits and enjoy complete immunity.
Iran, the world record holder in executing women
According to data recorded by the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, at least 344 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.
Since Masoud Pezeshkian took office, the clerical regime has executed 3,888 prisoners, including 104 women.
According to the NCRI sources, in 2025 alone, more than 2,201 executions were recorded in Iran, more than double the number carried out in 2024 (1,006).
Amnesty International confirmed in its annual report that Iran’s ruling dictatorship carried out at least 2,159 executions in 2025, the highest documented annual execution rate worldwide since 1981.
The NCRI Women’s Committee calls on the United Nations and relevant agencies, the European Union and its member states, as well as all human rights defenders, to take effective measures to halt the rampant executions in Iran.
