Three-minute read
The Iranian regime’s alarming surge in executions, reaching over 1,000 in 2024 alone, reflects a deliberate strategy to suppress dissent amidst mounting regional and domestic challenges. This grim statistic—representing the highest execution count in over three decades—coincides with the regime’s military and strategic setbacks in the Middle East, including the diminishing influence of its proxies and the collapse of key alliances.
Conventional logic suggests a correlation between the regime’s strategic losses and its intensified domestic repression. Nearly 47% of 2024’s executions occurred in the year’s final quarter, a period marked by regional defeats, including the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria and the weakening of Hezbollah and key proxy militants in Yemen and Palestine. These setbacks eroded Tehran’s regional influence, exposing vulnerabilities in its power projection.
Facing these challenges, the regime ramped up executions as a means of consolidating power internally. This pattern is not unprecedented; authoritarian regimes often employ harsh measures domestically to compensate for external failures.
The regime’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, whose tenure began in July 2024, presided over nearly 70% of the executions, many of which involved individuals who had been on death row for years. The timing—under a so-called moderate leader during “diplomatic overtures” for sanctions relief—reveals how the regime sacrificed long-term political and economic interests to prioritize immediate security concerns, showcasing its desperation to suppress dissent at any cost.
Iran’s clerical regime has destroyed the country’s economy, revenues and environment and spent them on domestic suppression and provision of the IRGC’s endless expenses for waging wars and exporting terrorism to other countries in the region #1988Massacre#Iran pic.twitter.com/Id00sRkEVQ
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) December 17, 2017
The Irony of Drug Trafficking Executions
Among the executed, over 500 individuals were convicted on drug-related charges. This is particularly ironic given that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has long been implicated in drug trafficking. Reports, including those from international watchdogs, have detailed the IRGC’s role in smuggling narcotics to fund its operations and circumvent sanctions.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has noted that significant quantities of seized drugs remain within Iran, suggesting internal distribution networks potentially linked to the IRGC.
Furthermore, reports have surfaced about the discovery of Captagon factories in Syria, with links to high-ranking officials. The BBC reported on evidence suggesting that top Syrian officials are involved in the Captagon trade, a highly addictive amphetamine fueling a multi-billion-dollar industry.
Additionally, the IRGC’s involvement in global drug trafficking extends beyond the region. Al Arabiya English highlighted the IRGC’s connections to international drug cartels, utilizing illegal seaports for smuggling and maintaining ties with drug cartels in South and Central America through Hezbollah.
This extensive involvement in drug trafficking underscores the regime’s blatant hypocrisy: executing low-level offenders for drug-related charges at home while orchestrating large-scale narcotics operations internationally.
For years, the Iranian Resistance has emphasized the need for the expulsion of the mullahs’ regime from Arab countries.
From the outset, the mullahs’ rule and their survival have been based on two pillars: suppression of freedoms and repression inside #Iran, and terrorism,… pic.twitter.com/4x8ZM7Dkxg— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) November 6, 2023
Double Standards in Justice
The regime’s judicial practices further expose its systemic corruption and inequity. While amputations, eye-gouging, and public executions are meted out for minor crimes, high-ranking officials implicated in massive fraud and corruption continue to enjoy impunity. For instance, the judiciary recently declared that thieves could be anesthetized before amputation—a gesture labeled as a “human rights advancement” by state media. Meanwhile, embezzlers within the regime remain untouched, undermining the judiciary’s credibility.
This stark pattern of balancing weakened terror abroad with heightened oppression at home reveals the regime’s profound disregard for human life, reducing it to a mere tool in its desperate bid to maintain power amidst collapsing influence.
Inhumane Punishments and Public Repression
Beyond executions, the Iranian judiciary has continued barbaric practices like amputations and public hangings. In one shocking case, two brothers in Urmia Prison and two others in Qom Prison had their fingers severed. These punishments are emblematic of the regime’s broader strategy to instill fear among the populace, particularly as economic hardships fuel unrest.
Such measures starkly contrast with the regime’s tolerance for internal corruption. Officials exposed for massive embezzlement schemes retain their positions, highlighting a double standard that further alienates the public.
137 global leaders unite in an open letter condemning the #Iranian regime's human rights violations, suppression of protests, executions, and state terrorism.
– They also call for accountability for the 1988 massacre, and support NCRI President-elect @Maryam_Rajavi’s Ten-Point… pic.twitter.com/IGMXUeCqhw— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 28, 2024
Regional Setbacks and Domestic Crackdown
The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria—a cornerstone of the Iranian regime’s regional strategy—exemplifies the regime’s waning influence. Iran’s proxies, including Hezbollah and Hamas, have also suffered significant defeats, reducing Tehran’s leverage in the region. These losses have not only isolated the regime internationally but also emboldened domestic dissent.
Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), has called for global action against the regime. She stated, “Khamenei resorts to these medieval crimes to suppress the people’s uprising demanding the regime’s overthrow. However, these atrocities only strengthen the resolve of Iran’s youth to topple the dictatorship.” Rajavi emphasized that negotiations with Tehran should be conditioned on ending executions and torture and that the regime’s leaders must be held accountable for crimes against humanity.
If there is any lesson to be drawn from the uprising and the eventual overthrow of the dictator in Syria, it’s that no level of repression, violence, or sheer numbers of security forces can indefinitely suppress a restless society. Despite deploying tens of thousands of military personnel and foreign mercenaries, and enjoying the backing of a major world power, Bashar al-Assad fell. The forces that failed to save him—the IRGC’s low morale and entrenched corruption—have been further exposed through numerous infiltrations, defections, and security breaches over the past decade. This reality is evident not only to the regime but also to the people and their organized resistance, who persist in their efforts to bring about regime change in Iran.