A United Nations Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) has issued a damning report detailing widespread and systematic human rights violations by the Iranian regime, extending far beyond the 2022 uprising. The findings, presented to the UN Human Rights Council, confirm that state repression remains ongoing and includes arbitrary executions, persecution of minorities, cyber surveillance, and the targeted suppression of civil society. The report underscores that some of these crimes may constitute crimes against humanity.
Based on over 38,000 pieces of forensic and legal evidence and 285 interviews with victims and witnesses, the 252-page report confirms that Iranian authorities carried out mass killings, torture, and sexual violence to crush dissent. It highlights the regime’s continued efforts to tighten control over women, including through stricter hijab enforcement, and its use of public executions and retaliatory detentions to silence opposition.
“The Iranian state continues to deny accountability for its grave human rights violations,” the report states, noting that domestic legal mechanisms remain “fundamentally compromised” and fail to provide justice to victims. “The government actively obstructs justice by intimidating families of victims, targeting activists and lawyers, and expanding its digital repression.”
Sara Hossain, Chair of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, briefed the @UN Human Rights Council on human rights violations in #Iran following the 2022 protests sparked by the unlawful death of Jina Mahsa Amini.#HRC58 pic.twitter.com/bGZ3PdG1Q2
— UN Human Rights Council (@UN_HRC) March 18, 2025
The UN mission confirms that Iran dramatically increased executions in 2023 and 2024, with public hangings used as a psychological weapon against detainees. The regime is also accused of fabricating “suicide” narratives for protesters who died in custody. Additionally, the report highlights the regime’s systematic repression of ethnic and religious minorities, noting that Kurdish, Baluch, and Ahwazi Arab activists continue to face arbitrary detentions, torture, and disproportionate death sentences.
Recognizing the scale and continuity of Iran’s human rights crisis, the UN calls for a permanent international investigative body to monitor and document abuses beyond the mission’s current mandate. “The scope and severity of human rights violations in Iran require sustained international scrutiny,” the report concludes. “If accountability cannot be achieved domestically, justice must be pursued internationally.”
This report serves as yet another stark indictment of the Iranian regime’s deepening reliance on violence and repression to maintain power.