Hadiqeh Abadi, an Afghan national, was executed at dawn on Thursday, September 11, 2025, in Qazvin Prison alongside her husband, Younes Mazaarshams.
Hadiqeh Abadi, the mother of three children, had lived in Iran for the past two decades. She and her husband were arrested four years ago on drug-related charges and subsequently sentenced to death. Prior to their arrest, the couple had been working as caretakers in the city of Taleqan, in Alborz Province.
A few months ago, Iranian authorities handed over Hadiqeh’s children to the Afghan government, separating them from their parents before the executions took place.
The execution of Hadiqeh Abadi brings the total number of women executed in Iran in 2025 to 34.
This is the tenth woman being executed in Iran in a span of one and a half months since July 30.
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 297 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 neared 1,750. While the total number of executions in the entire 2024 was just over 1,000.
