A Fox News report has revealed a staggering surge in executions in Iran during 2024, with over 1,000 prisoners executed across 86 prisons. This figure, reported by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), marks the highest annual total in three decades and represents a 16% increase from 864 executions in 2023. The report underscores the Iranian regime’s escalating use of executions as a tool to suppress dissent amid mounting domestic and regional crises.
Almost 70% of the executions took place after the July election of the regime’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian, with 47% occurring in the final quarter of the year. The NCRI attributes this spike to the regime’s attempt to counter growing unrest and manage the fallout from significant regional defeats. On New Year’s Day 2025 alone, 12 prisoners were hanged in four prisons.
The victims included 34 women and seven individuals convicted for crimes committed as juveniles, violating international laws against executing minors. Among those executed were 70 Afghan nationals and 119 members of the Baluchi ethnic group. The NCRI noted that ethnic and religious groups in Iran, such as the Baluchis and Kurds, have been disproportionately targeted, particularly since the protests ignited by the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini.
The Iranian regime executed at least 1,000 prisoners in 2024, the highest tally in 3 decades, per @iran_policy
This included 119 from the Baluch minority, 70 Afghans, 34 women, and 7 juvenile offenders.For more, see my latest at Fox News:https://t.co/dgLUhml4yg
— Beth W. Bailey (@BWBailey85) January 3, 2025
Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI’s President-elect, condemned the executions, describing them as a “desperate attempt to prevent the uprising of an angry populace who will settle for nothing less than the regime’s complete overthrow.” She called for international accountability, urging world leaders to condition any negotiations with Tehran on halting executions and torture.
Mrs. Rajavi also highlighted the need to bring the regime’s leaders to justice for decades of crimes against humanity, including the massacre of political prisoners. “These medieval crimes,” she said, “only double the resolve of Iran’s youth to topple the religious dictatorship.”
The executions are not limited to political prisoners but also target non-violent offenders and individuals accused of minor infractions such as drug possession. Public hangings, often witnessed by children, serve as grim spectacles meant to instill fear among the population.
One high-profile execution in October was that of Jamshid Sharmahd, a 69-year-old German citizen and long-time U.S. resident, who was abducted in Dubai in 2020. Charged with “corruption on earth” in a widely criticized trial, Sharmahd’s death sparked international outrage.
Iran executes over 1K prisoners in 2024, highest total in 30 years report says https://t.co/ctfy0SZqC6
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 3, 2025
Political prisoner Saeed Masouri, in an open letter, revealed that executions occur at an alarming rate, with “one every four hours on average.” He described the psychological toll of awaiting his fate, likening every sound of a prison door opening to a death knell.
The NCRI’s report calls for urgent international action to address the Iranian regime’s escalating human rights abuses. With an average of nearly three executions per day, the regime’s brutality has drawn condemnation from human rights organizations and political figures worldwide.
As the regime faces deepening internal unrest and regional isolation, its reliance on executions as a tool of repression highlights its desperation to maintain control in the face of growing calls for justice and democratic change.