United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has expressed alarm over a significant increase in executions in Iran since March, urging the authorities to halt all executions and move towards abolition of the death penalty. Türk stated that "such punishment has no place in our world" and highlighted persistent concerns regarding the lack of fair trial and due process guarantees.
Türk noted that confessions were allegedly obtained under torture and other ill-treatment. Several executions have reportedly been carried out in public, with some occurring only weeks after arrest. In one instance, 12 defendants were reportedly sentenced to death following a single three-hour closed-door hearing.
While the Iranian government has not immediately commented, it has previously defended its use of the death penalty, stating it is reserved for "the most severe crimes."
Recent executions include two men convicted of spying for Israel. Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat were accused of providing sensitive military, law enforcement, and security site information to Israel's Mossad intelligence service. According to Iran's judiciary, this intelligence was shared during the current war and a conflict in June 2025.
Additionally, 19-year-old Arvin Kheirkhahan was reportedly executed after being convicted of "enmity against God," a security-related charge, for his alleged involvement in unrest in January. Another two men, Abolfazl Sepahi Badjani and Amirhossein Safari Hosseinabadi, arrested during the protests, were publicly executed in Isfahan. They were among 12 individuals convicted of charges including "enmity against God" and "corruption on Earth" in connection with the killing of four law enforcement officers on January 8.
Two other defendants in that case, Erfan Esfandiari and Gol Mohammad Mohammadi, were executed on July 19. UN human rights experts stated that these 12 individuals were sentenced to death in a single hearing, held in a closed courtroom, and without clarity on individual responsibility, which they deemed a violation of fair trial standards. Since March, 56 individuals have reportedly been executed on national security-related charges, including 27 in cases linked to protests that began in January.