Iran executed at least 901 people last year, including 31 women, some of whom were convicted of murdering their husbands to fend off rape or after being forced into marriage, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday.
Most of the executions were for drug-related offences, but political dissidents and people connected with mass protests in 2022 over the death in police custody of a 22-year-old woman were also among the victims, the UN statement said.
“It is deeply disturbing that yet again we see an increase in the number of people subjected to the death penalty in Iran year on year,” UN high commissioner for human rights Volker Türk said in a statement. “It is high time Iran stemmed this ever-swelling tide of executions.”
In total, at least 901 people were executed by hanging last year in the Islamic Republic, compared with 853 in 2023, the UN rights office said. That represented the highest number since 2015, when 972 people were executed.
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Iran’s diplomatic mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the UN statement.
The 2022 protests, which sparked some of the worst turmoil since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, followed the death in police detention of Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for allegedly flouting Iran's mandatory dress code.
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At least 31 women were executed in 2024, UN rights office spokeswoman Liz Throssell told reporters at a Geneva press briefing, representing what she said was the highest number in at least 15 years.
“The majority of cases involved charges of murder. A significant number of the women were victims of domestic violence, child marriage or forced marriage,” she added.
One of the women executed for murder had killed her husband to prevent him from raping her daughter, Ms Throssell said after the briefing.
Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist who won election as Iran’s president in July 2024, made promises during his campaign to better protect the rights of women and minorities.
In a separate development, France said on Tuesday that the situation of three of its citizens held in Iran was worsening, with some being detained in conditions similar to torture.
French officials have toughened their language towards Iran in recent weeks, notably over the advancement of its nuclear programme and regional activities, but also the detention of European citizens in the country.
“The situation of our compatriots held hostage in Iran is simply unacceptable; they have been unjustly detained for several years, in undignified conditions that, for some, fall within the definition of torture under international law,” foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot told a conference of French ambassadors.
Diplomatic sources said there had been no progress in talks with Iran on its detention of French citizens and that Paris wanted to make it clear to Iran now that the issue was now directly linked to progress on other issues.
“I say to the Iranian authorities: our hostages must be released. Our bilateral relations and the future of sanctions depend on it,” said Mr Barrot, whose country has accused Iran of state-sponsored hostage taking.
In recent years, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security. Rights groups have accused Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests.
Iran, which does not recognise dual nationality, denies taking prisoners to gain diplomatic leverage. – Reuters